Time to start measuring firms' sustainability efforts

Companies in Bangladesh need to address the environmental, social and governance issues for a sustainable tomorrow, and opting for measurable efforts instead of greenwashing would be the key to meaningful changes, experts said at an international conference in the capital on Thursday.

The conference "Accountability & Sustainability: Implementation Progress" jointly organised by the Institute of Chartered Accountants of Bangladesh (ICAB), the Dhaka Stock Exchange (DSE) and the Victoria University of Wellington, New Zealand was hosted at the ICAB auditorium.

"In accounting, what you don't measure, doesn't matter" Dr Yinka Moses, academic programme leader at Wellington School of Business and Government said in the keynote to stress sustainability disclosures and accountability of the businesses.

Raising a red flag against 'greenwashing' that refers to misleading through misrepresentation of sustainability stance, the accounting researcher said companies should eye at least two of the 17 sustainable development goals (SDG) for continuous improvement. Also, quality disclosures should make their performance measurable so that the firms become accountable to their shareholders and stakeholders.

"Bangladesh has tremendously achieved the millennium development goals (MDGs) a decade ago which were mostly social," said Dr Shamsul Alam, former state minister for planning, while speaking as the chief guest.

The climate-vulnerable country has opted to achieve the SDGs that include environmental and governance-related goals, he added.

"Sustainability is a business case now" said Finance Ministry's Additional Secretary Dr Mohammad Abu Yusuf and he called for corporate attention in protecting the people and planet.

After the graduation from least developed countries category, Bangladeshi exporters might enjoy the existing preferential trade benefits at the western markets, only if they can prove their sustainability efforts that care about labour rights, environment, and society, he added.

Attributing political accountability to economic development, Dr Shamsul Alam said Bangladesh is well ahead of other South Asian countries like India and Pakistan in achieving the SDGs and ranked 101st of 191 countries.

Accountability would help progress further, he opined.

The DSE and the Global Reporting Initiative (GRI) have jointly been promoting sustainability reporting by listed firms for more than five years and only 17 of the 355 companies are following the GRI standard till date.

Dhaka bourse's Managing Director Dr A T M Tariquzzaman who is a former official at the Bangladesh Securities and Exchange Commission and also a co-researcher of Yinka Moses at Wellington, expects that more companies would opt for the GRI standard.

DSE Chairman Professor Dr Hafiz Md Hasan Babu spoke as a guest of honour.

Special guest, Finance Secretary Dr Md Khairuzzaman Mozumder called for a greater engagement of the private sector in achieving SDGs, where professional accountants have a big role to play in terms of sustainability reporting and auditing.

ICAB President Md Moniruzaman, Council Member Sabbir Ahmed, CEO Shubhashish Bose, Bangladesh Bank's Sustainable Finance Director Chowdhury Liakat Ali also spoke at the conference attended by professional accountants, corporate leaders and financial journalists.