Even as world leaders’ attention remains focused on sustainability in the weeks following the 26th UN Climate Change Conference of the Parties (COP26), organisations and individuals are also prompted to take a deeper look at how their actions impact the environment.

In support of climate action and years of advocacy on sustainability aligned to the United Nations’ Sustainable Development Goals (UNSDGs), ACCA (Association of Chartered Certified Accountants), unveiled its new report, Climate Action and the Accountancy Profession: Building a Sustainable Future. Containing insights from over 3,000 accountants and finance professionals from the corporate, public, financial services and non-profit sectors around the world, the report spotlights a significant gap between awareness and action. 

“The report revealed that 52 percent believe climate regulations will have the biggest impact on organisations over the next five years, yet only 15 percent report that their organisations have set targets to get to net zero by 2050. Further, only 23 percent integrate climate key performance indicators (KPIs) into their business strategy and/or risk frameworks,” said Sharath Martin, Senior Policy Consultant for ACCA for ASEAN and ANZ. “In Malaysia, only 24 percent of respondents indicate that their organisations are willing to invest much more in addressing climate change over the next three to five years, which is significantly lower than the global average of 38 percent. These findings, in light of the global move towards climate action, tells us this is an opportune time for organisations to take a closer look at the way they operate.” 

To help bridge these gaps, the report outlines key steps accountants should take on climate action. These include supporting boards and executive leadership to build net zero transition plans, leveraging on science-based targets, and prioritizing ESG and climate KPIs in strategic business decisions, among others.  

In recent months, ACCA has also accelerated its commitment towards sustainability with active participation in pro-ESG initiatives alongside its campaign on rethinking sustainable business. 

Establishing Meaningful Partnerships

Laying the foundations for long-term impact, ACCA recently signed an MoU with the UN Global Compact Network Malaysia & Brunei (UNGCMYB) to raise awareness and improve skills in areas such as sustainable finance, and create a pipeline of sustainability advocates amongst finance and accounting professionals. Over time, this will also aid in the effort to align organisations’ financial strategies with the UNSDGs, and pave the way for ACCA and UNGCMYB to collaborate on high-level support policy and research.

Creating and Sharing Knowledge

In support of achieving net zero goals, ACCA has ramped up its participation in both international and local conferences, including UNGCMYB’s GO ESG ASEAN 2021 and SME SDG Festival 2021, and hosted workshops such as SMEs and Climate Action: The Path Towards Sustainable Transformation. To further support the transition for SMEs, ACCA also developed a SME Sustainability Playbook with Chartered Accountants Australia and New Zealand (CA ANZ), presenting the beneficial impact of sustainable actions and practical steps for embedding sustainable practices within SMEs. More details can be accessed here. 

“ACCA understands that SMEs are in a position to make significant contributions towards sustainability as they represent a significant segment of the global economy,” said Andrew Lim, Interim Portfolio Head, ACCA Maritime Southeast Asia. “As a result, accountants and small and medium-sized accountancy practices (SMPs) have an important role to play as sustainability trailblazers in the SME sector.”

Casting its net even wider, ACCA also works from the ground up, remembering that individual actions are important to protect and preserve the planet’s limited resources. 

Towards this end, the ongoing #MYGoZero campaign promotes zero-waste across the three pillars of sustainability, namely People, Planet and Profit. With climate action superhero Z-RO the campaign shares simple tips on daily waste reduction, with support from social media influencers who are also advocates for sustainable living. Combined with an engaging web comic series and the use of expressive ‘stickers’, the campaign has gained significant visibility with its digital and social media outreach that has chalked up 1 million views to-date.

Supporting Member Education 

In order to encourage and improve awareness on sustainability, ACCA has also organised various forums and webinars including its first collaborative forum with UNGCMYB, Path to Climate Change, which emphasised science-based target initiatives (SBTi) to accurately calculate carbon reduction and its impact on a business’s bottom line. 

This year, ACCA’s flagship annual virtual conference, Accounting for the Future, focused on sustainable business transformations as well. This global 3-day event featured valuable insights and advice from industry experts around the world, addressing learning points for businesses from COP26 and integrated thinking to support climate-challenge goals. 

In further support of finance professionals taking a more prominent role in business sustainability, ACCA launched its brand-new Certificate in Sustainability for Finance (CertSF), a Continuing Professional Development (CPD) course offering a strong foundation in sustainability and ESG, with business models and frameworks, best practices, and tools such as sustainability analytics.

These concerted efforts aim to encourage the integration of environmental and social value and analysis into financial reporting, in order to foster trust and accountability among stakeholders and the public. Moving forward, it is important that accountants measure not just how businesses are impacting the environment but equally how climate and natural capital risks will impact the ability of businesses to generate value going forward. 

“As the world continues to face the challenges of climate change, we hope for every nation, organisation and individual to play an active role in making meaningful and impactful change and thus accelerate the shift towards net zero carbon emissions,” said Martin.

Download ACCA’s Climate Action and the Accountancy Profession: Building a Sustainable Future here or visit the ACCA Sustainability Hub at here. 

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