Sustainability at Chartered Accountants Ireland

Our Institute’s journey to zero

An overview of sustainability at Chartered Accountants Ireland

• Chartered Accountants Ireland is advised by a Sustainability Expert Working Group. This working group comprises representatives from accounting firms, government organisations and NGOs, academia, business, professional accounting organisations, and the energy, banking sector and technology sectors. 

• Institute representatives sit on the Sustainabilty Taskforce of Chartered Accountants Worldwide (CAW). Through CAW the Institute is involved in a range of initiatives, from organising 'Difference Maker' events, to running the Chartered Star competition for a Chartered Accountant to represent us at the annual One Young World summit, to supporting the Finance & Business 2030 (FinBiz2030) taskforce. The Irish Task Force for FinBiz 2030 focuses on UN Sustainable Developemnt Goals 4, 5, 10 and 13, and raising awareness of all the UN SDGs.

• Institute representatives also sit on the Sustainability Working Group of the Global Accounting Alliance (GAA).Through this we signed a call to action in March 2022 called  ‘Nature is Everyone’s Business’, a profession-wide commitment to reverse nature loss and to signal the important role the profession plays in this crisis.

• Through the GAA the Institute is a member of the Accounting Bodies Network of “Accounting for Sustainability” (A4S), established in 2004 with the aim of promoting sustainable decision-making in business. The Institute was one of 14 accounting bodies worldwide to become signatories to a call to action on climate change issued by A4S in February 2020. In October 2021, Barry Dempsey signed a commitment for Chartered Accountants Ireland to achieve net zero emissions and enable members to do the same.

• In 2021 we launched a campaign with our sister Institutes in Scotland (ICAS) and England and Wales (ICAEW)  to celebrate 1,000 Chartered Accountants whose work include action on the climate crisis, and to encourage their fellow Chartered Accountants to join them in this challenge. 

• In 2020 we launched our Sustainability Hub with information, guidance and supports to help members understand sustainability and meet the challenges it presents.

• In November 2020, we launched a new guide, Sustainability for Accountants, detailing the risks and opportunities presented by sustainability, and the steps that need to be taken to address the challenges.  

• We respond to national and international consultations of relevance to sustainability, for example, the review of the EU’s Non-Financial Reporting Directive, the IFRS's consultation on the establishment of global sustainability reporting standards, and the public consultation on draft European Sustainability Reporting Standards (ESRSs), prepared by the European Financial Reporting Advisory Group (EFRAG).

• We have integrated sustainability into the student curriculum, with the introduction of Corporate Social Responsibility, Sustainability and Integrated Reporting as a core area within Topic Area 4 Risk Management & Sustainability. 

• Sustainability is also included as a topic area in our Professional Development programme. In 2022 we launched the Certificate in Sustainability Strategy, Risk and Reporting to give members a strong foundation in sustainability and ESG issues that are already impacting business resilience. The Certificate will be led by speakers from the 'Big 4' accounting firms. 
  In 2021 we ran a webinar series: Demystifying Sustainability for Accountants (NI/ROI) to cover Environmental, Social and Governance (ESG) issues that are impacting businesses across all sectors of the economy. This is still available as an On-Demand service.
  Members are also able to take integrated reporting at Diploma level in the Excellence in Financial Reporting Diploma, which commenced in 2020. 

• Accountancy Ireland and Briefly regularly features sustainability-related content, including on its podcast series. 

• We run knowledge and networking events, connecting experts with each other, and providing accountant-relevant information on the topic. Our inaugural Sustainability Conference was in 2021, at which the keynote speakers were Eamon Ryan TD, Minister for Transport and Minister for the Environment, Climate & Communications in Ireland; and Nichola Mallon MLA, Minister for Infrastructure in Northern Ireland.  Our 2022 Sustainability Conference featured Sue Lloyd, Vice-Chair of the International Sustainability Standards Board, and was packed with topics and sessions designed to enhance existing knowledge and understanding of current sustainability issues that will likely impact all accounting, business and finance professionals.

• Through our District Society activities we run events on the topic of sustainability. Sustainability is also included as a topic area in our CPD programme, as part of the CPD Blitz business workstream. Check out the CPD events calendar.

• Chartered Accountants Ireland is a founding member of Chapter Zero Ireland, the Irish Chapter of the Climate Governance Initiative, developed in collaboration with the World Economic Forum. It aims to build a community of non-executive directors and equip them to lead discussions on the impacts of climate change.