The Foundation for the Islamic Reporting Initiative (IRI) today announced the expansion of the Board of Trustees, with the appointments of Mohamed Amersi and Gerrit Heyns. Both bring significant executive experience to the board.

The IRI’s vision – a sustainable global economy that contributes actively to society and the environment by integrating Islamic values into corporate culture – has rapidly gained wide-ranging appeal. Commended by the UNGC Foundation, the OIC, and members in more than 50 countries, its impact is truly global.

The mission of the IRI is to enable organizations to examine the values that guide their activities and express with clarity and simplicity their contribution to sustainability in society and the environment. Through this mission the IRI will make considerable contribution to the corporate sustainability dialogue, advancing guidance amongst global companies and creating greater stakeholder transparency around the world.

The values-based IRI contributes hugely to Islamic Finance and institutional investment globally by drawing on the parallels of Islamic principles and CSR.

Mr. Amersi is engaged in a full sphere of activities ranging from for profit, responsible profit and non-profit. He is an active philanthropist and social conscience leader sitting on numerous Boards and Advisory Councils, including the Royal Agricultural University and the Prince’s Trust International.

Mr. Heyns has a long history in institutional financial services, particularly in the emerging markets. He is a respected sustainability investor, championing resource efficiency in large listed companies and has been listed amongst the top 30 most influential people in global finance by the Institute of Chartered Accountants.

The appointment of the trustees follows shortly after the IRI’s first roundtable discussion, which took place at the UN Climate Change Conference, COP22, in Marrakesh. It is anticipated that the IRI will present its core framework later in the year, aiming to accelerate the mainstream implementation of the shared Post-2015 goals as outlined in both the OIC-2025 Plan of Action and the UN Sustainable Development Goals 2030.

Mohamed Amersi and Gerrit Heyns join existing trustees Dame Amal Daraghmeh Masri, Dr Abdel-Aziz Sharabati, and IRI founder Drs Daan Elffers.