Is Tony Scales winning the war on fraud and corruption at Miralux? Is he deeply committed to a greener planet? Or is Tony, like many chief executives, caught in the trap of his own rhetoric? Find out in ‘Words in Action’, a new edrama series.

‘Words in Action’ – where rhetoric and reality collide! Learn about fighting fraud and corruption, and what real commitment to sustainability is.

At the launch of the Joint Venture between the AICPA and CIMA last week, Ethics and Sustainability were high on the agenda – get ahead with the new edition of Ethical lens, CIMA’s ethics newsletter.

Just a reminder that if you haven't had a look yet, check out the new CGMA site at www.cgma.org as there is lots to discover.  My colleagues and I have been spending the last few months, beavering away to bring CGMAs some exciting new thought leadership reports and tools.

The final UN Global Compact meeting of the year focused upon Rio +20 UN conference on sustainable development, scheduled for June 2012.  The day the UK UNGC participants gathered in London, the announcement of the outcome of the Durban climate change meetings was still fresh.  After protracted negotiation a level of agreement was reached.  

Sustainability is becoming as much of an important part of a large company’s annual reporting as their financials. But SMEs are catching up and recognising that acting sustainably brings business benefits.  

Companies that have an integrated approach to sustainability take a holistic approach to the strategy and management of the organisation; one that not only considers financial performance, but also the risks and opportunities inherent in the impacts of the organisation on the environment and society in which it operates, as well as the impacts of environmental and societal trends on the organisation.

In the past decade, there’s been a strategic shift in business management to embrace sustainability. The need for reporting and communicating the efforts being made has come alongside this trend.

Sustainability is no longer a voluntary part of business operations; a nice-to-have and “let’s do a bit of good on the side”. It’s become a business imperative with a focus on strategic implementation and sustainability becoming a way to create competitive advantage within the corporate workforce.

Water is more essential to business than oil. Like most natural resources, it is running dangerously low. As reduced access to water threatens successful business models, pioneering companies are taking action. In this new context, management accountants have the skills needed to help organisations create sustainable business models.

Efficiencies, risk management, analytics and forecasting are vital as companies review their environmental impact, and the business ramifications of diminishing resources.

The UK Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs has published a consultation document which seeks views on whether or not regulations should be introduced to make it mandatory for some UK companies to report on their greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions within the directors' report.

The consultation sets out four options: a voluntary approach and three mandatory approaches.

Option 1 - enhanced voluntary reporting

The United Nations Global Compact network meeting last week was focused on the challenges of operating in conflict affected and high risk areas.  Related to the recent release of a guidance for companies and investors, the discussions were timely, given the unfolding events in the MENA region and the indications that we may well enter more uncertain than stable times.  No-one predicted the sweeping call for change across the region, from Tunisia onwards, nor the conflict that has so quickl

I've been thinking a lot about the subject of time recently.  It all started with the UK Secretary of State for Business, Vince Cable who launched a review into economic short-termism in autumn last year.  A long-term focus for corporate Britain called for evidence about market short-termism and as I write, the UK Business Department is  ploughing through all the responses with a view to coming up with some firm proposals to address what it feels is a serious weakness of

Last week I was moonlighting, facilitating training in participation techniques for management and education professionals.  These individuals, amongst them a financial director currently working for a small UK manufacturing company, were about to embark on assignments far removed from their current day to day.

Climate Week is happening this year between 21-27 March. It's an opportunity for UK companies (small and large) to share the positive steps they've taken to tackle and reduce climate change.

They run awards that celebrate the UK’s most innovative, effective, and ambitious organisations, communities and individuals and their outstanding efforts to combat climate change.

Last Wednesday, CIMA's CEO, Charles Tilley and I found ourselves at St James's Palace State Apartments to hear HRH The Prince of Wales and the UK Chancellor of the Exchequer, George Osborne speak about the role of business and government in preventing ‘the greatest accounting failure the world has ever seen’. We were joined by 200 representatives from the international accounting and business communities, investors, government, academia and civil society.

Last week we held the latest in our Tomorrow's Value lecture series which is jointly organised between CIMA and the UK business 'think and do tank' Tomorrow's Company.

The lecture was given by Pavan Sukhdev who is Study Leader at TEEB, and Special Adviser & Head – Green Economy Initiative, United Nations Environment Programme.

It was with great interest that I recently joined a roundtable discussion at CIMA’s offices in Chapter Street on 'Integrating and measuring sustainable business strategies'.  Although now a member in practice, having recently stepped off the dizzy corporate ladder, I have for many years sought to champion the sometimes tacit value of sustainable strategies.

CIMA is live-blogging the World Congress of Accountants (WCOA) 2010 from 8-11th 2010. With over 6,000 accountants descending on Kuala Lumpur to attend, and a host of leading experts and practitioners from the finance field billed to speak, our direct reports and photos from keynotes, panels, and launch events provide a flavour of what's happening as it unfolds, and what key trends and themes are emerging.

What follows are selected highlights from WCOA Day 2: Tuesday 9th November 2010...

The world seems to have changed immeasurably since the staging of the last World Congress of Accountants (WCOA) four years ago in Istanbul. The sparks of economic turbulence that began to fly in the global financial markets in the following summer of 2007 and then proceeded to spread like a forest fire throughout the banking sector in 2008 have resulted in shifting priorities for accountants in all industries across the globe.

Last night in the august surroundings of the Merchant Taylors Hall on Threadneedle Street, a little bit of history was made and unmade. At the top of the evening, we were summoned to the dinner table by the resounding toll of the old ship’s bell. A little bit of tradition re-instated by newly-elected CIMA President, George Glass.