Association of Chartered Certified Accountants (ACCA) Pakistan has partnered with the World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF) Pakistan to reward and recognise good sustainability reporting via the ACCA-WWF Pakistan Environmental Reporting Awards.
At the heart of the judging criteria is GRI, the “go to” standard for enterprises to start reporting and drive good business behaviour.
Ever since 2000, ACCA Pakistan has been actively encouraging businesses large and small, quoted and unquoted, to adopt GRI sustainability reporting standards and start reporting on their economic, environmental, and social performance.
Speaking at the launch of the report “Sustainability Reporting: the Evolving Landscape in Pakistan” Regional Head of Policy Arif Masud Mirza said, “Pakistani businesses are faced with classic headwinds like climate change, political turmoil, law and order, and security issues. Business leaders and policy makers must ensure that they counter with tailwinds such as adopting modern corporate reporting, integrated thinking across the management levels, having a regulatory framework that communicates the physical risks to business from not understanding environment, social and governance (ESG) forces.”
Also speaking about the report was the author Malik Mirza who said the report attempts to document where we are with non-financial reporting. The report comments on the reputational benefits of sustainability reporting and the adoption of such reporting in Pakistan. The report also mentions that the PSX is set to join the MSCI emerging markets index this year and that the large body of research done by the MSCI on the coming of age of ESG performance indicators for investors is becoming increasingly compelling.”
The timing of this report coincides with the launch of the new GRI G4 standards. “The GRI standards make it much easier for companies to report non-financial information, using a well-understood shared language,” said GRI South Asia Regional Hub Director Dr Aditi Haldar. “The standards are more straightforward, making them accessible to potentially millions of businesses worldwide. Sustainability reporting, using the GRI Standards, is the best way for a company to disclose its economic, environmental and social impacts, thus providing insights into its contributions – positive or negative – toward sustainable development. The GRI South Asia Hub is looking forward to collaborating with businesses and capital markets across South Asia and we welcome the ACCA’s advocacy work in this area.”
ACCA Pakistan Head Sajjeed Aslam added “Pakistan’s stock exchange continues to be on a long bullish run. However, the steadiness of such capital markets is also driven by how corporate leaders manage the non-financial part of their business. This is vital in countries with large youth populations where we need business to grow and survive to provide jobs and the growing demands for honest goods and services. There is also a need to ensure that business processes do not damage the ecosystem, but rather add value to add to it. Stakeholder education is vital in this consumer and business relationship. ACCA Pakistan encourages stakeholder engagement as part of its judging criteria used in the ACCA-WWF awards as well as simple and clear communication underpinned by credible audited reporting.”