Press Release

Vice President Al Gore addresses ACCA event in Hong Kong

8 August 2007

Vice President Al Gore, the world's best known campaigner on environmental issues, is to speak tomorrow (9 August) in Hong Kong to business leaders at a sell-out event organised by ACCA (the Association of Chartered Certified Accountants).
 
The 45th Vice President of the United States, whose documentary An Inconvenient Truth, won an Oscar for Best Documentary Feature at this year's Annual Academy Awards, will be speaking about the links between climate change, ethics and sustainability to an audience of leading government officials, business executives, leaders of the accountancy profession and senior ACCA members from Hong Kong SAR, Mainland China and across the Asia Pacific Region.

The exclusive event is taking place in Hong Kong's Conrad Hotel and is the highlight of a series of global events organised by ACCA throughout 2007 which focus on professionalism and ethics. To coincide with the event, ACCA is launching a study, published tomorrow, which assesses how leading companies are currently reporting on climate change, based on research and discussion by a group of top experts in the field.

Allen Blewitt, ACCA Chief Executive, who will be speaking on the same platform as Vice President Gore tomorrow, said: "We are delighted that Vice President Gore has agreed to speak at our event. We have been campaigning for over 15 years for organisations to measure and manage their environmental impacts and activities, and to have secured Vice President Gore, the world's leading environmental champion, to speak to our members reflects our commitment to these issues. The fact that the event is a sell-out, with so many corporate tables being booked, shows that businesses want to address these challenges."

Allen Blewitt added: "ACCA is publishing a report which will add to the debate on how business should be measuring its own impact on climate change. We believe bringing transparency and clarity to this issue can lead inexorably to opportunities for real improvements in environmental performance. The financial markets will be able to assess risks to long-term shareholder value and so will be able to allocate more effectively their vast resources in ways that mitigate the threats of global climate change. So accountants can be at the vanguard of fundamental changes in corporate performance, as companies which lead the way in this area will be seen as professional and ethical."