NEW! ACCA’s Professional Diploma in Sustainability

Finance roles are evolving. A raft of sustainability and environment, social and governance (ESG) regulations are set to impact organisations around the world and, along with this, the demands on the accounting profession, the expertise it provides, and the skills required to do this. 

Significantly, businesses need to prepare for the EU’s Corporate Sustainability Reporting Directive (CSRD) and Corporate Sustainability Due Diligence Directive (CSDDD) which obligate entities operating in or deriving significant revenues from Europe to report their sustainability performance against a framework and undertake environmental and human rights due diligence along their supply chains. Furthermore, countries accounting for nearly 55% of global GDP have adopted the IFRS’ International Sustainability Standards Board’s (ISSB) standards.

This will affect a lot of companies all over the world, given the developed and globalised nature of international business. And while some advanced economies are leading the way in terms of sustainability policy, the global pipeline of measures is expected to expand significantly in the coming years.

Within this environment, finance bosses are increasingly expected to lead on enterprise-wide sustainability and ESG initiatives, as organisations seek to keep pace with evolving regulations while also finding ways to create value in a progressively sustainability-minded operating landscape.

And it’s not just CFOs seeing new demands on their role – keyword search ‘sustainability’ or ‘ESG’ in ACCA Careers to see how often these terms are mentioned in job descriptions and titles from some of the world’s most recognisable brands.

Across the profession, new roles are being created and existing ones adapted to reflect the drive for sustainability and the obligations that come with a world aiming to achieve net zero greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions by 2050, or to strike gender equality in the workplace, or to end child labour from the supply chain, and the list goes on.

Businesses are looking for professionals to work specifically in sustainability reporting; or in commercial finance as business partners specialising in sustainability; or in banking in green finance; or to set up sustainable finance teams. 

On the professional services side – from Big 4 practices to small firms servicing local SME clients – we’re seeing new or adapted service offerings, for example, sustainability advisory, sustainability in audit and assurance, risk management and sustainability, and sustainability reporting, whether it’s providing these services or helping clients integrate them.

‘There’s a growing need for training and development in this area, across all areas of all businesses, from the CEO to new members of the finance team,’ said a Grant Thornton Ireland spokesperson. ‘The need is both for the wider perspective of how organisations need to approach sustainability, through to the more technical areas of reporting and assurance.’

Why finance professionals are at the heart of the sustainability drive

Finance and accounting professionals, especially those with the ACCA qualification, have a toolkit of technical knowledge that makes them almost a perfect fit for integrating new requirements into business processes and finding ways to create value, while ultimately helping drive positive change. They have a well-established ability to manage and analyse information; they’re great at reporting, forecasting, budgeting, allocation, and measuring. 

However, there is also a lack of specialist skills and experience that needs addressing. ‘There’s a burning desire for organisations to upskill in all areas of sustainability. There’s still a lack of experience across finance teams to understand how finance teams must respond,’ says Michael Mills, director of finance operations at Jaguar Land Rover in the UK. ‘Our role in finance is to lead the change, to help the business to enact the sustainability strategy. It is critical that finance teams develop greater understanding and maturity in this space.’

To help finance professionals upskill, ACCA has introduced its groundbreaking Professional Diploma in Sustainability, offering an in-depth knowledge of new sustainability legislation – alongside reporting, assurance and the strategic decision-making skills to put it all to work right away. It’s been created for people who want to improve their knowledge and skills in these areas, including those who would like to become sustainability assurance professionals. 

To achieve the Professional Diploma, candidates will sit an integrated case study exam that tests their application of knowledge across the core areas of the syllabus. Once completed, the Professional Diploma will serve as a comprehensive accreditation in the core areas of sustainability.

To support the learning for the Professional Diploma, a comprehensive 60-hour learning and revision programme, covering all the main reporting frameworks has been created. This includes the IFRS Sustainability Disclosure Standards and the European Sustainability Reporting Standards (ESRS), and the interaction between them. The professional diploma also covers the two main sustainability assurance standards that may be used in the EU: ISAE 3000 and ISSA 5000.

As a practical example of what can be achieved with the diploma, existing EU auditors wishing to also become ‘Sustainability Assurance Service Providers’ need to complete relevant CPD-based around four pillars – preparation of annual and consolidated sustainability reporting; sustainability analysis; due diligence on sustainability matters; and legal requirements and assurance standards, all of which are covered by the diploma syllabus.

‘Training, development and a global assessment are all critical,’ says Wilo China CFO John Li. ‘We have introduced a new sustainability strategy for the organisation and from 2026 we will start to issue ESG reports, in line with local regulations, so we must be ready. The flexibility of the learning modules will allow us to integrate the modules into our corporate training, to prepare for the change.’

To find out more about ACCA’s Professional Diploma in Sustainability, go to accaglobal.com/ProDipSust

ACCA has a wide range of learning focused on sustainability, such as the Mastering Sustainability Reporting course and Certificate in Sustainability for Finance, as well as its Preparing ESRS Financial Statements and Reports series. You can explore these and other opportunities more fully on ACCA Learning. ACCA also offers a wide range of online events, research and guides in this area, which you can browse on ACCA’s sustainability hub, including our extensive sustainability reporting resources.