The Value Reporting Foundation publishes new Integrated Thinking Principles

The Value Reporting Foundation Publishes Integrated Thinking Principles and Updated SASB Standards for Three IndustriesThe Value Reporting Foundation today announced the publication of the new Integrated Thinking Principles, which provide a structured approach for considering how to create the right environment within an organization, as well as for reviewing what can, at times, go wrong.The Foundation also published updates to the Asset Management & Custody Activities, Metals & Mining and Coal Operations Industry Standards following a rigorous due process which included extensive market consultation.“We recently announced the consolidation of the Value Reporting Foundation with the IFRS Foundation (expected to be complete in June 2022), which will help inform the creation of the new International Sustainability Standards Board (ISSB). As we prepare for this consolidation, we continue to advance work on our three key resources: the Integrated Thinking Principles, Integrated Reporting Framework and SASB Standards. We strive to ensure these resources are as useful as possible to the markets they were designed to serve,” says Janine Guillot, CEO of the Value Reporting Foundation.Integrated thinking is a management philosophy for strategically assessing the resources and relationships the organization uses or affects, and the dependencies and trade-offs between them, especially in the context of organizational decision-making. The Value Reporting Foundation’s prototype Integrated Thinking Principles (‘Principles’) are designed to be embedded into an organization’s business model and applied across key activities overseen by the board and managed by the senior leadership team. The six Principles, which are interconnected, are implemented on three levels: the first comprises questions to the board and CEO on how widely each Principle has been adopted across the organization; the second offers the opportunity to test how deeply the Principles have been embedded into the organization; and the third consists of strategic management tools, practices and processes to bring integrated thinking to life.“ABN AMRO welcomes the launch of the Integrated Thinking Principles, which will improve decision making through a better understanding of how a company creates value,” says Robert Swaak, CEO of ABN AMRO.Following a rigorous due process involving industry consultation, public comment period and approval by the SASB Standards Board, the Value Reporting Foundation also announced updates to three industry Standards. As a result of the Tailings Management in Extractives project, updates were issued to the Metals & Mining Standard and the Coal Operations Standard. The updated Standards include a new disclosure topic dedicated to the management of tailings storage facilities and new metrics in the waste management disclosure topics. These updates are aligned with existing efforts, including the Global Industry Standard on Tailings Management. As a result of the Systemic Risk in Asset Management project, the Systemic Risk Management disclosure topic and its associated metrics was removed from the Asset Management & Custody Activities Standard.The updated Standards can be downloaded here. The SASB Standards Board has also released a Basis for Conclusions document detailing its rationale for the updated Standards, which can be accessed here for Metals & Mining and Coal Operations, and here or Asset Management. All reporting companies shall apply the updated versions of the Standards for reports covering annual periods beginning on or after January 1, 2022.“We maintain the SASB Standards through an iterative project-based model that helps us strengthen our Standards as market issues, understanding and best practices evolve,” says Dr. Jeffrey Hales, Chair of the SASB Standards Board. “Following rigorous market consultation and feedback, today we issue the first Standards updates since the codified Standards were published for use in 2018. This is an important milestone, as it takes the importance of standards maintenance and stewardship from an abstract idea to a set of concrete examples and demonstrates the value of being able to make targeted improvements to the Standards in response to significant industry-specific events.” About the Value Reporting FoundationThe Value Reporting Foundation is a global nonprofit organization that offers a comprehensive suite of resources designed to help businesses and investors develop a shared understanding of enterprise value — how it is created, preserved or eroded over time. The resources — including Integrated Thinking Principles, the Integrated Reporting Framework, and SASB Standards — are already adopted in over 70 countries. They comprise the 21st century market infrastructure needed to develop, manage and communicate strategy that creates long-term value and drives improved performance. To learn more, visit www.valuereportingfoundation.org. investESG.eu is an independent and neutral platform dedicated to generating debate around ESG investing topics. All opinions expressed are those of the author or contributing source.