London Climate Action Week – the road to COP 26
By Anne Adrain, Head of Sustainability & Reporting
16 November 2020
This article summarises some of the activities and events taking place during London Climate Action Week 2020 in the lead up to COP 26 in Glasgow
This week, 14-20 November 2020, marks London Climate Action Week during which a series of events will take place aimed at harnessing the power of London’s climate professionals and communities to work towards solutions to the climate change crisis.
With COP 26 originally scheduled for this week, and now delayed until 2021, the intention is to continue the momentum that has already gathered behind the climate change movement as part of the build up to the rescheduled COP 26 in November 2021.
The planned events fall into four themes:
- Green, Fair and Resilient (GFR) Recovery.
- Roadmap to COP 26/Glasgow.
- Building a Sustainable, Net Zero London.
- Whole of Society Climate Mobilisation.
We are all increasingly aware of the need to tackle the issue of climate as a matter of urgency. ICAS is also demonstrating our commitment to tackling climate change through our operations, our advocacy and influencing work and training.
In February of this year, ICAS, along with the CEOs of other global accounting bodies, issued a call to action to the accountancy profession to tackle the issue of climate change as a matter of urgency. In June 2020, ICAS and other leading professional bodies, the UK Government and the Green Finance Institute, signed up to the first Green Finance Education Charter.
The global standard-setting bodies are also becoming increasingly active in this space. The International Auditing and Assurance Standards Board (IAASB) recently issued guidance for auditors on the consideration of climate related risks in a financial statements’ audit. The Trustees of the International Financial Reporting Standards (IFRS) Foundation also issued a discussion paper in October proposing the establishment of a sustainability standards board who would be responsible for the development of sustainability reporting standards with an initial focus on climate change.
The ICAS article, Climate change reporting in annual reports, provides a useful introduction to some of the current climate change reporting requirements and developments. Details of the climate-related disclosures in a sample of FTSE 100 companies can also be found here.
You can find out more about London Climate Action Week and the events here:
The University of Edinburgh Business School is also running a series of webinars entitled COP26Cast between 9 and 19 November 2020. Book your place: