Initiatives
The Prince of Wales's Accounting for Sustainability Project
The Prince of Wales has long been concerned that the world will continue to live off capital rather than income, and what we enjoy today will be at the expense of our children and grandchildren, unless practical and robust systems are developed to enable broader and longer-term factors to be taken into account more effectively in accounting and decision-making.
Fortunately, there is now greater awareness of the need for “sustainability”, considering what we do, not just in terms of ourselves and today, but also in terms of others and tomorrow.
Commissions and committees have been established, and policies and strategies developed and put into practice by the Government and companies; however, the translation of this aspiration into effective action is often inhibited by the lack of new “sustainability systems and processes”.
The Prince of Wales established his Accounting for Sustainability Project (A4S) to address this issue: to provide practical guidance and tools to help ensure that sustainability is not just talked about but becomes an integral part of organisations’s day-to-day operations. The project focuses on developing systems to help organisations take into account, and report, the wider social and environmental costs of their actions.
Speaking at the launch of A4S, His Royal Highness said the project is “to help ensure that we are not battling to meet 21st Century challenges with, at best, 20th Century decision making and reporting systems.”
Among the project’s current achievements are:
- guidance and tools to help organisations embed sustainability into day-to-day decision making
- a reporting model, the “Connected Reporting Framework”, to demonstrate how all areas of organisational performance can be presented in a connected way, reflecting the organisation’s strategy and the way it is managed.
- the establishment of the A4S Accounting Bodies Network, an international group of accounting bodies brought together to collaborate on accounting for sustainability, and of the A4S Forum Principles.
More recently, A4S has released the connected reporting ‘how to’ guide which incorporates three industry examples and includes an on-line interactive version containing examples of real-life reporting. It has also launched a book of case studies, “Accounting for Sustainability: Practical Insights” which presents examples of how several leading public and private sector organisations have used accounting for sustainability tools and principles to embed sustainability into their mainstream decision-making and reporting.
Coming soon…
A4S is currently collaborating with the Global Reporting Initiative (GRI), International Federation of Accountants (IFAC) and other global organisations towards establishing an "International Integrated Reporting Committee" (IIRC).
In 2011 we will also be launching a community website in collaboration with the International Federation of Accountants. This will be a vibrant community for anyone with an interest in accounting for sustainability to discuss and share ideas.
For further information on the Project’s work and how to get involved, click here.