Today, CPA Ireland intends to take its responsibility in the sustainability transition and how we intend to, yet again, demonstrate leadership in the profession with the launch of the CPA Ireland Sustainability Hub.
In recent years, climate and weather catastrophes, environmental disasters, legislation and regulation, consumer demand, the investor perspective and the views of all stakeholders in the business ecosystem have dramatically shifted sustainability from a theme to an action item at the heart of every business.
Global standards on sustainability reporting are in development by the International Sustainability Standards Board, and the European Commission is also setting disclosure standards, initially for large companies, that will take those global standards as a baseline and take account of any variations required in the EU. Mandatory reporting is on the immediate horizon and sustainability reporting will be core to what CPAs do in the immediate future.
Sustainability reporting will not be confined to large companies, and we are already seeing SMEs being asked to verify their sustainability credentials within the supply chain of larger companies and when tendering for public contracts.
To support CPAs in providing that transparency and trust, both knowledge and credentials are, we believe, essential. CPAs already possess the core technical skills to lead in the domain of sustainability reporting and CPA Ireland is delivering the knowledge advantage through the development and launch of this Sustainability Hub. This initiative follows on from and builds upon CPA Ireland’s leadership positions in Digitalisation and in Wellbeing, and the Sustainability Hub will provide knowledge across all aspects of sustainability that are relevant to CPAs and to the businesses you advise.
Having provided the knowledge to CPAs through the Hub, we are already working on allowing CPAs to demonstrate their expertise through a series of Micro Credentials that will clearly demonstrate the expertise that CPAs hold. In taking this leadership position on sustainability, CPA Ireland is delivering on its social purpose and shaping a relevant, trusted and attractive profession.
To access the Sustainability Hub, please click
here.
