Public Sector Sustainability Accounting and Reporting: An All-Ireland Perspective

Failure to act in response to climate change is the most critical worldwide risk and governments around the world are grappling with significant climate-related challenges. Given the financial impact climate-related risks and opportunities may have, integrating accounting information systems with environmental data can facilitate making transparent the consequences of climate change and enable governments to make climate-informed decisions (Task Force on Climaterelated Financial Disclosures, 2020). For example, with the urgent need to address climate, social and governance challenges, the European Commission (2018) has proposed an ambitious agenda to develop integrated reforms including non-financial reporting and the identification and disclosure of environmental, social and governance risks. With regards to sustainability, policy makers, at multi-lateral and national levels, have focused on the corporate sector, despite public sector organisations being significant contributors to most nations' economies and having a substantial environmental effect. Moreover, research into public sector sustainability accounting and reporting (SAR) is scarce. This research addresses this gap by exploring the current state of SAR in the Northern Ireland and Republic of Ireland public sectors, together with the challenges and opportunities for such reporting. It also identifies gaps in SAR and, drawing on global best practice, makes recommendations for improvements.