What does accounting have to do with sustainability? Essentially, everything. In general, accounting isn't the first thing that comes to mind when most people think about sustainability, whether that means climate targets or diversity on boards. But just as research and regulations around sustainability have expanded in recent years, so has sustainability accounting, focusing on activities of an organization that have a direct impact on its environmental, social, and governance aspects.

On the Delve podcast, Desautels accounting professor Brian Wenzel discusses the role of accounting and accounting research in facilitating how organizations reach their sustainability goals. For one, sustainability approaches and new global standards could be integrated into accounting practices to encompass all aspects of an organization’s performance, from the big picture to the bottom line.

“Accounting perhaps has been part of the problem with sustainability because accounting has led to short-termism inside organizations,” says Wenzel. “Next quarter’s profits are much more tangible than something that will happen five or 10 years down the road. Even if making a sacrifice now will lead to a greater good in a decade, that's harder to quantify because it's so far in the future. Accounting maybe has been part of the problem but could also solve it.”

This episode of the podcast is a collaboration between Delve, the McGill Sustainable Growth Initiative and its Director and Desautels Professor Javad Nasiry. The Sustainable Growth Initiative is also co-sponsoring the conference.

Delve is the official thought leadership platform of McGill University's Desautels Faculty of Management. Delve's Managing Editor, Robyn Fadden, is the host for this episode. You can find out more about Delve at delve.mcgill.ca. Subscribe to the Delve McGill podcast on all major podcast platforms, including Apple podcasts and Spotify, and follow DelveMcGill on: LinkedIn, Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, and YouTube.

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