The 2023 results from Chartered Accountants Australia and New Zealand’s (CA ANZ) annual climate survey are in.

Since the survey was last conducted in 2022, we have seen significant developments in mandatory reporting requirements in New Zealand, renewed climate and net zero commitments in Australia including the development of a climate-related financial disclosure framework and international progress with the anticipated release of IFRS S1 and S2 from the International Sustainability Standards Board (ISSB).

The survey, which has been running annually since 2020, illustrates the shift in awareness of climate and environmental related matters amongst the membership, particularly as our members prepare for anticipated reporting requirements both in Australia and New Zealand. 2 out of 5 of surveyed members feel a lot less prepared for reporting requirements in Australia and members in New Zealand anticipate a lot more difficulty of the reporting requirements in New Zealand 

65% of members want support to understand what and when businesses will need to disclose and 51% want to know the basics of sustainability, climate risk and disclosures.

CA ANZ Business Reform Leader Karen McWilliams says, “We will continue to raise awareness that Chartered Accountants have a key role to play in supporting the organisations they work with and for when it comes to sustainability. We will continue to provide and develop training and resources to support our members and will advocate for suitable regulation and reporting frameworks in this space.”

The inaugural CA ANZ sustainability conference will be held in June 2023 which aims to support our members in business and practice as we shift from discussions about climate risk and opportunities to making it business as usual. We continue to update our recently refreshed climate and sustainability pages on the CA ANZ website including the collation of tools and resources for our members to upskill and keep updated in the space.

CA ANZ has also invested in increasing awareness of sustainability (including climate) through a targeted member engagement strategy which includes the establishment of the CA Sustainability Community. The community aims to provide members with curated member events and news, including webinars which focus on issues of most relevance to Chartered Accountants. The first CA sustainability community webinar - Understanding Sustainability and the role Chartered Accountants play – had over 1,600 registrations which illustrates the increased desire from our members to contribute.

CA ANZ has also committed to our own sustainability action plan and vision which outlines our pathway to achieve net zero.