New Sustainability Certificate from ICAEW (ICAEW)

Business Opportunities

September 19, 2022

PrimeGlobal Alliance Partner ICAEW has launched a new sustainability certificate to equip professional accountants with the practical knowledge and skills to integrate sustainability performance metrics into risk management, financial planning and analysis, business decision making and ESG/sustainability reporting.

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The Institute of Chartered Accountants in England and Wales (ICAEW) new Sustainability Certificate is designed for accountants in a wide range of roles.

It takes an applied approach to sustainability, rather than focusing on the science and academic background. There are two key areas of focus:

Equipping accountants to better integrate sustainability issues into decision-making, management accounting, FP&A, financial reporting, and advisory services;
Understanding the reporting landscape, equipping those in a financial reporting role to report on ESG and integrate it into corporate reports.

The certificate is for accountants working in both practice and business, across a variety of roles and organisations, covering financial reporting, management accounting, financial planning and analysis, audit and broader business advisory roles.

The learning consists of interactive lessons with theory, practical examples, time for self-reflection, knowledge quizzes and case studies with an estimated duration of 15 hours to complete.

Learning points

On completion of this course learners will be able to:

Describe how ESG/sustainability regulation and stakeholder demand is driving change and what this means for the future role of accountants.
Understand how to analyse and integrate the impacts of climate change and sustainability targets into financial planning and analysis.
Recognise how financial statements (and management accounting) are affected by climate-related matters; including an overview of the key accounting standards where this most commonly applies.
Explain why ESG (beyond climate) is relevant for the C-suite through exploring key drivers of uptake; common tools and frameworks; and how ESG data is used by stakeholders.
Work with sustainability experts to establish robust data processes, controls and metrics to monitor broader ESG performance.
Analyse, communicate and integrate ESG/sustainability assessment results into financial planning and analysis in your organisation.