‘Sustainability, financial info catalyst for resilient bodies’

KARACHI: As COP30 begins in Brazil, new research from ACCA (the Association of Chartered Certified Accountants) highlights that interconnected sustainability and financial information is essential for building organisational resilience and sustainable value creation.

The report, Sustainability reporting: Track your progress, surveyed over 1,000 respondents from 113 jurisdictions and found that only a small majority (53 percent) of organisations have begun creating or using sustainability information, while 39 percent are yet to commit. Many still struggle to understand their critical resources (25 percent) and stakeholder information needs (33 percent).

The findings reveal major gaps in readiness across systems, processes, and people—largely due to weak leadership commitment. This shortfall undermines strategic decision-making, sustainability investment, and data governance.

The Head of sustainable business at ACCA – Sharon Machado stressed that: “Leaders must anticipate and act on risks that threaten long-term resilience and value creation. She noted that when key stakeholders or their resources are affected, financial consequences quickly follow.”

To help organisations strengthen sustainability reporting, the report outlines ten key recommendations, including moving beyond compliance, adopting globally relevant standards, embedding sustainability into stakeholder management, and collaborating across industries and regions.

The full report and recommendations are available on ACCA’s website.

Copyright Business Recorder, 2025