The fragments and traces of integrated reporting that prevail: On the importance of a sustained critical perspective on reporting

Abstract

In 2019 we called for papers that considered, from a critical perspective, the developments, articulations and implications of integrated reporting (IR) within the contemporary economic, social and political context. Who could have then foreseen the developments that would unfold? In this editorial we first trace the developments leading up, and subsequent to, our initial call for papers before introducing the contributions that responded to our call. Then, picking up on O’Dwyer et al.’s (2024) discussion of the “disintegration” of IR and the International Integrated Reporting Council (IIRC) and on the other contributions to the Special Issue, we suggest that fragments and traces of IR prevail in the drastically changed ‘sustainability’ reporting environment. We highlight the need for further critical accounting research on ‘sustainability’ reporting and its socio-political context, a consideration of these fragments and traces, the form they take and the way they persist, and their implications. We argue that in order to make progress on sustainability, our world needs imagination, something different – not the mere reinvention of reporting standards.