Rigorous auditor scrutiny vital to validate green claims

Auditors have a key role to play in achieving sustainability because it needs the same sort of scrutiny they apply to financial documents, says CA ANZ reporting and assurance leader Amir Ghandar. Speaking on a special Accountants Daily podcast to mark Auditor Proud Day — which this year has sustainability as its theme — Mr Ghandar said there were increasing demands for rigour in environmental claims. “Ideally, you’d want to have reporting on those types of issues that’s just as rigorous and just as reliable as what you have on the financials,” he said. “We’re not there yet, for sure. But that’s where we’re trying to head to. “One of the problems is an issue called greenwashing, where you have a sustainability report but it’s not a balanced and complete perspective on the impacts of the business around sustainability. It turns into a marketing document. “That’s something ASIC has been focused on and it’s something we were certainly concerned about.”