The Association of Chartered Certified Accountants (ACCA) has published a new paper, ‘Empowering Business: Navigating Nature-Related Reporting’, aimed at helping accountants support organisations in addressing sustainability challenges through effective nature-related reporting.
The report emphasises the critical role of accountants in navigating the complexities of nature-related reporting, urging financial professionals to understand the principles, challenges, and opportunities this area presents. ACCA encourages accountants to engage with boards and executive management to promote sustainability efforts, with the goal of driving meaningful actions that address environmental concerns.
As stewards of organisational resilience, accountants play a vital role in fostering trust and transparency between businesses and financial markets. Nature-related reporting, the ACCA notes, is a key component of this, helping organisations tackle sustainability challenges and enhance long-term resilience.
The report outlines several recommendations for accountants. It encourages accountants to champion voluntary nature-related reporting to meet stakeholder expectations and comply with emerging regulations across jurisdictions. Also, it calls for undertaking stakeholder mapping by getting organisations to identify key stakeholders and their reporting obligations to shape their nature-related reporting strategies. It also recommends accountants ensure alignment with international sustainability commitments.
ACCA’s research, conducted in collaboration with the University of Glasgow, revealed significant room for improvement in the adoption and quality of nature-related reporting. It highlights a lack of consistency in targets set by early adopters of existing frameworks.
The report defines key concepts such as “nature,” shareholder expectations, and the economic benefits of reporting on nature, and it details the core principles of nature-related reporting, including impacts, dependencies, risks, opportunities, and materiality.
Additionally, the paper examines the current global state of nature-related reporting, offering examples of best practices from early adopters, and identifies the challenges accountants face in advancing efforts to restore natural habitats and ecosystems.
“Nature is the foundation for all life on Earth and our research suggests that an overwhelming number of organisations do not effectively assess and communicate their impacts and dependencies on nature,” said Jessica Bingham, regional lead, Policy & Insights (EEMA & UK), ACCA.
Looking ahead, ACCA highlights the important role accountants will continue to play in driving sustainability initiatives through nature-related reporting.
