Accounting: Increased Focus on Sustainability Strategy

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Introduction

There has been an increasing global focus on sustainability since the development and adoption of the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). The SGDs challenge governments, businesses, countries, and professions worldwide to increase their efforts in resisting inequality, climate change, poverty, environmental pollution, and other challenges (Mensah, 2019). The SGDs have created a more active role for professionals in innovating strategies that can avert the stated challenges. Accounting has an active role in sustainability development; hence a clear vision for accounting about sustainability should be:

Vision Statement: To see accountants driving positive business change by supporting economies, enhancing strong governance, and responding positively to climate change to create sustainable financial development to enrich society.

The Challenge Statement Build and Potential Solutions/Innovations Related to Sustainability

One of the challenges is the need for accountants to support economies, which is essential in eradicating poverty. The other challenge statement is enhancing strong leadership and responding positively to climate change that accountants have to achieve to provide a sustainable financial development that enriches society. One of the solutions is that accountants need to organize the internal systems of economies to ensure that priority is given to projects that have value for the economies (Mensah, 2019). The accounting profession can achieve this by ensuring they provide better corporate information to disclose financial and non-financial information, including social, environmental, and governance issues. This method has been adopted by Accountancy Europe, whereby they report and link both financial and non-financial issues in their corporate reports. This way, the accounting profession can support economies to grow while enhancing sustainability.

Accountancy can ensure effective governance by making informed decisions, measuring performance, designing internal control, and providing assurance. When there is effective leadership, there is likely to be a high level of ethical business practices that will address climate change (Mensah, 2019). Additionally, accountants can perform on-the-ground monitoring and measuring by auditing the company’s actions to avert climate change and its impact. Finally, they should come up with ways of rewarding sustainable policies by applying for funding to help companies fight climate change.

Presenting and Selling Ideas for an Enhanced Future in Accounting

I am highly persuasive in presenting and selling the idea of sustainability for enhanced future accounting. To ensure that the companies highly adopt my idea, I have adopted a four-step strategy for persuading my target companies to adopt the enhanced future in accounting. The first step is setting clear goals whereby I have integrated my goals with the UN sustainable goals. The main aim of this idea is to support economies, enhance strong leadership, and respond positively to climate change (Mensah, 2019). Besides, I have highlighted each goal’s benefits on sustainability to ensure clarity.

The second step is figuring out what the company wants to achieve. Although my ideas and goals may be impressive, not all companies are ready to accept them. Therefore, I must consider the other company’s opinion to see what they want in the proposed operations. The next step is to consider their objections by providing concise arguments that will help the company to support sustainable development (Mensah, 2019). After integrating the views and objections of the organization with the sustainable goals, the final step will be presenting the ideas. The presentation has to be simple and understandable so that all stakeholders present can understand what everything means.

What Is Sustainability in Business

Sustainability in business refers to the ability of firms to meet their short-term goals without compromising the ability of others to meet their future needs. Therefore, business managers should ensure that their investments guard both a long-term income stream and short-term business profits (Mensah, 2019). In addition, business sustainability can help businesses to fathom social, ecological, and economic problems by strategically managing resources. Sustainability helps firms to improve their impact on the external world.

Role of Businesses in Ending Systemic Racism

Businesses have a critical role in ensuring that there is racial equity and climate justice across the world. One strategy they have adopted is centering racial equity and climate justice in climate activities (Livingston, 2020). Businesses have helped by identifying activities promoting racism and creating solutions based on racial equity and climate change. For instance, some firms have decided to develop green jobs that adhere to human rights. In addition, other firms have ensured that they have protected their employees and stakeholders from climate-related events.

The other strategy is that businesses engage the individuals and communities most impacted by the climate crisis. This is whereby businesses evaluate their business climate impact and assemble data demonstrating the effect on stakeholders and communities most disturbed by structural inequalities (Livingston, 2020). For example, businesses can negotiate with disadvantaged communities and offer to help them on the condition that they will engage in activities that boost climate benefits, such as planting trees.

Businesses have adopted another strategy of educating the communities and building awareness of climate justice. In this case, they focus on how the climate crisis intersects with race. Building this awareness helps people to acknowledge and educate others hence spreading awareness (Livingston, 2020). For instance, the B Corp created the Climate Justice Learning Task Force to enable others to get information and knowledge about climate justice.

Businesses have decided to leverage their influence and advocate for public policy regarding climate justice. This is whereby they have asked the governments to add justice to the lens of climate change. For instance, Portland and Oakland cities have developed a plan to integrate racial equity into governmental plans regarding climate change.

Businesses have collaborated to scale their impact in solving climate injustices. Many businesses will likely have more impact than individuals when they come together to tackle systematic injustices. Thus, various companies, especially in the same industry, joined forces to ensure that they end systemic racism by supporting movements that fight against racism (Livingston, 2020). For instance, the Black Lives Matter movement has seen significant support from tech industries which has helped them to push for their agenda.

The Value of Sustainability

Sustainability has been an integral business concern in the 21st century, following consumer pressure to buy products from sustainable companies. As consumers become more aware of sustainability, they can differentiate sustainable companies and those that are not.’ According to a survey by Mensah (2019), more than 90% of global consumers confessed that they want products from sustainable companies. The pressure is even more in developed countries such as the USA, China, the UK, and Australia.

Conclusion

In conclusion, other benefits that come as a result of sustainability are cost savings, supply chain security, lower risks, enhanced brand value, customer loyalty, and access to new markets. Sustainability enables cost savings because it promotes more efficient processes, saving on cost. Supply chain security ensures that the production process is less risky and more secure. Customer loyalty is when consumers repurchase because of the product’s positive perception based on sustainability. This shows that businesses have much value to gain from adopting sustainable strategies.

References

Livingston, R. (2020). How to promote racial equity in the workplace. Harvard Business Review. Web.

Mensah, J. (2019). Sustainable development: Meaning, history, principles, pillars, and implications for human action: Literature review. Cogent Social Sciences, 5(1). Web.

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