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Boundary setting in mainstream reports

CDSB's discussion paper explores the issue of organizational boundary setting for non-financial reporting purposes and offers suggested answers to some of the most often debated questions.

Organizational boundary setting equally affects reporting of general sustainability and other non-financial information, as well as specific aspects of social or environmental information. However, some of the proposals are informed by developments in climate change-related reporting, as it is one of the most developed and advanced areas of non-financial reporting.

Following an the introduction, the paper is divided into three sections as follows:

  • The general background to organizational boundary setting for non-financial reporting purposes is set out, including:
    • What is non-financial reporting?
    • Who are the parties involved in organizational boundary setting?
    • The language of organizational boundary setting.
  • The current state of organizational boundary setting is examined, and examples of the practices that influence it are provided, including: 
    • The GHG Protocol, the GRI’s G4 guidelines, the IIRC’s International Integrated Reporting Framework, SASB’s Standards, International Financial Reporting Standards, developments in UK and EU law and examples of corporate practice.
  • Points for discussion about organizational boundary setting are proposed.
    • Proposals include suggested positions designed to prompt discussion on how organizational boundary setting could develop and a number of specific questions for consideration and comment.
    • The discussion section is informed by anecdotal and other evidence about some of the challenges faced by specific sectors including the transport, real estate and extractive industries. 
    • Recent legislative developments in the UK that led to increased focus on boundary setting where financial information, management commentary and non-financial information are included in the same communication

View the discussion paper here.

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