Leadership
6 December 2021
Plastic packaging tax to be introduced in 2022
Just months out from new plastic packaging taxes, businesses need to be ready for government measures to reduce plastic use and pollution. Prinal Nathwani, Holly Grantham and Jayne Harrold take a look at the proposed regimes in the UK and in Spain and Italy.
17 Nov 2021
What it’s like being a climate activist in Uganda
The world needs activists to bring the biggest problems into stark relief, argues Evelyn Acham – the more the better.
11 Nov 2021
Adair Turner: The mistakes we’ve made on climate, and where to focus now
The inaugural chair of the Climate Change Committee explains how the climate crisis breaks down into two distinct problems and discusses our chances of resolving them.
3 Nov 2021
Michael Izza on the role of chartered accountants in tackling the climate crisis
Michael Izza, chief executive of ICAEW, tells chartered accountants how they can use their skills and experience to fight the climate crisis.
29 Oct 2021
Climate change: the basics on getting started
Rebecca Self, Director of Financial Services and Isabel Hagbrink, Director of Communications at project developer and climate consultancy South Pole speak to ICAEW Insights about how businesses can get started on making a positive change for the climate.
29 Oct 2021
Six ways to embed climate change risk management
Company directors need to treat climate change risk as a key risk to their business, and do so as a matter of urgency, a joint report from the Chartered Institute of Internal Auditors and British Standards Institution shows.
05 Oct 2021
Let’s hear it for the blue economy
The oceans capture carbon, regulate temperatures, and protect from severe weather events. They are also our heroes in helping us achieve the sustainable development goals so let’s applaud them.
Emissions reduction
4 January 2022
The tax-efficient benefits of electric company cars
Sam Inkersole explains how electric company cars offer a favourable benefit in kind for employers and employees alike.
28 Feb 2022
Can tax policy help the UK achieve net zero?
Anita Monteith considers how policy levers can affect the most polluting sectors of transport, construction, power generation and industrial emissions, and wonders how governments can make up for the lost revenue from fuel duty.
07 Dec 2021
Pledge net zero 2022: carbon offsets from a programme you can visit
Where to start? That is the question lots of companies will ask their trusted adviser as they seek to meet their net zero pledges. Carbon offsetting is part of the mix, especially in the early stages of a net-zero pathway, but wouldn’t it help if companies could visit the projects they invest in?
11 Nov 2021
Drax: how finance can power ‘carbon negative’ energy generation
Drax’s senior finance manager Chris Simpson explains how finance is helping achieve the former coal power station’s goal of becoming the world’s first ‘carbon negative’ energy generator - the success of which is critical to the UK achieving its own net-zero goals.
21 October 2021
ICAEW’s journey to carbon neutrality - start yours now
In quarter three of 2020, ICAEW became the first professional body to achieve carbon neutral status. Our journey started in 2015; we measured, set targets and took small achievable steps to ensure we reduced our impact on climate change.
Adaptation
01 Dec 2021
Accountants should translate energy costs into carbon data
Angus Douglas, group finance director at Star Refrigeration, says accountants are well-positioned to translate pound notes into grams of carbon.
22 Nov 2021
Climate change must be part of your business plan
Climate change risk must be embedded into business risk planning, backed by cohesive policy changes from government, says GARP Risk Institute president.
16 Nov 2021
Hospitality targets ‘triple bottom line’ approach for recovery
Organisations in the hospitality sector are being urged to bolster their green credentials to meet the growing sustainability demands of both customers and potential staff as the sector looks to capitalise on the long-awaited rebound.
05 Nov 2021
Redesigning the system: the biggest job in finance
Restructuring the international financial system will help make money work toward preventing climate change, rather than accelerating it, a cohort of 40 businesses says.
01 Oct 2021
Addressing the climate emergency in the UK public sector
The UK has a lot of work to do and a dwindling amount of time in which to do it.
Climate finance
15 Nov 2021
Green finance: ASEAN & UK perspectives
Insight gathered from interviews with experts across a range of disciplines in ASEAN and the UK, on the role that finance can play in addressing the risks associated with climate change.
03 Nov 2021
Policy performance bonds are a climate action “game changer”
A financial instruments expert has urged the UK government to issue bonds linked to its climate targets as a means to show commitment to its sustainability objectives, as their use across the corporate sector continues to ramp up.
28 OCT 2021
Greenwashing: rising regulatory temperature for financial services
In advance of COP26, Financial Services Faculty Board member Nikesh Pandit, Barrister at 4-5 Gray’s Inn Square, and Alessia de Quincey, Solicitor Advocate at Boies Schiller Flexner LLP, explore the financial services regulators’ increasing focus on greenwashing, and how they might use their existing powers to prevent it.
19 Oct 2021
Green finance roadmap sets out government’s sustainability expectations
HM Treasury has published its roadmap for the transition to a greener financial system. Importantly for the accountancy profession, it sets out plans for implementing sustainability disclosures.
Climate reporting
14 Dec 2021
Paris-aligned accounts
The Paris Agreement aims to achieve net zero emissions globally by 2050. Reaching these goals will require action from all. ICAEW explores how accountants in business and practice can align corporate reporting to the Paris Agreement objectives.
08 Dec 2021
ESG assurance
The expectations of financial services organisations and other corporates are changing fast. Profit cannot be the only measure of success – environmental, social and governance principles need to be observed and taken into consideration to satisfy a broad range of stakeholders.
23 Nov 2021
Financials remain woefully short on climate information
Barbara Davidson, Senior Analyst – Regulatory and Accounting at the Carbon Tracker Initiative says that without an understanding of the impact of energy transition on company financials, the extent of capital at risk – and whether funds are being allocated to unsustainable businesses – remains largely unknown.
15 Nov 2021
Climate change is paramount for annual reporting
Climate change and energy transition is the biggest challenge the world is facing. It is paramount for Shell and front of mind when developing its annual report and financial statements, says Edwin Kunkels, Vice President Group Reporting and Deputy Controller at the company.
01 Dec 2021
Sustainability reporting: why should SMEs care?
Call it the pandemic effect, but the penny is finally dropping that environmental and social reporting is becoming the responsibility of all practitioners and companies – not just large complex organisations and their advisers. Johan Barros, EU Policy Manager at Accountancy Europe, explains.
16 Dec 2021
How to reflect climate risks in the financial statements
As the 2021 reporting season approaches, businesses increasingly face questions from investors about how their accounts reflect climate-related matters. Here’s how businesses, audit committees and auditors can address them.