Dire environmental performance puts pressure on companies

Overnight, CPA Australia received the Australasian Reporting Awards’ (ARA) 2022 Integrated Reporting Award. We are taking the opportunity to urge companies to adopt integrated reporting to help save Australia’s environmental heritage.

“Given the dire state of Australia’s performance in the State of the Environment report, integrated reporting has never been more important,” said CPA Australia Chief Executive, Andrew Hunter.

The Federal Government today released the 2021 State of the Environment report revealing a significant loss of wildlife and habitat, with many ecosystems showing signs of collapse or near collapse.

"We’re taking this opportunity to encourage more businesses to adopt integrated reporting. Taking a responsible, long-term approach to value creation in an increasingly uncertain world is crucial.

“Integrated reporting is an opportunity for companies to show they’re putting their money where their mouth is when it comes to meeting community expectations about their impact.”

Integrated reporting measures financial and non-financial capital in six areas (financial, manufactured, human, intellectual, social and relationship, and natural) to better capture value creation.

"Integrated reporting helps businesses think more clearly about the role non-financial factors, such as environmental, social and governance (ESG) considerations, play in value creation.

"Company stakeholders, whether they’re shareholders, customers or members, have a legitimate need to understand how long-term value is being created. They want transparency beyond what is typically required in mandatory standards.”

“CPA Australia is creating value by reducing our impact on the environment. We have committed to achieving net zero greenhouse gas emissions within our organisation. We advocate for the adoption of sustainability standards, and we provide education and resources to assist accountants and others to improve sustainability.”

Elements of integrated reporting have been used in CPA Australia reports since 2013 when the International Integrated Reporting Framework was released.

CPA Australia’s 2021 Integrated Report covers risks, opportunities, material issues, external environment and views of stakeholders in detail. It was prepared in accordance with the Value Reporting Foundation’s Integrated Reporting Framework.

CPA Australia also won the ARA Report of the Year in 2020, received a Gold Award for our 2019 Integrated Report and was a finalist in 2021. We are a member of the Value Reporting Foundation and the Integrated Reporting Business Network and support the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals.

"We are dedicated to excellence in our reporting and welcome the ongoing recognition of our commitment”.

Information about the ARA Awards is available here. Information about the Integrated Reporting Award is available here. The list of 2022 ARA winners is available here

Media contact

Jennifer Duke, External Affairs Lead on +61 438 502 389 or email: [email protected]