On the evening of January 9th, the Secretariat of International Forum for China Impact Investing (IFCII) hosted the Impact Accounting Workshop. Over a hundred representatives from financial institutions, enterprises, research institutions, and empowering institutions, including Dan Osusky, Chief Research Officer of the International Foundation for Valuing Impacts (IFVI), Jun Suk Lee, COO of the Value Balancing Alliance (VBA), Tobias M. Wildner, Global Head Sustainable Finance & Standard Setting at VBA, Hao Liang, Co-Director of Singapore Green Finance Centre, Associate Professor of Finance at Singapore Management University, and Gefei Yin, founder of GoldenBee China, alongside other representatives from E Fund Management, Bank of Jiangsu, CICC Global Institute, Sany Foundation, and Yicai Foundation, joined this online conference.

Moderated by Xu Hu, Head of Research of CAFI and Deputy Secretary General of IFCII, the workshop featured opening remarks by Duoguang Bei, Secretary-General of IFCII and President of CAFI, and member of the IFVI’s Valuation Technical and Practitioner Committee, and concluding remarks by Weiguo Zhang, Senior Advisor of IFCII, Former Board Member of International Accounting Standards Board(IASB), and member of the IFVI Board of Directors and Executive Committee.

At the meeting, Dan Osusky introduced concepts of impact accounting, elucidating methods for monetization of accounting and general methodologies and topic methodologies. Jun Suk Lee and Tobias M. Wildner shared working approaches of VBA, exemplifying how their member companies, as pilot participants, implement IFVI standards for accounting, reporting, and decision-making. They provided examples of well-known companies to illustrate how impact valuation methods are used, down to the packaging materials of products. Hao Liang explained the significance of impact evaluation, using large international banks as examples. Gefei Yin introduced the progress of quantifying and accounting for social responsibility in Chinese listed companies.

Then industry experts and representatives from various institutions engaged in robust discussions on relevant issues with keynote speakers. Peiyuan Guo, Chairman of SynTao Green Finance, proposed approaches for measuring social value and research logic. Yvonne Kam, PwC Sustainability Technical Partner, called for attention to the interoperability between disclosure standards related to financial importance. Xuan Wu, representative from the China Association for Public Companies, expressed expectations for methods to monetize the value of ESG practices.

Professor Junxiu Sun, at the School of Public Economics and Administration of Shanghai University of Finance and Economics introduced her research project using Harvard's Impact weighted accounting methodologies, aiming to assess the environmental impact of Chinese companies. The results, published at the end of last year, primarily involved the environmental impact of commercial bank green loans. However, there were some perplexing conclusions regarding the monetary value of nitrogen oxide and sulfur oxide emissions; she plans to have further discussion with her peers from home and abroad.

With the European Union, the International Sustainability Standards Board (ISSB), and other international organizations and institutions introducing ESG and sustainable development-related standards and norms, the ESG trend seems to be unstoppable. Although most domestic enterprises and institutions have realized the necessity of measuring and regulating their development and daily activities with relevant standards, as alignment with international standards is crucial for further development, there is still room for deepening the understanding of various guidelines and their specific application in practice.

Therefore, the Impact Accounting Workshop is conducive to promoting international dialogue and exchange, facilitating domestic enterprises and institutions to gain a deeper understanding of the application methods of international standards, and advancing the development of China's relevant guidelines on an international scale in the future.

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