Accountants are vital in green finance challenge, ACCA reports

Professional accountants must become experts in green finance and help drive the mitigation to sustainable economies, said ACCA in its latest report. 

In the new ‘Green finance skills: the guide’ research, the body for professional accountants explained that access to green finance can be considered a “lifeline” to businesses. Yet, research conducted in concomitance with the Institute of Management Accountants revealed that businesses believe they are uninformed on climate finance opportunities despite attaching more importance to environmental factors. 

ACCA senior subject manager on sustainability, Emmeline Skelton, said: “In a world where key stakeholders are demanding more from companies and their net zero objectives, green finance is fast becoming the hot topic for the finance profession as it explores financing options. The profession needs upskilling, especially in volatile times, where access to capital including green finance is crucial for an organisation’s long-term survival.”

With lenders increasingly offering attractive ‘green rates’ to organisations able to meet sustainability requirements, green finance is cheap capital that can keep businesses in business. Professional accountants’ ability to understand the green finance options needed for the transition to net-zero is key to equipping organisations with this expertise. 

The ACCA platform is crucial in supporting finance professionals in their role of helping organisations to develop well-structured and unrisked sustainable development initiatives and portfolios of greener assets. This includes the new Climate Finance course designed by experts from ACCA and CFA Institute in response to the demand for skills and training in this fast-developing area. 

John Lelliott, non-executive director of the Environment Agency and ACCA sustainability global forum chair, said: “The accountancy and finance profession’s knowledge and skills in evolving market trends, stakeholder requirements and regulatory changes, will be key to transform organisations to operate in a net zero economy.”