Sustainability Recommended Reading

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ACCA has launched a new Professional Diploma in Sustainability aimed primarily at finance professionals. The Diploma is based on the ISSB standards but also covers the CSRD and ESRS requirements including interoperability between the ISSB disclosure standards and ESRS as well as assurance, ethics, and the CSDDD. Read more here.

ACCA’s webcast ‘Growing Your Practice: Green and Resilient’ includes a panel discussion that looks at how to build a sustainable practice.

This IFAC Gateway article provides a summary of the ISSA 5000 and explains how it marks a new era in sustainability assurance.

IFAC has published the latest instalment in their State of Play Series that examines trends in sustainability reporting and assurance. Beyond the G20: The State of Play in Sustainability Disclosure and Assurance expands the benchmarking of global practice in sustainability disclosure and assurance to jurisdictions beyond the G20 (BG20).

The event video for the 2024 IFRS Foundation Integrated Thinking and Reporting Conference is here. Read the six takeaways on the future of integrated reporting and the summary article here.  

The Shift Project has published frequently asked questions (FAQs) about the Corporate Sustainability Due Diligence Directive (CSDDD)

IFAC published Sustainability Assurance: What to Expect (the Spanish version is here) to show what to expect from sustainability assurance

EFRAG has published a Study: ‘State of play as of Q2 2024 | Implementation of European Sustainability Reporting Standards (ESRS): Initial Practices from Selected Companies’ that illustrates preliminary practices and challenges related to the implementation of ESRS.

IFAC published Sustainability Assurance: What to Expect (the Spanish version is here) to show what to expect from sustainability assurance

Hence IFAC has published a resource to help professional accountants – Understanding Voluntary Carbon Markets: Key considerations for professional accountants and purchasers on the carbon credit life cycle.  

EFRAG has published its first three ESRS Implementation Guidance documents reflecting the outcome of the public feedback: EFRAG IG Materiality Assessment, EFRAG IG 2 Value Chain and EFRAG IG 3 ESRS Datapoints.

EFRAG released a compilation of 68 Explanations to respond to stakeholders’ technical questions on the ESRS. Access the EFRAG ESRS Q&A Platform here and the compilation document here.   

Sustainability Reporting – SME Guide, explains how to go about reporting sustainability information including through the use of technology and collaboration with others.

This presentation, recently given to the IFAC SMP Advisory Group, highlights the pivotal role SMP practitioners play in facilitating their clients’ journey towards sustainability transition.

This article summarizes what accountants need to know about ISSA 5000.

This research from ACCA, IFAC and PwC underlines organisations’ urgent need for strategies and transition plans to combat climate change, remain successful and meet stakeholder expectations.

ACCA’s guide to preparing for sustainability reporting helps companies get ready for reporting high-quality sustainability-related information using sustainability reporting standards.

ACCA’s guide to preparing for sustainability reporting helps companies get ready for reporting high-quality sustainability-related information using sustainability reporting standards.

IFAC has a catalogue of publicly available sustainability courses and certifications offered by PAOs on demand, either for a fee or free, to help their members gain sustainability knowledge.

IFAC has a catalogue of publicly available sustainability courses and certifications offered by PAOs on demand, either for a fee or free, to help their members gain sustainability knowledge.

Since December 2022 EFAA has published two guides – Sustainability Reporting: How SMPs Can Build the Capacity to Support SMEs and Sustainability Reporting Assurance: How SMPs Can Build the Capacity to Support SMEs –  to help SMPs get ready to provide sustainability reporting and assurance services for their clients, in particular SMEs.

Access all ISSB educational material here.

IFAC has a catalogue of publicly available sustainability courses and certifications offered by PAOs on demand, either for a fee or free, to help their members gain sustainability knowledge.

ACCA in partnership with the ISSB have issued these short videos to guide users through the new ISSB S1 and S2 Standards..

This podcast argues that as the components of a company’s value change, the role of finance must adapt to what it reports and how it manages tangible and intangible assets. That shift was underscored with the release of the ISSB’s global sustainability standards.

ACCA in partnership with the ISSB have issued these short videos to guide users through the new ISSB S1 and S2 Standards..

ACCA in partnership with the ISSB have issued these short videos to guide users through the new ISSB S1 and S2 Standards..

This podcast argues that as the components of a company’s value change, the role of finance must adapt to what it reports and how it manages tangible and intangible assets. That shift was underscored with the release of the ISSB’s global sustainability standards.

IFAC has a catalogue of publicly available sustainability courses and certifications offered by PAOs on demand either for a fee or at no cost, to help their members gain sustainability knowledge. 

This article looks at how various PAOs in Europe are preparing their members for the CSRD.

