Article
The Audit Committee Frontier
Addressing climate change
Global survey finds audit committees around the world are unprepared for climate change.
This first issue of the Deloitte Global Boardroom Program’s new series, The Audit Committee Frontier, seeks to answer the question: what are leading practices for audit committees with respect to climate?
The report features findings from a survey of over 350 audit committee members spanning 40 countries, and revealed several obstacles standing in the way towards progress, each of which point to a broader sense of uncertainty surrounding climate and sustainability in the boardroom and companies at large. The report also details potential solutions for audit committees struggling to help their organisations address climate change.
In addition, The Audit Committee Frontier: Addressing climate change, brings together insights from Deloitte climate and sustainability specialists, as well as a collection of interviews with regulators, investors, and audit committee members.
Key Highlights from the report for Asia Pacific:
- Nearly 70% of all audit committee members in Asia Pacific surveyed say they do not discuss climate on a regular basis, and nearly 60% do not consider themselves ‘climate literate’.
- It is clear that climate strategy has to be integrated into corporate strategy to align the organisation (65% globally said that the main internal obstacle was a lack of clear strategy).
- Over half of audit committee members in Asia Pacific indicated they do not believe that they are well-equipped to fulfil their climate regulatory responsibilities.
- 44% of audit committee respondents in Asia Pacific said that their organisation’s climate response is not as swift and robust as they would like.
- A high 72% of respondents said that they have not completed a comprehensive climate change assessment, and just 17% of respondents said that their climate impact assessment is reflected in the financial statements.
Methodology
This report is based on a global survey over 350 audit committee members, across several countries, conducted in September 2021. The majority of respondents (56%) serve as audit committee chairs. Responses are distributed across the Americas, Asia-Pacific (APAC), and Europe, Middle East, and Africa (EMEA).
With respect to company type, 67% of respondents serve on audit committees at publicly listed companies, while 17% serve at privately owned companies, including family businesses.