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Beyond Accounting: Sustainability Reporting

January 27, 2026 @ 12:00 pm - 1:30 pm
Beyond Accounting: Sustainability Reporting

Sustainability reporting has emerged as one of the most significant transformations in the accounting and corporate reporting profession in decades. As businesses confront climate risk, social inequality, resource constraints, and heightened stakeholder scrutiny, traditional financial reporting alone is no longer sufficient to explain how organizations create and preserve long-term value. The CAW session introduces sustainability reporting and disclosure as the next evolutionary step in accounting which integrates environmental, social, and governance (ESG) considerations into core business strategy, risk management, and decision-making.

Drawing on the foundational concepts presented in Sustainability Reporting and Disclosures, this seminar explores why sustainability has become a strategic imperative rather than a voluntary add-on. Participants will examine the economic, social, and ethical rationale for sustainability, the distinction between sustainability and ESG, and the growing influence of investors, regulators, and other stakeholders in shaping disclosure expectations. Particular attention is given to materiality, both financial, impact, double, and dynamic, as the organizing principle that connects sustainability performance to enterprise value.

The session also addresses the challenges and risks associated with sustainability reporting, including greenwashing, inconsistent ESG ratings, and the increasing demand for reliable, assured non-financial information. Through real-world examples, participants will gain insight into how organizations can credibly integrate sustainability into business strategy, establish meaningful metrics, and communicate performance with transparency and integrity.

This event is CPE eligible (up to 1.8 credits) provided attendees attend for at least 50 minutes and answer at least 5 polls.

LEARNING OBJECTIVES:  

This presentation will help you:

  • Explain why sustainability reporting represents an essential evolution of accounting, driven by resource constraints, stakeholder expectations, and long-term value creation.
  • Distinguish clearly between sustainability and ESG, understanding sustainability as the objective and ESG as the framework used to manage, measure, and communicate performance.
  • Identify the key stakeholders in sustainability reportingand explain how their information needs differ from traditional shareholder-focused reporting.
  • Understand and apply materiality concepts—financial, impact, double, and dynamic—and explain why materiality is foundational to credible sustainability disclosures.
  • Recognize the risks of greenwashingand explain why data integrity, governance, and assurance are critical to maintaining trust and legitimacy.
  • Describe the fundamental steps required to integrate ESG and sustainability into business strategy, including defining purpose, setting KPIs, and communicating progress.
  • Appreciate the expanding global and regulatory context of sustainability reporting, and why professionals must stay adaptive as standards and expectations continue to evolve.

FIELD OF STUDY: Accounting / Sustainability Reporting

PREREQUISITES: No prerequisite provided attendees are qualified CAs and/or CPAs

WHO SHOULD ATTEND: Open to members and associates of CAW Network USA and Guests

ADVANCE PREPARATION: Not required

PROGRAM LEVEL: Basic

DELIVERY METHOD: Group Internet

REFUND / CANCELLATION POLICY: No fee for members or guests

COMPLAINT RESOLUTION POLICY: For more information regarding refund, complaint and/or program cancellation policies (as relevant), please contact chiefexecutive@cawnetworkusa.com

The Association of Chartered Accountants in the United States, Ltd. (ACAUS) is registered with the National Association of State Boards of Accountancy (NASBA) as a sponsor of continuing professional education on the National Registry of CPE Sponsors. State boards of accountancy have final authority on the acceptance of individual courses for CPE credit. Complaints regarding registered sponsors may be submitted to the National Registry of CPE Sponsors through its website: www.NASBARegistry.org

