Don McGonagle - climate change reporting a missed opportunity

1. DON MCGONAGLE - CLIMATE CHANGE REPORTING: A MISSED OPPORTUNITY? What doesn't get measured doesn't get done - a recurring truism in my blogs and in the world of climate change reporting. Without accurate standardised reporting we leave the corporate reporting world free to "greenwash" shareholders, investors and general readers and more importantly we have no roadmap to addressing the issues that the world faces. The accounting and reporting world, therefore, has a fundamental part to play in addressing this issue and providing the framework to corporate reporting as it becomes clear that climate change actions are not an impact restricted to the Corporate and Social Report but if left unaddressed will soon directly affect a company's balance sheet and annual profit and loss performance. The Rio Earth Summit as long ago as 1992 identified the issues faced but progress since that time has been deathly slow. The accounting and reporting bodies have followed that lead (or lack of leadership) and moved in an equally snail paced way. This paper examines what steps have been made and the opportunity now presented to the Accounting world. There is a clear opportunity here for a reporting framework that goes beyond the CSR and sets standard measurement techniques for corporate activities in the move towards a carbon neutral world. Is this going to solve all the issues in isolation - of course not - but it is a valuable enabler and could even be deemed to be a critical step in measuring progress. ...............read more www.donmcgonagle.co.uk