Annual Accounting Conference 2019
This year's conference focused on how accountants can save the planetStudents in LSBU Business School are given many opportunities to attend professional events with industry leaders including the annual accounting conference. On Thursday 21 November 2019, the conference was held in the Business School, co-hosted with PQ Magazine. The event brought in many guests from prestigious accounting firms across London, industry experts, sustainability enthusiasts, experts and students.
The event
To kick off this year's event, Sarah Moore-Williams, Dean of LSBU Business School, introduced the event and the Business School ethos and its link with sustainability including the thought behind the sustainable aspects of the Business School building. She then ran through a brief history of accountants before PQ Magazine Editor, Graham Hambly introduced himself and the speakers.
Heading to mass extinction
Following the introductions, Professor Jill Atkins, co-author of ‘Chief Value Office: Accountants can save the planet’, presented her keynote speech which introduced guests to some shocking facts about our planet; according to experts, we are currently in the 6th period of mass extinction, which is one on from the extinction of the dinosaurs. She claimed that we focus too much on blaming just climate change as the cause of this but in fact habitat destruction is more serious along with over exploitation and pesticides. She also stated that around 1 million different species are threatened currently and 75% of this are insects – including pollinators.
Durian fruit: how the supply and demand could lead to extinction of the flying squirrel and investment risks
Professor Jill Atkins drew the link between this and accountants, as this threat can link closely to risk in financial investment. She gave the example of durian fruit which grows in Malaysia. This fruit is becoming increasingly popular in China and the demand for it has increased substantially over the last few years which means financial investors are in a good position along with farmers who produce the fruit. This demand meant that farmers in Malaysia are culling the forest to plant more durian fruit trees. Flying squirrel numbers, who are the sole creatures who aid in pollinating the fruit trees, were dropping in number as their habitats are being destroyed. This means that, although demand is high for the fruit and investment seems great, there is a huge risk as, if the flying squirrels are no longer there, there will be no more fruit to meet the demand. If these creatures go extinct then there is financial risk from the investment despite growth predictions.
Three engaging streams
Following the eye-opening keynote speech, the day was set out into 3 streams; Green Accounting and Social Responsibility, Taxes and Ethics, and Careers and You. Each stream provided talks by industry experts followed by a group panel discussion for all streams to close. All attendees could decide on which stream to follow for the day or switch between sessions after refreshment breaks which were great for short networking opportunities before the real networking drinks section after the event with academics and industry professionals.
Climate change as a financial risk
Guests then split into their preferred streams for the day. For the Creating a Greener World stream, Thora Frost, Senior Client Manager at Carbon Trust, stated that only 10% of banks in the UK are taking long term strategic approach to managing financial risks from climate change. Following this, Phil Fitz-Gerald, FRC’s Director of the Financial Reporting Lab, then discussed identifying best practice in corporate reporting to provide better information to investors and stated that ‘to create a greener world, the market needs information to make informed decisions’.
Bees: their decline has cost the US $15bn
Lead by Jill Atkins’ and Francesca Sharp, Sustainability Manager at ICAEW, this stream looked at the role of bees in this climate emergency. They stated that ‘an integrated approach shows that the disappearance of bees could result in disaster for the human race and the eco system generally’. From research it was found that the economic value of pollination was $217bn in 2008, however the impact of bee decline has cost the US $15bn and, if bees do become extinct, it would cost $90bn to pollinate by hand annually. Francesca then went on to say that, globally, under 30 year olds have only had one month of below average temperatures in their lifetime and stated that ‘climate change, or the climate emergency, is an issue that is defining over time. It is referred to by economists as the greatest marketing failure in human history’.
Putting climate change on the balance sheet
To close, the panel discussion concluded on ways in which the accounting profession could help to reduce this issue with many speakers claiming that we need to ‘bring the cost of climate change to the balance sheet’ and Francesca Sharp stating that we need to ‘start change personally’. Following the event, students and guests were given the opportunity to network with all speakers, academics and other professionals in attendance.