A Message from the Editors

In this October’s issue, the theme is ‘Climate change’ with the two-week COP26 summit around the corner. I want to bring out our role in this and the part accountants' need to be playing.

October 2021

In this October’s issue, the theme is ‘Climate change’ with the two-week COP26 summit around the corner. I want to bring out our role in this and the part accountants' need to be playing.

In particular I would draw you to the article in this issue on the ‘Road to Cop26’ which highlights some of the things ICAEW are doing in such an important area. I love the ICAEW's content series titled When Chartered Accountants save the World. Clearly a bold statement but this looks at how chartered accountants are helping to tackle some of the most urgent social challenges within the UN Sustainable Development Goals, and considers how the profession could do even more in the future. Then there is the ICAEW Climate Summit - a 5 day virtual summit to help chartered accountant act on climate change (taking place on 18-22 October 2021), and finally the 1,000 Chartered Accountants Initiative where the ICAEW are celebrating and supporting 1,000 Chartered Accountants who have committed, or want to commit, to begin their journey to net-zero carbon emissions . If you want to be one of the 1,000 then join this initiative.

All of these are about our contribution - which will aid in saving us, our families, our friends, our kids and the whole world from this issue that we call climate change.

As in most areas of life, the first question we need to ask ourselves is why. why is climate change important. And once we have answered that and realised its importance, we need to then ask ourselves what we can do about it, on a personal or business level. If we can then act, and spend each day trying to do a little better in this area, we might actually make this world a little better. This incremental approach to life is similar to the concept of compounding - making the sum of something small grow over time at a faster rate and cause it to snowball.

On that basis, let’s all do it, so as to create change and impact. And in doing so lets make us accountants proud.