Egypt’s ASA among winners of UNCTAD’s 2023 ISAR for promoting sustainability, green employment

31 / 10 / 2023

• Egypt
• news

Egypt’s Accountability State Authority (ASA) was honored among winners of the 2023 International Standards of Accounting and Reporting (ISAR) of the  United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD) during the World Investment Forum 2023 in Abu Dhabi.

The Egyptian authority was among ISAR winners of the national category for promoting Environmental Sustainability through Green Employment and Renewable Energy Policies.

In Egypt, climate change causes the occurrence of increasingly severe droughts, floods, and heat waves. There is a risk of agricultural failures, water shortages, and higher infrastructure and energy costs, threatening the country’s economy. To counter this, the authority’s objective is to reduce the negative environmental impact of companies, increase the adoption of renewable energy, promote green employment, and support government policies. However, the lack of awareness and capacity shortages in companies regarding investment in renewable energy and green job opportunities pose significant challenges.

Winners of ISAR initiative are assessed under two categories; namely National and International/Regional. Each category is evaluated against sets of qualification criteria.

The national category is assessed according to how does the initiative improve the quality of sustainability reporting, consistency of financial and non-financial information and/or facilitate the integration of sustainability information into companies’ reporting cycle?; and how does the initiative help to collect useful and reliable data at the national level to report on the private sector contribution towards the implementation of the SDGs and/ or report on SDG indicator 12.6.1 “Number of companies publishing sustainability reports”?.

The national category is also estimated according to how does the initiative contribute to increasing awareness, advancing knowledge, and building capacity in sustainability/ESG/SDG reporting at the national level? , as well as taking into consideration  if this initiative have a measurable/proven impact on regulatory and institutional foundations for accounting and reporting at a national level?.

The objective of the “ISAR Honors” initiative is to raise awareness and facilitate the dissemination of national and international best practices on sustainability and SDG reporting.

The Initiative aims to support efforts to enhance the quality and comparability of company reporting on their contribution to the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development and to monitor the implementation of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).

ISAR Honors recognizes policies, institutional or capacity-building initiatives that encourage and assist enterprises to publish data on their contribution to the implementation of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development; facilitate improvements in companies’ reporting on sustainability issues – including by promoting the integration of sustainability information, such as environmental, social and governance (ESG) issues, into companies’ reporting cycle.

ISAR Honors also aims to contribute to developing national case studies on the SDG reporting by companies, enhancing stakeholder dialogue on these issues, and facilitating reporting by countries on the indicator 12.6.1 «Number of companies publishing sustainability reports» .

UNCTAD acknowledged with appreciation the participation of ISAR Honors nominees and their efforts in the dissemination of good practices in the area of sustainability reporting as well as their contribution toward the attainment of the Sustainable Development Goals.