TORONTO, ONTARIO--(Marketwired - Jul 24, 2013) - ACCA held a series of focus groups in six countries around the world to understand how the international community should take forward the commitments set out in Paragraph 47 of "The Future We Want", from the UN's outcome document which was agreed at the Rio+20 conference in 2012. The discussions - held in Australia, Hong Kong, Canada, South Africa, the UAE and the UK - are presented by ACCA from both stakeholder and national perspectives, and are published in a new report from ACCA called Paragraph 47: international perspectives one year on. (http://bit.ly/10zrAVV)
Paragraph 47 acknowledges the importance of corporate sustainability development. The inclusion of Paragraph 47 was seen as a small measure of success, but the language used was too vague to have any real impact on the corporate sector in Canada, say experts attending a focus group held by ACCA (the Association of Chartered Certified Accountants). The private sector might be a better promoter of corporate sustainability reporting in Canada than a UN or government-led initiative, due to mechanisms already in place to 'name and shame' companies that operate in an unsustainable manner.
Among the shared stakeholder perspectives, a principles-based framework would be better than a 'checklist' approach, as the former would encourage companies to consider their material impacts rather than focus on complying with minimum standards.
"There was common opinion that sustainability reporting will help efforts to address social and environmental issues, that government-led action was an important way to kick start the wider adoption of sustainability reporting, and that existing frameworks should be used to develop best practice, rather than being inefficient and reinventing the wheel," said Rachel Jackson, ACCA's Head of Sustainability.
A set of recommendations emerging from the debate have been put forward for any government intending to implement Paragraph 47.
Recommendations include, but are not limited to:
-
Focus on materiality
-
Ensure outcomes-based and contextual reporting
-
Facilitate the integration of sustainability into business strategy
-
Use stock exchanges and their influence over listed companies
-
Build on existing frameworks and harmonising requirements
-
Develop an awareness of local knowledge and limitations
-
Scale down requirements for SMEs
Suzanne Godbehere, Head of ACCA Canada, said:
"These discussions will hopefully make a difference in helping to change perspectives and show just how important corporate sustainability reporting is to helping Canada's economy regain its momentum."