As organizations increasingly report ESG or sustainability information, many stakeholders are placing emphasis on the information’s reliability. This Center for Audit Quality (CAQ) publication explains the benefits of engaging an accounting firm for third party assurance of ESG information.

According to this Accountancy Age article ESG an “immense” market for mid-tier accounting firms to tap into, starting with them offering advice on sustainability risks and opportunities.

This Accounting WEB article and this AIA article examines how forward-thinking accountancy practices are introducing greenhouse gas (GHG) accounting and net zero advisory services, recognising their crucial role in supporting businesses’ transition to a sustainable economy.

In this article the IFAC Chief Executive expresses concerns that SME accountants are falling behind. This article explains that to remain competitive as the sustainability agenda rises SMPs must adapt and demonstrate that they are taking sustainability seriously.

The US Center for Audit Quality has recently published “The Role of the Auditor in Climate-Related Information”. Read more here.

Read the highlights from the ACCA’s latest research in Green Finance Skills: The Guide.

EFRAG has launched a series of educational videos dedicated to the First set of draft ESRS, which were released to the European Commission in November 2022. Click here to watch.

The IFAC global survey on sustainability reporting and assurance is prompting many US audit firms to explore how to best position themselves for a bigger role. Read more here.

This Corporate Disclosures article examines how the job hunting in the field of ESG/sustainability is exciting yet challenging.

Project Perseus is a new coalition of private and public sector organisations helping to make carbon reporting easier for all UK SMEs. To learn more visit here

In this article (subscription required) read about the opportunities that ESG presents SMPs.

In this Corporate Disclosures article an expert on sustainability reporting and strategy says that “companies need to understand their value chains, identify material topics and then assess the impact and financial materiality of each topic to determine what to report under the CSRD.”

This guidance is designed to help SMEs and the SMPs that advise them embed sustainability in the business and understand its benefits.

All sessions from the A4S Summit are available for you to watch on demand until 15 January 2023. Sessions include ‘Mapping reporting developments in Europe’ and ‘Getting to net zero: a global review of corporate disclosures hosted by IFAC’.

In this article US CPAs advise patience as well as action in pursuit of ESG.

IFAC has a catalogue of publicly available sustainability courses and certifications offered by PAOs on demand either for a fee or at no cost, to help their members gain sustainability knowledge.

See here for a summary of news for the week ending 4 November 2022, here for the week ending 11 November 2022 and here for the week ending

The article ’SMPs and The Sustainability Agenda’ (published on pages 16-18 of the latest issue of the Association of International Accountants’ (AIA) magazine) stresses the urgent need for building the capacity of SMEs and SMPs to prepare sustainability reports

This article examines the reliability of the information contained in sustainability reports and the role of accounting firms in verifying the disclosures

Recent articles on Touching the Void of Sustainability Reporting (27 September), Single vs Double Materiality: An Academic Debate (28 September), and Double Materiality will not Lead to Hyperinflation of ESG Data

Read this report to learn more about the Greenhouse Gas (GHG) Protocol, how its standards are used to measure GHG emissions, and implications for standard setters and regulators.

This publication has been released to help SMPs embrace sustainability assurance.

In this article read about how US SMPs are seizing the ESG opportunity. Staffing and training remain a challenge

IFAC has a catalogue of publicly available sustainability courses and certifications offered by PAOs on demand either for a fee or at no cost, to help their members gain sustainability knowledge

Several professional accountancy organizations have already developed or are in the process of developing courses and certifications to help their membership and the profession acquire sustainability knowledge. IFAC has a catalogue of courses and certifications here that will help accelerate the collective pace of acquiring sustainability knowledge. These resources are publicly available; most are on demand, either for a fee or at no cost

View IFAC’s global webinar ‘Finance Leaders Plugging the Net-Zero Information Gap: Exploring the critical role of CFOs and finance teams in the climate transition’ here. Related articles include:
– Net Zero Guidance, A4S  
– Professional Accountants as Business Leaders and Value Partners, IFAC  
– Sustainability Standards, IFAC  
– Corporate Reporting: Climate Change Information and the 2021 Reporting Cycle, IFAC 

The UK FRC Lab has published a report on ESG data production, designed to help companies consider how to collect and use ESG data more effectively to support better decision-making. The full report is available here

This article highlights five essential steps all firms should take to be ESG ready

This AICPA article urges accounting firms to seriously consider providing ESG advisory and assurance. It argues that our profession is built to provide these services and instil trust and integrity into the process, but we need a collective sense of urgency to step forward and meet this opportunity

This article looks at how the Romanian accountancy profession is embracing sustainability reporting and how the professional accountancy organizations are helping prepare their members

