Maintain competitive edge with environmental reports, urges ACCA

With ever increasing financial and public sector pressure on businesses to report on the environmental impacts of their activities, organisations need to change the way in which they operate, says the Association of Chartered Certified Accountants (ACCA).

Recent developments have included FTSE's announcement that it will introduce more stringent environmental criteria for FTSE4Good, its ethical index series. The Government also looks set to give the public rights of access to public sector environmental information from April 2003, almost two years earlier than expected. As a result, most public sector information which relates to the environment, including planning inquiries and work on public sector projects, will have to be produced on demand. Crucially, businesses will have no right of veto over which information is to be made public, unless it is deemed commercially sensitive.

Rachel Jackson, ACCA's Head of Social and Environmental Issues, said: "Public access rights to public sector environmental information will have major implications for all businesses, large and small, which are contracted to conduct work for the public sector. The rest of the business community will also be affected, as it is bound to have dealings with public sector bodies at some level, for example, regarding planning applications.

"In readiness for these increasing demands, and to maintain competitive edge, the best option for businesses is to disclose the environmental impacts of their corporate decisions and actions in an environmental report. This is by no means solely a public relations opportunity, it is a major competitiveness issue," she added.
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