The UN World Commission on Environment and Development defines sustainable development as “sustainable development is development that meets the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs.”
Sustainable development requires an integrated approach that takes into consideration environmental concerns along with economic development.
In 1987, the United Nations Brundtland Commission defined sustainability as “meeting the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs.” Today, there are almost 140 developing countries in the world seeking ways of meeting their development needs, but with the increasing threat of climate change, concrete efforts must be made to ensure development today does not negatively affect future generations.
According to the new report from the Association of International Certified Professional Accountants, business has a fundamental role to play in delivering against the SDGs’ requirements. Contributions will include working with stakeholders, creating jobs, enabling access to healthcare, innovating new technologies and leading the development and responsible use of resources like energy and water.
Chartered accountants function as auditors, both internally and externally, while providing valuable advisory, consultancy services, bankers, investors, and in various other capacities. This extensive reliance on chartered accountants stems from the profession’s esteemed reputation, characterized by dignity, respect, and unwavering trust.
Initiatives Taken by ICAI in Promoting SDG among Chartered Accountants
The Role the CA Play
Accountants in carrying out their professional work are not just compiling financial reports on companies, but more than that accountants have many other jobs, so the goal of sustainable development goals can be realized through the role of accountants. Both accountants and entrepreneurs must focus on SDGs that are most relevant to their industry, sector, and type of business.
Accounting also plays a role in sustainable development through the activities of economic entities, analysis of costs and benefits that have an impact on the environment, the development of innovative practices and environmental pollution policies. Accountants should minimize asymmetric information so that reports made by accountants will show the actual conditions because there is an audit process that will check the fairness of the information produced. This will facilitate the management of the company in directing the pace of the company in accordance with the objectives of the SDGs in the actual conditions that occur
The company accountants should be able to maintain the ecosystem of their business. To be able to portray this function, emancipatory accounting must have three very basic characteristics, namely
(1) accounting is intended and has a role to provide information about the ability of business entities to carry out business activities that provide emancipation to ecosystems, intragenerational and intergenerational
(2) accounting must take a role as a catalyst for the creation of emancipatory business practices by continually encouraging spiritual transformation through education for business and accounting practitioners
(3) accounting must act as a business information system that is able to facilitate the implementation of economic, social, environmental and spiritual accountability by business entities to preserve the harmony of life guided by the concept of integrated-in-harmony view of sustainable development.
Organizations must be in the front especially in making a plan so that SDGs can be implemented properly. Whereas the role of a professional accountant is that an accountant must provide SDGs elemental messages in providing recommendations on financial statements, in addition, the accountant must encourage the company to fulfil the SDGs requirements in carrying out its business.
The accountants also play a role in the perspective of environmental management, so the company will not disrupt the environment so that the environment will be maintained. The role of the educating accountant is the accountant educator must compile an education curriculum that adapts to the SDGs goals. Besides that, another important factor is that lecturers must be of good quality who are ready to update accounting information.
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