Sustainability accounting refers to all accounting information related to the indirect costs of economic activities and their impact on the environment. It translates environmental costs, environmental policies, environmental assets and resources into financial results. In this section, we provide a methodology for selecting appropriate key metrics, screening and assessing impacts throughout the value chain.
The relevant KPIs should be related to the selected materiality topic (see the strategic analysis section to define those topics).
Environmental metrics: e.g. greenhouse gas emissions, water use, energy use, waste, biodiversity impact.
Social metrics: e.g. gender equality, human rights, child labour, occupational injuries.
Governance metrics: e.g. board diversity, board independence, equitable treatment of shareholders.
You may be required to provide your carbon footprint or other metrics for regulatory reasons or to meet the demands of external stakeholders. You can browse our website for carbon footprint management.
To facilitate comparability between companies with similar risks, opportunities and impacts, the use of normalisation factors is recommended . These industry-specific metrics include sales, production units, number of employees, hours worked, etc.. It also makes it easier to monitor your own performance over time.
+95%
increase in GHG emission in Asia in between 1990 and 2010
(OECD)
27
core sustainability metrics have been defined by ASEAN Exchanges, of which 4 are environmental, 13 are social and 10 are governance.
(ASEAN Exchanges)
Sustainability accounting is a set of tools and practices designed to measure and evaluate a company's sustainability activities and their impact on the business.
To get a more accurate picture of the company's footprint and build more targeted action plans, it is necessary to carry out an in-depth review of the value chain. Going through the stages one by one will allow you to identify more precisely the environmental (loss of biodiversity, water consumption, use of natural resources, etc.) and human (outsourcing to low-income countries, human rights, etc.) impacts of your business.
Tracking and managing environmental costs, identifying where the impacts occur and how to make improvements, requires a process-oriented approach.
- At the very least, you would need a simple version of an Operational Management System (OMS), which is a set of processes and procedures to effectively manage business practices.
- For a more in-depth approach, you could carry out an Environmental Impact Assessment, which is a systematic process for identifying the positive and negative environmental impacts (externalities) of the organisation's activities.
less than half
of companies report on biodiversity loss
(KPMG)
90%
of the companies GHG emissions come from their supply chains, according to the Environmental Protection Agency
(EPS News)
- Course on Environmental Impact Assessment from Singapore Polytechnic
- Get inspired by Kering EP&L
- ISO 14001- Environmental management system
Together with financial information, non-financial metrics should be part of the decision making process to understand the relationship between accounting and environmental issues. Based on a detailed understanding of the processes at a fine granularity (from solution above "Screen the impacts on the entire value chain"), the following tools are methods for assessing the externalities that sustainability accounting is expected to integrate:
Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) - measures the environmental impact of a product or service from start to finish, covering all stages of a life cycle. Carbon footprint could be an example. The Life Cycle Initiative provides insight into LCA assessment tools and methodologies. The principles and framework for LCA are described in ISO 14040 and the requirements themselves are set out in ISO 14044.
Social Return on Investment (SRoI) - to assess the range of impacts of an investment. It differs from other methods in that it allows the societal value of an investment to be calculated beyond the financial return. It helps to identify the different types of social, environmental and economic outcomes that an activity has. Example: NGOs and non-profit organisations use SRoI to effectively measure their activities and their impact on creating value in society.
Internal carbon pricing - an internal carbon pricing system identifies the process in which emissions are produced and puts an internal shadow price on them. You can browse our website on carbon footprint management.
Living wage - When outsourcing to a low-income country, a living wage should be incorporated to reflect the real cost of the product. It is a standardised cost that includes the actual cost of labour paid in the foreign country, increased by a wage differential based on the domestic market. More details on the Living Wage Accounting Model (Shift, 2023).
126th / 142 countries
is Singapore's rank in terms of carbon emissions per $GDP
(NCCS)
over 80%
of the world's wastewater is discharged untreated into biodiversity-rich freshwater and into coastal ecosystems
(World Economic Forum)
Article:
World Business Council for Sustainable Development - 'Navigating internal carbon pricing to drive decision-making and emissions reduction: three strategies for effective implementation'
The « green journey » may feel overwhelming sometimes, but you are not alone.
Our Buddies have tried, succeeded, failed to implement change in their companies. They share their experience so you can learn, take shortcuts, get inspired and ask questions.
Everybody can become a Buddy and give back to the community; if you are keen, get in touch with us.
