SOUTH Africa’s accountancy profession could help initiate long term global corporate climate change projects, says Wits School of Accountancy Professor Kurt Sartorius.
In July this year, the 73-year-old professor and his son Benn will initiate a long-term climate change project , and paddle 1 100 kilometres down the Rio Madeira, a southern tributary of the Amazon River, to highlight the changes in the 50 years since he first paddled down this river in July 1972.
Their endeavour will provide an opportunity for the accountancy profession in South Africa to initiate a global climate change initiative of its own.
“This component will be used to demonstrate that corporate SA understands that climate change has no geographic borders. The Amazon Rainforest is the world’s lungs. If it is destroyed, the rest of the planet cannot breathe.
“In response to this global threat, the expedition in conjunction with the accountancy profession, will try to commit corporate SA to fund a reforestation project in the Brazilian Amazon, as well as pioneer a new genre of climate reporting in published integrated annual reports,” Sartorius said.
He said the profession hasc the potential to develop a world leading climate change project through Accountancy SA - a leader in developing accounting standards - and corporate South Africa, complying with these standards, when they develop their annual reports.
He said these reports were designed to include a focus on the corporate social responsibility they bear as captains of industry. This extended to the environment and its natural resources and how they manage these in a responsible manner.
“Accountancy SA has a unique opportunity to persuade its members to expand this reporting to cover their role to address climate change beyond just their use of natural resources.
“In other words what are you doing that adversely affects climate change and what are you doing about it, especially in a global context?
“In the words of naturalist, Sir David Attenborough, it is the duty of mankind to save our planet and its diverse fauna and flora. It is even more incumbent on the corporate world to take the lead as they have the skills and the finances to initiate long term sustainable climate change projects. This is why the accountancy profession has a responsibility to lead the charge,” said Sartorius.
Sartorius said The Code of Responsible Investment in South Africa (CRISA) and the UN’s Principles of Responsible Investment (PRI) called on the corporate world to start doing something about climate change.
He said the investment community recognised that climate change was an important element in financial risk, and it was important for the accountancy profession to take the lead.
“King-IV is the gold standard for corporate governance and it applies to all companies, including professional service firms like the Big 4. All accounting firms should be leading the way when it comes to responsible and ethical business at the core of good governance.
According to the professor, accounting firms had been expanding their assurance services to include different aspects of financial and non-financial reporting, including environmental metrics and the effort to raise awareness about deforestation of the Amazon aligns very nicely with this new business model.
Sartorius said the accounting profession, led by institutions like SAICA/IRBA could promote integrated thinking and life-long learning, and demonstrate how the corporate world could use this in their reporting to demonstrate their understanding and support of climate change issues.
He said that the profession needed to move way from being only compliant with regulations and start acting as world leaders adopting a pro-active stance to climate change.
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