“Accountants will save the world”. Yeah, right😆? Before start laughing or thinking that I’m out of my mind, let’s unpack if it’s that crazy.
The statement originates from Peter Bakker, CEO of WBCSD back in 2013 and his argument was that sustainability would stay marginal until companies changed how they account for environmental and social impacts. Accounting alone won’t save the world unfortunately, but the skill to integrate non-financial numbers into how business actually operates is
✏️ The Formula for driving Sustainable Business Change
Environmental dependencies ➕ social dependencies ➡️ performance measurement ➕ identified risks & opportunities ➕ estimated financial impact ➡️ management attention ➡️ business change
So where do we stand more than a decade later? The IFRS sustainability standards are slowly moving companies away from unstructured sustainability information and towards accounting for sustainability related risks and opportunities and decision-useful information. They ask a simple question: what sustainability-related issues could affect this business prospects, and how are you managing them?
The standards rest on four pillars:
🚦 Governance
♟️ Strategy
⚠️ Risk Management
📊 Metrics & Targets
Over the next weeks, Ill take them one at a time, starting with Governance. It's where the management attention step in the formula either happens or doesn't.
Reach out for a chat about how to make your business more resilient and aligned with new standards.
https://www.futuroadvisory.com/appointments
Thanks for your time and attention!