Deloitte & RMIT Online join forces for climate reporting course

The forthcoming mandatory climate reporting, scheduled to take effect in July, has prompted a crucial shift. For the first time, recognising an organisation's climate performance in its financial reporting will be a requirement. Understanding the connotations of this pivotal shifting moment is vital for all enterprises; nonetheless, the sector might not yet be completely ready.

This crucial shift in accounting practices requires a depth of strategic and considered focus on opportunities and risks. As such, Deloitte and RMIT Online have come together to cater to this new need. The collaborative endeavour results in a course specifically catered towards finance, sustainability, and risk professionals, to bridge the much-needed skill uplift in Australian firms.

These newly instituted disclosure obligations are expected to usher in transparency and sustainability worldwide. The International Financial Reporting Standards (IFRS) and the Australian Sustainability Reporting Standards (ASRS) will necessitate climate-related and sustainability disclosures and reporting from Australia's most prominent listed and unlisted corporations and financial establishments. Eventually, it will trickle down to all businesses operating in Australia.

RMIT Online and Deloitte will co-deliver and co-create the course titled "Sustainability and climate-related financial reporting: ISSB, ASRS, and beyond". With it, finance professionals will be armed with the necessary knowledge and skills to disclose their sustainability and climate-related financial reporting on behalf of their companies.

Nic Cola, CEO at RMIT Online, emphasised the increasing importance of sustainability and climate change topics. He stated, "The new disclosure obligations usher in a new era of sustainability and transparency around the globe. Encompassing governance, strategy, risk management, and metrics and targets, organisations will need to update more than their financial reporting. Compliance relies on upskilling."

Joanne Gorton, Managing Partner of Audit and Assurance at Deloitte, articulated a similar sentiment, "The new standards require climate performance to be explicitly considered in financial reporting for the first time. This comprehensive course provides financial, sustainability and risk professionals with an understanding of how to integrate sustainability and climate-related assessments into the finance function."

Gorton, committed to supporting businesses in meeting the steep requirements, acknowledged the voluntary disclosures already made by many companies, encouraging all businesses to ready themselves for the upcoming mandatory reporting.

Darren Gerber, Global Risk Advisory Sustainability and Climate Leader at Deloitte, said, "The standards have a deep focus on responses to strategic risks and opportunities. It is important that organisations do not see it as a disclosure standard alone, but rather see the opportunity to enhance the resilience of their strategies and risk frameworks through the process."

The course features weekly webinars and touchpoints with local and foreign industry subject matter professionals, offered in both synchronous and asynchronous cohorts. RMIT University credentials the course, and enrolment is now open.