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Accountants team up to protect nature
The Executive Director of Uganda National Roads Authority (Unra), Ms Allen Kagina (2nd right) pose for a group photo with Certified Public Accountants during their 29th annual seminar in Entebbe on September 4, 2024. Photo/Courtesy
What you need to know:
- Mr Mutumba highlighted that sustainability reporting institutions will give details of effects of their operations on the environment, both the risks and opportunities.
Certified Public Accountants (CPA) through the Institute of Certified Public Accountants in Uganda (ICPAU) has adopted the international sustainability standards that will ensure inclusion of environmental protection in the institutions financial reports.
Mr Charles Lutimba, Manager Standards and Technical Support at (ICPAU) said that with the new standards, in addition to financial reports, institutions will also report on how they are conserving the environment, governance practices, risk management practices, all people management practices among others.
“For an entity to thrive, it will need to make profits but it will not only thrive based on profit alone, profits are made within communities, societies where we live. So in addition to the profits, sustainability also speaks to the people, that is the workforce, the people, the community within which the organizations have, but also the planet and the planet simply speaks to the issue of environmental protection,” Mr Lutimba said.
He was speaking during the 29th annual CPA seminar in Entebbe on September 4 under the theme: Driving sustainability and trust.
Mr Ronald Mutumba, the CPA vice president of ICPAU said that with adoption of the international sustainable standards, institutions be required to report on the impact on their work on the environment.
Mr Muntumba explained that institutions can not thrive in an environment that is shrinking hence the need to help report users know in qualitative terms that what institutions provide in their financial reports.
He noted that institutions should be able to report on the impact of their operations on the environment.
“The importance of the standards is to enable users of company reports to be able to have an appreciation of the operations and results of the company beyond the financial numbers. But to be able to report on the impact of the operations of their company, as far as sustainability of the company and the environment are concerned,” Mr Mutumba said.
He added; “Here we are talking about issues of climate, human capital related and many other important issues that are beyond the numbers.”
Mr Mutumba highlighted that sustainability reporting institutions will give details of effects of their operations on the environment, both the risks and opportunities.
In her keynote address, the executive director of the Uganda National Roads Authority (UNRA), Ms Allen Kagina said that the new sustainability standard comes in handy to save mother earth.
“There is always a conflict between what we do in human development activities and sustainability of the environment and society where human activities are undertaken,” Ms Kagina said.
Ms Kagina said that climate change is real and urged institutions to adopt and adhere to the new sustainability standards.
