Finance leaders and professionals around the world are yet to concoct their plans on sustainability, according to a joint research by the Association of Chartered Certified Accountants, the International Federation of Accountants, and PricewaterhouseCoopers International.
The survey, which asked 1,000 senior finance professionals, underlines organisations’ urgent need for strategies and transition plans to combat climate change, remain successful, and meet stakeholder expectations.
It was revealed that almost half of respondents, or 46%, have yet to produce a system for reducing their carbon emissions.
Nearly 70% of those respondents without an emissions plan say they currently have no intention of developing one. According to ACCA, this is a significant problem considering that successful transition planning to a low carbon business begins with the development of a robust emissions plan.
The report also says that involving CFOs and finance teams in the emissions reduction planning is likely to accelerate progress.
Finance leaders and professionals are urged to embrace the issue because, although they may not always be the ‘owner’ of the sustainability agenda, CFOs can embed climate transition priorities into business planning and resource allocation, and enable high-quality sustainability reporting internally and externally.
The research recommends that finance teams need to develop the right skills and expertise in this area. For CFOs themselves, balancing the short-term operational priorities of the finance team whilst simultaneously upskilling and equipping the team to support the wider organisation’s net zero initiatives longer term must now be a critical imperative.
