Tuesday, March 29, 2011

Accountants urged to help small firms adapt to climate change

Will Nichols in Business Green: Management accountants could become a new type of 'eco-warrior' as part of government-backed efforts to convince small businesses to develop climate change adaptation strategies. Defra has today teamed up with the Chartered Institute of Management Accountants (CIMA) to launch a new Climate Resilience Toolkit, billed as a quick and simple online tool that businesses can use to produce a tailored report on the climate risks faced by their own operations.

"Some of the questions are obvious, but I bet nine out of 10 businesses don't ask them," he said. "It's about stopping long-term thinking being six months ahead and seeing it as six years ahead." CIMA research suggests that, while almost 80 per cent of large companies have formal sustainability strategies, this number plunged to three per cent among SMEs.

Harding said that, as a result, many small businesses were vulnerable to extreme weather events such as flooding. He added that, while many smaller firms felt unable to fund even the most basic adaptation measures, management accountants could play a major role in ensuring they have the financial, environmental and social impact data they require to make informed investment decisions…

Photo of Toadstool National Monument by Brian Thomas, under the Creative CommonsAttribution-Share Alike 3.0 Unported license

1 comment:

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It's about stopping long-term thinking being six months ahead and seeing it as six years ahead." CIMA research suggests that, while almost 80 per cent of large companies have formal sustainability strategies, this number plunged to three per cent among.