Accountants urged to lead sustainability drive
Accountants have been urged to adopt sustainability reporting standards and integrate them into their practices to promote transparency and environmental responsibility.
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This comes at a time when organisations worldwide are increasingly recognising the importance of sustainable practices and the need for greater transparency in their operations.
With the global focus on environmental conservation and corporate social responsibility, accountants are seen as key players in guiding organisations towards a more sustainable future.
The Director, Research & Technical, of the Institute of Chartered Accountants Ghana (ICAG), Osei Adjaye-Gyamfi, said accountants had a role to play in promoting green initiatives within their respective organisations by incorporating sustainability reporting standards into their practices.
He said they could also help organisations track and report on their environmental performances, set targets for improvement and demonstrate their commitment to sustainability.
The director was speaking at a roundtable organised by the Association of Certified Charted Accountants (ACCA) in Accra last Monday on the theme: “Benchmarking sustainability reporting and standards for implementation”.
Participants included the Global Chief Executive Officer of ACCA, Helen Brand; a Partner at KPMG, Andy Akoto, and Partner, Deloitte, Kwabena Antwi.
They discussed critical roles accountants can play in driving organisations towards a greener path, among other issues.
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Lead role
Ms Brand also called on accountants to play vital roles in leading and supporting organisations in the quest for greater sustainability.
She said education was “the magic key” to unlock a sustainable future by preparing the next generations of business leaders to view success in a different way.
Ms Brand advised the youth to assess success by considering the impact of businesses on people and the planet, and prioritise them as much as profit and loss.
“That’s why sustainability features strongly throughout ACCA qualification, especially in our strategic professional level,” she added.
Attitudinal change
The Chairperson of ICAG Council, Sena Dake, said that sustainability must become an attitude not only for individuals, but for businesses as well.
She said the institute was committed to implementing sustainability standards reporting in the country as regulators of the accounting profession.
The chairperson added that efforts were being made to enhance partnership with stakeholders in the implementation processes to make Ghana one of the early adopters of the standards, adding that “we can’t talk to others about what they should do when we have not done what we must do”.
For his part, Mr Akoto of KPMG said as organisations continued to prioritise sustainability and environmental stewardship, the role of accountants in guiding them towards a greener path was significant.