‘Accounting profession has a key role in achieving climate action and building a sustainable recovery’ – Helen Brand, Chief Executive, ACCA

‘Accounting profession has a key role in achieving climate action and building a sustainable recovery’ – Helen Brand, Chief Executive, ACCA 

ACCA is marking the Earth Day 2021 today with its activities around the world focusing on how professional accountants can play a key role in making businesses more sustainable. 

In Pakistan, ACCA has partnered with WWF-Pakistan to hold ‘Earth Day Conversation 2021’ featuring top thought leaders educating the business community on serious climate risks and sharing how professionals can address climate change impacts and promote sustainability. Eric Wikramanayake, Director of Wildlife and Wetlands, WWF Hong Kong, Ayla Majid FCCA, Founder and CEO, Planetive, Rab Nawaz, Senior Director – Programmes, WWF Pakistan, and Jimmy Greer, ACCA’s Head of Sustainability are among the speakers. 

Helen Brand OBE, ACCA’s chief executive says: 

‘This year, Earth Day is themed ‘restore the earth’ and here at ACCA we’re marking this occasion by focusing on the vital role the accountancy profession plays in sustainability and climate action. 

‘At the New York Climate Action Week in September 2020, ACCA and IFAC organised a global webinar called Creating Value in a Climate Emergency: Recovery, Resilience, and the Transition. We were honoured to be joined by Mark Carney, COP 26 Finance Adviser and UN Special Envoy on Climate Action and Finance, who said that one of the aims of COP26 is to ensure we have the framework in place so that “every financial decision can take climate change into account.”

‘Mark Carney said that progress is happening with initiatives such as the Task Force on Climate-related Financial Disclosures Recommendations (TCFD), and that he and his COP26 team is working on ways to move from voluntary disclosures to mandatory reporting. 

‘Mark Carney concluded by saying the accountancy profession is “absolutely essential” in achieving climate action and building a sustainable recovery. 

‘And that’s because clear and consistent accounting standards and disclosures, which are understood by business and investors alike, are an essential part of the urgent policy solutions needed to tackle climate change. This is where the accountancy profession can bring its expertise into play, with its technical skills and knowledge to measure and report on progress related to climate disclosures and the UN Sustainable Development Goals (UNSDGs).

‘So as we celebrate Earth Day, and as ACCA begins its own journey to COP26 - whether virtual or not - and our commitments to the UN SDGs, we champion the accountancy profession’s role in climate action. As a global professional body, we strive for climate literacy for all our members, through the ACCA Qualification and the CPD we offer.’

To find out more, ACCA invites people to visit its new Rethinking Sustainable Business Hub: http://accaglobal.com/sustainable-business and also join the Big Conversation on climate action which is also detailed on the Hub.