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MEET THE SPEAKERS

Barbara Porco

Dr Barbara Porco, Dean of Graduate Studies, Fordham University.
Barbara has been a member of Fordham University Gabelli School of Business’s accounting faculty for over twenty years and currently serves as the dean of graduate studies and the managing director of the Responsible Business Center (RBC). She has received several awards, including the American Accounting Association Ethics in Accounting Excellence Award, the National Teaching Innovation Award from the American Accounting Association, and Poets & Quants 50 Best Undergraduate Business Professors. In addition to her doctoral degree, Barbara has a master’s degree in sustainability and environmental management, a corporate sustainability and innovation certification from Harvard University, and the Wharton ESG Executive Certificate for Senior Leaders. She proudly serves on the AICPA’s Assurance Services Executive Committee and the Sustainability Assurance and Advisory Task Force as the academic representative and the GHG Protocol Corporate Standard Technical Working Group. Before her academic positions, Barbara was a Tax Director and audit supervisor in the financial service group at PricewaterhouseCoopers. She is the author of KPMG Ethical Compass: Integrity in Business, a multi-series package of interactive instructional material that enables college professors to present ethics-related topics in their classrooms, including issues with sustainability dimensions. The Ethical Compass has won multiple awards and has been used at more than 150 universities nationwide. Barbara is also the co-author of a new McGrawHill textbook titled “Sustainability Reporting and Disclosures”.

https://www.linkedin.com/in/barbara-marie-porco-3133782/

Matthew Wheatley

Matthew Wheatley, Co-Founder of Veritrove
Matt Wheatley is co-founder of Veritrove, a specialist ESG and sustainability firm that helps brands gain insights and deliver results from carbon accounting to strategic sustainability storytelling and related change initiatives. Matt is a chartered accountant and has two decades experience including VP leadership roles in global Fortune 500 and private equity businesses including a successful private equity exit.

Matt serves many national and international organizations, including energy, infrastructure, educational and commercial retail clients. Matt is a frequent industry and university guest speaker on ESG and sustainability performance with real-world business and financial outcomes. Matt is a Fellow of the ICAEW, is the Pittsburgh chapter chair for Chartered Accountants Worldwide Network USA and resides in the greater Pittsburgh area with his wife and two sons.

https://www.linkedin.com/in/mattlewiswheatley/

Grant Ervin

Grant Ervin, Vice President for External Affairs and Sustainability for S&B USA
Grant Ervin is VP of External Affairs and Sustainability for S&B USA, the US division of a global infrastructure development and construction firm. Prior to joining S&B USA, Mr. Ervin served as the Chief Resilience Officer and Assistant Director for the Department of City Planning for the City of Pittsburgh.

Grant also serves as a climate advisor to data solutions technology firm Resource X, and advisory and board roles with Pittsburgh Earth Day and CONNECT. Grant is a Fellow of the Royal Society of Arts (FRSA). Mr. Ervin is a frequent university guest lecturer on matters of the intersections between ESG performance, innovation, climate, and resilience. Grant resides in Pittsburgh with his wife and two daughters.

https://www.linkedin.com/in/grant-ervin-50992b/

Timothy Hedley

Tim Hedley Ph.D., Executive in Residence at Fordham University
Dr. Hedley has more than 25 years of experience providing clients with a wide range of services to prevent, detect, and respond to governance and integrity issues. He works extensively with companies to respond to allegations of fraud or misconduct involving earnings management, bribery, corruption and kickbacks, counterfeiting, construction fraud, Ponzi schemes, and employee theft.

Tim has served on the faculty at numerous universities and is currently an Executive in Residence at Fordham University responsible for ESG literacy. He is the author of many governance and integrity-related articles and is the co-author of the books “The New Era of Regulatory Enforcement: A Comprehensive Guide for Raising the Bar to Manage Risk” and “Managing the Risk of Fraud and Misconduct: Meeting the Challenges of a Global, Regulated and Digital Environment,” both published by McGraw-Hill. Tim is the founding chairman of the ESG Committee of the Connecticut Society of CPAs (CTCPA). Tim is also the co-author of a new McGrawHill textbook titled “Sustainability Reporting and Disclosures”.

https://www.linkedin.com/in/thedley/

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