Wearing the double hat of finance and sustainability, I support finance departments in their transformation towards sustainability. With a management degree from a top business school in France, I have a multi-faceted experience from complementary positions I have held in business finance: from auditor to consolidation accountant, project manager, management controller and finance director.
In addition to my background in financial business partnering, I am passionate about enabling change in companies, always looking after my teams and colleagues to create the conditions for collective success.
Mun Wei is the founder and principal consultant of SustainableSG, which provides advisory and training services in sustainability, strategy, risk and entrepreneurship.
He has worked with corporate, government and non-profit clients on strategy and implementation, reviewing organizational programmes and targets related to the UN Sustainable Development Goals, benchmarking and communicating sustainability and other corporate programmes and achievements, promoting inclusive hiring, developing compliance policies and reports, and formulating innovative business models.
He is also an Adjunct Lecturer at the Singapore University of Social Sciences.
I enjoy improving processes and creating data-driven insights. My background is in process development and operations as Quality Manager and COO. A few years back, I decided to re-purpose my career and have since then studied different aspects of Sustainable Business Development at the University in Sweden as well as the Sustainability Reporting Standards (GRI, SASB, TCFD and ISSB work in progress).
Now, I am here to help SMEs integrate sustainability into their business strategy and operations, focusing on the impact that environmental and social aspects will have on the organisation's ability to create value. By reducing the scope to the most relevant materiality topics, even SMEs with limited resources have a chance to start their transition to more sustainable practices.
Radhika is the Co-founder of Tulyā, A Sustainability Management Accounting (SMA) Services company. Her work includes measurement and understanding of the impact environmental and social factors will have on the value creation for SMEs. She develops tailored tools and practices that integrate material topics (ESG & Business) with accounting statements line items to demonstrate financial impact of action vs inaction.
She has worked with Lehman Brothers, Barclays and IT services companies before starting her entrepreneurial journey in sustainability.
She is a graduate in Chemical Engineering and has been certified in SASB , PMP, CSM & Design Thinking-MIT.
With a background in sustainability consulting and audit, Ivona supports businesses in their sustainability journey by building an impactful strategy, embedding sustainable practices across operations, and reporting performance to stakeholders.
She is the founder of Sustainao, a Singapore-based company specialized in sustainability consulting. Previously, Ivona worked as a sustainability auditor at KPMG France. She holds an MBA in CSR & Sustainability and a Master’s degree in Environmental Management.
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At South Pole, Chris supports Asian clients in their climate leadership and circular economy journey. The scope of services includes both carbon credits & sustainability consultancy. Chris currently manages clients from more than 10 Asian countries in categories such as conglomerate, agriculture, property development, asset management, retailing, information technology, and energy.
Zuzana is experienced risk management consultant, project manager and trainer. She is Director at Tamotsu Institute, a sustainability consulting firm, and Programme Lead for corporate trainings at The Matcha Initiative. She views sustainability from the risk management perspective, making companies aware of the financial risks and opportunities involved.
She has studied Sustainability Leadership at the Imperial College of London and is certified in Sustainability and Climate Risk by the Global Association of Risk Professionals (GARP) and in Recommendations of the Task force for Climate-related Financial Disclosure by the TCFD.
Passionate about sustainability and technology, I have spent the last 10 years working in the energy, tech and sustainability sectors. I am VP of Sales at Zuno Carbon, a climate-tech providing end to end carbon management and ESG reporting solutions.
In 2003, I joined International SOS, world leader of medical and security assistance services and relocated to Singapore in 2008 where I have spent my life since. I held different regional leadership roles and I was a founding member of the Sustainability Committee and initially led the S (Social) part. I was also leading the Environment pillar, with a special focus on the Ecovadis certification.
I enrolled at SMU back in Sept 2020 and graduated from the Sustainability and Sustainable Business executive masterclass in Dec 2020. In July 2021, I joined a local singaporean startup H3Dynamics with the ambition to decarbonize the aviation industry! And since May 2023, I am now the managing director AsiaPacific for Ecocert, world leader in certification for organic products. I am also the Singapore Ambassador (volunteer) for Ecomatcher to help brands fight climate change, one tree at a time.
Finally, I am a French Trade Advisor and part of the Sustainability Committee to strengthen bridges between France and Singapore on this crucial agenda.
I am Naomi, currently co-founder & director of givvable. I started my career as an Australian diplomat with postings in East Timor, Thailand and Switzerland then moved into private banking where my interest in ESG and sustainability was seeded.
Today my company helps businesses screen and track the sustainability profile of their suppliers to help them achieve their goals and targets.
