Accountants' help needed on greenhouse systems
Accountants should help develop standardised accounting methods to operate greenhouse gas trading systems created because of the Kyoto Protocol on global warming, says a new United Nations report.
Link: FDs back environmental reports
The report co-authored by finance industry heavy hitters, such as the Dresdner Bank, Prudential and Swiss Re also advises that accountants, actuaries, analysts, credit rating agencies and others help their corporate clients better understand the threats and opportunities posed by climate change.
The paper warns that accountancy practices, insurance companies, banks and other financial service providers should brace themselves for exposure to US$150bn (£96bn) in liabilities from natural disasters linked to global warming.
Climate Change and the Financial Services Industry, says the financial sector should follow an action plan, to withstand policy payouts for floods, storms, forest-fires and other natural disasters, which it says ‘appear to be doubling every decade and have reached one trillion US dollars in the past 15 years’.
The paper also predicts that governments will ultimately be forced to tackle the problem. As a result, ‘asset managers may see the value of energy or power company holdings decline as investors become more aware of the liabilities linked with carbon intensive industries,’ the report warns, adding that they should request better information from target investments on carbon emissions.