Sustainability needs to be measured, reported and assured. These areas of expertise fall naturally under an accountant’s remit.
Good quality information that is trusted and properly targeted is vital to sustainable development.
Business need to modify its behaviour on the basis of information. Accountancy information can provide feedback on performance which guides management decisions about the future.
Our publication Sustainability: the role of accountants (PDF 413KB/116 pages) outlines these concepts in more detail and our thought leadership prospectus Sustainable Business takes the debate forward. The publication uses a framework to examine what mechanisms can exert pressure on business and steer market activity towards more sustainable behaviour.
As consensus builds that companies should be more accountable for their impact on society and the environment, the profitability of companies who ignore the views of their stakeholders is threatened.
Ultimately, the medium of exchange through which these views are communicated is money: falling share price, loss of earnings, increased costs and taxes, and so on.
Debate has moved beyond the belief that the responsibility lies with governments to legislate on these issues.
The predominant view now is that organisations need to operate in a proactive way, pre-empt sustainability issues before they arise, and find new business opportunities in this changing environment.
The successful functioning of these mechanisms depends on the availability of accurate and reliable information and on assurance of this non-financial data. Accountants are experienced in providing information and assurance and as business decision-makers. They are also involved in devising company strategy.
Chartered accountants could expect to be involved in a huge range of activities, including:
- Implementing energy efficiency (and thereby cost-saving) measures
- Formulating and implementing corporate responsibility policies
- Designing management information systems – eg around tradable permits and carbon emissions
- Assurance of supply chain processes and procedures
What we do
Sustainable Business: a thought leadership initiative from ICAEW
ICAEW has had a sustainability team for five years that sits within the technical department, the think tank of the Institute, alongside other topics like Governance, Financial Services and Business Law.
The work we do looks at how markets work to drive sustainable business.
You can read more about this in our thought leadership prospectus: Sustainable Business brochure (PDF 594KB/7 pages).
In this publication we argue that information that is trusted and properly targeted is vital to sustainability, sustainable development and sustainable business.
Sustainable systems, both organisms in the natural world or organisations in society, learn, adapt, improve and succeed by processing information. They need to be able to modify their behaviour on the basis of this information.
Our work is divided into four themes:
- Measuring, reporting and assuring sustainability information
- The economy of the future
- Carbon & climate change
- Sustainable Business
Within these topics we host a number of different streams of work that support one another:
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Convening the debate
Hosting events and bringing stakeholders together to share ideas
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Outside Insights
A platform for stakeholders to air their views on current sustainability issues
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Asking the right questions
Objective academic research, often funded by the ICAEW’s charitable trusts
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Turning questions into answers
Sharing knowledge by producing technical guidance on sustainability.