The majority of Hong Kong accountants — at 85% — are committed to achieving net zero, said CPA Australia recently when releasing results of a survey of nearly 300 accounting and financial professionals across various industries in the city.
Survey highlights
- 77%of respondents believe it is important for CPA Australia to commit to a net zero greenhouse gas emissions pathway, providing strong support for becoming a signatory to the global commitment.
- 75% of respondents agree that the accounting profession has a key role to play in achieving net zero emissions.
- 90% of surveyed members indicated that they wished to increase their knowledge of environmental, social and governance (ESG) issues.
The accounting profession occupies a privileged position in the global economy, said CPA Australia Chief Executive Andrew Hunter.
“As trusted advisers, we’re privy to deep business insights about sustainability risks and opportunities,” Hunter noted. “This knowledge creates an obligation to use our skills to protect our environmental heritage.”
“In the past two years, CPA Australia’s members in Hong Kong have been actively collaborating with financial institutions to develop the conceptual frameworks for sustainability reporting and advocate for the sustainable growth in the business community,” said Janssen Chan, FCPA(Aust.) Divisional President of CPA Australia 2021 in Greater China.
In Hong Kong, the government has set a goal to become carbon neutral before 2050 and pledged to update the ‘Hong Kong’s Climate Action Plan’ to set out more proactive strategies and measures to reduce carbon emissions.
In the latest Hong Kong Policy Address, CPA Australia has proposed twelve recommendations to the SAR Government to further promote ESG integration and green finance in Hong Kong, the accountancy body said.
These measures aim to drive different-sized enterprises to support Hong Kong’s sustainable growth, such as providing SMEs access to resources and skills to assist them integrate ESG into their business models, allocating resources for public sector decarbonisation and developing a hydrogen economy plan, CPA Australia added.