The article 5 steps for finance teams to upskill on ESG reporting explains that the move towards mandatory ESG reporting will require finance to assess the knowledge already in the team and new expertise needed — at the outset

In this article Mervyn King looks at how Integrated Reporting can help connect financial and non-financial reporting

This article  argues that net zero is not possible without SMEs and so policy makers will need to focus more on SMEs and SME greening will demand collective action

ACCA and Profit Impact published a series of practical sustainability toolkits for accountants in SMEs and SMPs supporting sustainable transition of small businesses. The toolkits offer hands-on guidance on mapping UN SDGs to business goals, understanding environmental management systems and supply chain code of conduct

Professor Mervyn King has established, within the Good Governance Academy, the ESG Exchange.  The ESG Exchange is a global community collaborating to help firms publish sustainability reports

Read the 2021 IFAC Integrated Annual Review here. This report draws on integrated reporting principles and concepts as set out in the International Integrated Reporting <IR> Framework

This Forbes article provides a comparative analysis of the three proposals from the ISSB, EFRAG and US Securities and Exchange Commission for climate-related disclosures

Vincent Huck, a financial correspondent with a long track history focused on developments in accountancy, has launched a new website as a platform for debate on sustainability reporting called Corporate Disclosures. In this opinion piece Kevin Dancey, IFAC CEO, and David Madon, IFAC Director of Public Policy & Regulation, discuss the rise of sustainability accounting and the opportunities for the profession. In this article EFRAG SR TEG member Patrick de Cambourg, who chaired the PTF-ESRS that developed the draft ESRS EDs, discusses the politics in sustainability standard setting. And on 11 July 2022 the website published Salvador Marin’s opening remarks from the EFRAG-EFAA-SMEunited Joint Outreach event on draft ESRS EDs.

In this article IAASB Chair Tom Seidenstein explains how the IAASB is taking the next steps for new standards for sustainability assurance

This research paper examines assurance of sustainability information by Dutch listed companies and reveals much variation in the content of the assurance engagement, to whom the assurance report is addressed, and the criteria used to perform the assurance engagement.

Listen to this ACCA webcast about how to prepare for IFRS sustainability standards.

this IFAC Gateway article summarizes a report, authored by the Royal Netherlands Institute of Chartered Accountants (NBA) amongst others, called Financial accounting in the circular economy: Redefining value, impact and risk to accelerate the circular transition, on how accounting and financing are catalysts for circular businesses to thrive and crucial to driving sustainable development. Scaling circular business models is the route to accelerating the circular transition, unlocking the profitability of businesses in a rapidly changing world and reaching key climate goals, such as net-zero. This report provides guidance to overcome the challenges and capture the value of circular business.

This article introduces the Integrated Thinking Principles

In June 2022, the Value Reporting Foundation – home to the Integrated Thinking Principles, Integrated Reporting Framework and the SASB Standards – will consolidate under the IFRS Foundation, which is establishing the new International Sustainability Standards Board (ISSB). This information sheet explains what this means for the Framework and the businesses that use it.

In this Reuters article, Huw Jones looks at the intersection of sustainability and audit/assurance – and includes the International Auditing and Assurance Standards Board (IAASB) next steps in the space, and how often the ISAE 3000 standard is issued for sustainability reporting.

IFAC has launched a new podcast series, The Fast Future with IFAC, that highlights innovative SMPs around the world. The first episode, with Australian accountant and Chartered Accountants Australia and New Zealand member Amela Kmetas, is available here

Audit tips for a pandemic-changed environment explains what firms should focus on.

As part of its Accounting for the Future virtual conference 2021 (AFF2021) ACCA included a webinar on Golden opportunity of SMP sustainability services. This webcast is now on-demand here.

IFAC’s Professional Accountants in Business (PAIB) Advisory Group has compiled insights on how accountants are contributing to value creation and sustainability in their organizations in both the private and public sectors in a new report, The Role of Accountants in Mainstreaming Sustainability. 

ACCA and CA ANZ’s joint playbook, How SMEs can create a more sustainable world, details the benefits that sustainable actions have for both business success and the environment. The playbook sets out practical steps for embedding sustainable practices within SMEs, case studies from across the world, and links to a variety of tools and resources. See press release here. ACCA held an online event on “How SMEs can Create a More Sustainable World: A Live Panel Discussion” on 2 December – see here.

At the webinar organised by ecoDa (the European Confederation of Directors’ Associations) and Mazars on “Sustainability – Action needed on the defining issue for SMEs across Europe” SMEunited Director Luc Hendrickx called for concrete and practical assistance on due diligence for SMEs. Read more here.

In this article learn how current auditing standards require environmental, social and governance (ESG) related risks to be considered, and auditors need to know how to audit this information.