The International Integrated Reporting Council (IIRC), a global coalition of regulators, investors, companies, standard setters, the accounting profession and NGOs, has released the International Integrated Reporting Framework in a bid to encourage worldwide adoption of a new approach to corporate reporting focused on value creation.

The Framework is designed to accelerate the adoption of Integrated Reporting (IR) across the world, where it is currently being trialled in over 25 countries. Multinationals which have signalled their support for the approach by signing up to the IIRC's business network include PepsiCola, HSBC, Unilever, Deutsche Bank and Tata Steel.

IIRC chairman Professor Mervyn King said: 'I am delighted that the day has come when businesses worldwide can use the Framework as a tool for the better articulation of their strategy, and to engage investors on a more long-term journey to attract investment that will be crucial to achieving sustained, and sustainable, prosperity.'

IR encourages companies to adopt 'integrated thinking' as a way of breaking down internal silos and reducing duplication in financial reporting. Proponents argue that its focus on value creation, and the 'capitals' used by the business to create value over time, contributes towards a more financially stable global economy and is a force for sustainability.

Dr Jeremy Osborn, EY climate change and sustainability services, described the release of the Framework as marking 'a major milestone in the development of corporate reporting'.

'IR encourages companies to account for the broad resources and relationships on which they draw and to which they contribute through their business activities. In so doing, companies will lay strong foundations for sustainable capitalism,' Osborn said.

Michael Izza, ICAEW chief executive, said IR had the potential to act as a catalyst for major improvements in business reporting, although this would take time to achieve.

'The IIRC's vision is a long-term one and its ambition is not only for a new model of corporate reporting around the world, but for the adoption of "integrated thinking" by businesses everywhere. This will not happen quickly, and we need to recognise that what lies ahead is a process of radical, long-term transformation of how businesses and other organisations report, and how they think,' Izza said.