​​​​ESG webinar: Sustainability 101 for Accounting and Finance Professionals (EWEB2471101)

As businesses increasingly recognize the importance of sustainable practices, the role of CPAs and finance professionals in driving these initiatives has become more critical than ever. Accounting and finance professionals play a crucial role in providing sustainability-related financial information to manage risks, develop business strategies, and influence business decision-making.

The Hong Kong Institute of Certified Public Accountants has invited the World Green Organisation to provide participants with a foundational understanding of sustainability and ESG principles, highlighting their significance in today's corporate landscape through an accountant's lens.

In this webinar, participants will explore:

• Leveraging CPA competencies: How CPAs can leverage their core competencies to support organizations in achieving sustainable and resilient business operations.
• Triple Bottom Line framework: Understanding the Triple Bottom Line (TBL) framework, focusing on the three P's: people, planet, and profit.
• Linking accounting with ESG: The linkage between accounting and ESG, including how finance professionals can integrate ESG factors into traditional accounting practices.
• International trends and regulations: An overview of international trends in sustainable development and regulations, providing a global perspective on evolving standards.
• ESG reporting shortfalls and legal pitfalls: Identifying current shortfalls in ESG reporting and legal pitfalls that companies may encounter. How CPAs can leverage their core competencies to support organizations in achieving sustainable and resilient business operations.
• Climate change as a central pillar of ESG: Exploring climate change risks, including severe weather events and regulatory transitions, impact on major companies and driving divestment from carbon-intensive industries.
• Value and analysis of sustainability disclosures: Examining how to analyze, interpret, and apply sustainability assessments, focusing on the impact of non-financial factors on business performance.
• Avoiding greenwashing, climate washing, and Sustainable Development Goals (SDG) washing: Identifying and avoiding issues such as greenwashing, climate washing, and SDG washing in sustainability reporting.

By the end of the session, participants will be equipped to integrate sustainability into their professional practices, ultimately contributing to more robust and forward-thinking organizations.