The International Federation of Accountants (IFAC) today released a literature review, Educating Accountants for a Sustainable Future: A Literature Review of Competencies, Educational Strategies, and Challenges for Sustainability Reporting and Assurance. The review highlights key themes in current sustainability-related education, learning and development to provide insights on how the global accountancy profession can meet stakeholder demands for relevant and reliable sustainability reporting.
Recent years have seen a significant shift in demand for relevant sustainability-related disclosure, reporting, and assurance and the accountancy profession is working to prepare current and future professionals to meet these stakeholder demands. The literature review identifies the new and existing competencies required of professional accountants to provide these services; educational strategies to develop them; and the challenges the accountancy education community will face. The literature review also informed IFAC’s decision to make sustainability-related revisions to the International Education Standards and will contribute to the forthcoming proposed revisions, expected in Q2 2024.
In addition to the literature review, IFAC will host a joint webinar with the International Association for Accounting Education & Research (IAAER) on February 7, 8:00 AM to 9:30 AM EST, featuring a discussion with the review’s lead author. Register for the webinar here.
About IFAC
IFAC is the global organization for the accountancy profession dedicated to serving the public interest by strengthening the profession and contributing to the development of strong international economies. IFAC is comprised of 180 members and associates in more than 135 jurisdictions, representing millions of professional accountants in public practice, education, government service, industry, and commerce.