Accounting professionals driving urgent action on climate reporting standards, sustainability skills-building and SME support

ACCA is at COP29 Azerbaijan with key partners working to emphasise the importance of the adoption of sustainability reporting standards.

In a series of meetings and panel discussions, ACCA (the Association of Chartered Certified Accountants) is raising awareness of how adoption of sustainability disclosures is driving investment in sustainable businesses and the net zero transition, and the urgent need for this to speed up and become universal.

It is also highlighting the pressing need for more professional skills capacity in sustainability. The skillset of the accountancy profession is broadening to embraces sustainable business, finance and reporting, and ACCA is working to spread these skills as widely as possible.

At the same time ACCA is ensuring that delegates to the UN Climate Conference are aware of the vital role that small and medium sized businesses (SMEs) have in ensuring that business moves to Net Zero.

Vikas Aggarwal, Regional Head of Public Affairs for Europe, Eurasia, Middle East and the Americas, ACCA, said: 'It's crucial that SMEs - the backbone of supply chains and economies across the world - aren't forgotten in the journey to Net Zero. But they face huge challenges, including accessing sustainable finance and a lack of the professional skills needed to adopt sustainable business models.'

ACCA has led the accountancy profession in taking action on climate change including sharing best practice; creating knowledge hubs; working with partners across the globe; building world-leading education and learning opportunities and providing guidance and toolkits on sustainability reporting. For instance in September it launched a new Professional Diploma in Sustainability.

At COP16 - the UN Biodiversity Conference which took place earlier in November - ACCA launched Empowering business: navigating nature-related reporting, calling on accountants to get to grips with the concepts, principles, challenges and opportunities of nature-related reporting.

As COP29 opened ACCA published Weathering the storm: building resilience against climate disruptions which outlined how unprepared businesses are for climate-related disasters and as the conference draws to a close ACCA is set to release Sustainability guide to preparation: telling a connected story.

Vikas Aggarwal, said: 'Financial professionals are in no doubt that huge investment is needed in clean energy and sustainable business. Part of ACCA's role is to explain and amplify that message to business and government.

'That is why we were so pleased to be part of the discussion at COP29 Azerbaijan set up by the Global Capacity Building Coalition which ACCA is a supporter member. Over the week it has been highlighted how resilience will be key, as explored in our new report, Weathering the storm. A focus on skills development is crucial; we'll continue to work urgently to play our part because the critical need is to take action.'