In September the Big Four accounting firms and the World Economic Forum released guidelines for sustainability reporting in corporate financial statements, in what was described as the first truly co-ordinated approach to ESG reporting. The resulting whitepaper, Measuring Stakeholder Capitalism, Towards Common Metrics and, Consistent Reporting of Sustainable Value Creation, identifies 21 core sustainability metrics and 34 expanded metrics and disclosures. These are organised under four pillars, or principles, that are aligned with the UN Sustainable Development Goals and principal ESG domains: Governance, Planet, People and Prosperity.

The initiative was spearheaded by the International Business Council (IBC), a community of over 120 CEOs. Members of the IBC were urged to take the lead in embracing the guidelines and are expected to discuss a timeline for adoption at the Council’s January meeting in 2021.