Nurturing accountants with the right expertise for the green economy

SUSTAINABILITY reporting has become an integral part of any organisation’s sustainability efforts, and accounting professionals play a key role in this. But are there enough such professionals? To meet rising demand, we must quickly equip the next generation of accountants with sustainability knowledge.

Regulators and standard setters are finally taking sustainability reporting seriously. The International Sustainability Standards Board – the independent sustainability disclosure standard-setting body of the International Financial Reporting Standards (IFRS) Foundation – intends to release the first two sustainability reporting standards, IFRS S1 and S2, by the end of June.

Taking effect on Jan 1, 2024, the new standards will set a global baseline for sustainability reporting, in a step towards better comparability and transparency. Compared to past financial reporting standards, this may be the shortest time that the IFRS has taken to draft and finalise one.