Held in New York City on May 17, the Second Annual NYSSCPA—Hedge Fund Roundtable Sustainability Investment Leadership Conference dug deeper and expanded further than last year’s historic inaugural conference. The gathering included some of the world’s foremost thought leaders in the field of sustainability and integrated reporting. These participants are blazing trails for CPAs and other financial professionals to follow. As broadening social and environmental concerns lead organizations to change the way that they do business and they way they report results, there will be many opportunities for trusted advisors who understand this new environment.
Featured speakers included the godfather of sustainability and integrated reporting, Mervyn King, as well as the current chair of the International Integrated Reporting Council and AICPA President and CEO, Barry Melancon. Topics covered during the day’s panel discussions included: implementing sustainability reporting on a practical level, managing a sustainable supply chain, incorporating sustainability into a business’s culture, investing in sustainable businesses, and launching a community engagement program. Participants hailed from a wide variety of organizations, including the United Nations; General Motors; General Electric; Deloitte; PricewaterhouseCoopers; Cravath, Swaine & Moore; Alston & Bird; Morgan Stanley; NYU; Providence College; and Thomson Reuters.
The following articles present the keynote address and selected individual speakers as well as summaries of the panel discussions held throughout the day. The comments and opinions expressed at the conference and reproduced here represent the speaker’s own views and not necessarily those of their employer or affiliated organization.
