In a new report, Social and Environmental Value Creation developed with CFA Institute and supported with insights by Datamaran, ACCA calls for more concerted action.
The report examines the role of business in environmental, social and governance (ESG) issues which are under increasing focus from investors and society more widely. It assesses the current state of corporate disclosures on key social and environmental issues in different regions around the world and outlines five disclosure and decision-making approaches that can support business to create inclusive and sustainable value for society over the long-term.
Social and environmental challenges are becoming more complex. Increasingly, these two issues are seen by government, business and finance as interconnected priorities.
Professional accountants, finance teams in business and investors can support social and environmental value creation in many ways, such as risk analysis of climate change issues, social impact evaluation and assessing the quality of non-financial information. These are key areas for the accountancy profession around the world, and are being incorporated into investment processes including asset valuation, asset allocation, and risk management. Corporate disclosures and wider ESG data serve as the bedrock for these investment processes.
Governments and regulators are asking businesses to better manage their social and environmental impacts to support sustainable prosperity creation. Citizens are asking their governments to do more to protect the environment and resolve societal issues. Customers are also asking business and finance to do this. New products and services must be both socially and environmental aware if they are to succeed.
