SINGAPORE – Often overlooked, number crunching accountants play a key role in helping companies, especially smaller ones, thrive in the green economy and decarbonise, said Minister for Sustainability and the Environment Grace Fu.
Accountants act as the bridge between finance, operations and the markets.
“With green financing and carbon credits happening, these require reporting, measurements, assurance and verification,” Ms Fu said, speaking at a dialogue organised by the Singapore Business Federation and Institute of Singapore Chartered Accountants (ISCA) on March 12.
The dialogue, held at the SGX Centre, delved into the implications that global climate developments and the recent Budget announcements have on businesses here.
“For the accounting profession, it feels like a wave that is sweeping through (right now)… having more reporting requirements and deadlines ahead of us. And, worse still, the standards are still evolving,” added the minister, who has a background in accountancy.
Ms Fu was referring to the recent announcement that requires all listed companies to make climate-related disclosures from 2025, [https://www.straitstimes.com/business/singapore-regulators-propose-mandatory-climate-reporting-for-listed-and-large-non-listed-companies] aligned to requirements set out by the International Sustainability Standards Board. This requirement will expand to large non-listed companies from 2027.
Climate disclosures are documents that organisations publish to outline the carbon footprint of their activities and their exposure to climate risks.
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The panel included Professor Winston Chow, a climate scientist at Singapore Management University, and Dr Bicky Bhangu, president of South East Asia, Pacific and South Korea at Rolls-Royce. It was moderated by Ms Fang Eu-Lin, who chairs ISCA’s sustainability and climate change committee.
The panellists were asked about how accountants can play a role in their companies’ sustainability teams.
Instead of feeling bogged down by the additional responsibilities of environmental, social and corporate governance (ESG), Ms Fu encouraged accountants to grasp them as opportunities.
“I was a little bit surprised when I heard from some friends that the accountants are fighting this. They are saying, ‘I’m not trained to do this, employ someone else to do this. Why are you giving more work?’
“This is a chance for you to widen your scope, double your value-add, raise your fees, and (eventually) be a chief financial officer and chief sustainability officer,” said Ms Fu.
She added that there is no running away from folding sustainability matters into an accountant’s work. While they are asked about financial numbers now, they will also be asked about carbon numbers.
The ISCA, for instance, has sustainability certifications to help accountants and other professionals master skills needed for climate reporting.
On the topic of upskilling, Prof Chow stressed that the move to a green economy should not leave people behind, and expanding SkillsFuture can help to deter that.
