20th May 2008
I’d like to congratulate all the participants in the Association of Chartered Certified Accountants Sustainability Reporting Awards. The ACCA has had a longstanding commitment to the course of environmental and sustainable reporting.
Accountants and sustainability reporters have the crucial task in quantifying, in a meaningful way, the impact of economic activities on the physical environment. These awards were established in 1990. They were an early pioneer recognising the importance of environmental concerns.
The last decade has seen significant advances in our understanding of the environment and our complex interaction with it. Yet many indicators of Australia’s environmental health are still going backwards. The 2006 State of the Environment Report, reported little progress since the 2001 report. Indeed it highlighted a number of pressures that had intensified. The Australian Bureau of Statistics regular report on measures of Australia’s progress gives a snapshot of the national progress and shows similar trends. We are facing a water crisis with many of our rivers literally drying up, our greenhouse gas emissions are still going up despite the growing urgency for action on climate change, and the number of Australian plants and animals listed as threatened or endangered is growing. We have made some progress on urban air quality, but overall, there is clearly a long, long way to go.
This government is committed to sustainability at its core. We are committed to leading by example in our own operations. I’ve established a task force led by my department to identify opportunities for greater energy and water efficiency and to use the purchasing power of government to drive markets for more sustainable goods. And we’re determined to address the major sustainability challenges of our time. We have a comprehensive approach to tackling climate change, helping shape a global solution, reducing emissions, including the implementation of an emissions trading scheme and adapting to the changes in climate that we can’t avoid. The government’s water for the future program will help restore the health of the Murray-Darling system and help secure new water supplies for our cities that don’t completely rely on rain fall. The caring for our country program will help restore the health of our landscapes and build the resilience of our biodiversity to the impacts of climate change.
As accountants, you know better than most that you can’t manage what you don’t measure. Sustainability Reporting has been led by industry and by local governments. One of the key recommendations coming from the sustainability and climate change session of the 2020 Summit was for a system of national environmental accounts. We’ve already got a lot on the way. The National Water Commission will be developing a new set of national water accounts. As part of the Government’s new Caring for our Country programme, we will be making significant improvements to the way we measure and report progress. On 1 July, new requirements will come into force for the reporting of energy and greenhouse gases for large and some medium size businesses. These new processes will assist us as government to better inform policy development and better target government programs.
Let me conclude by saying that, although Australia faces significant environmental challenges, I’m optimistic about our ability to deal with those challenges. The new low carbon economy presents opportunities for business. We must seize the opportunity to increase the use of renewables and other clean energy technologies as well as boosting innovation in traditional industrial sectors. I believe that Australia is in a good position to lead in this challenge.
Finally, let me again extend my congratulations to the ACCA, awards organisers, entrants and winners. I wish you a successful conference!