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Episode 41: Three Big Themes Shaping the Future of Business and Finance · Chartered Accountants Global Update

• 0:00
  SPEAKER_00: Hello and welcome to the Chartered Accountants Global Update.
• 0:04
  SPEAKER_00: This is episode 41.
• 0:06
  SPEAKER_00: We have three strong stories for you today.
• 0:09
  SPEAKER_00: First, we meet Asta Thackeray, a chartered accountant whose greatest professional skill turns out to be something accountancy textbooks rarely cover.
• 0:19
  SPEAKER_00: Connecting people.
• 0:21
  SPEAKER_00: Then we look at a growing challenge for how the world measures economic progress and ask whether GDP is giving us the full picture of a planet under pressure.
• 0:31
  SPEAKER_00: And finally, we examine how businesses are turning to electric vehicles as a practical, measurable step on the road to net zero.
• 0:39
  SPEAKER_00: Let's get started.
• 0:55
  SPEAKER_00: And it is a genuinely fascinating one.
• 0:59
  SPEAKER_00: Asta Thackeray is a member of Chartered Accountants Australia and New Zealand, currently serving as chair of the Chartered Accountants Australia and New Zealand UK Regional Council.
• 1:10
  SPEAKER_00: By day she works with the Italian Trade Agency, helping international businesses understand the opportunity of investing in Italy.
• 1:19
  SPEAKER_00: And outside of work, well, she has built a thriving social enterprise in Greenwich that started as a small COVID era coffee meetup and has since grown into a community of more than 2,000 local families.
• 1:32
  SPEAKER_00: That is, by any measure, an extraordinary portfolio.
• 1:36
  SPEAKER_00: And in a recent conversation with host Sinead Donovan for the Difference Makers Discuss series, Asta reflected on what ties it all together.
• 1:46
  SPEAKER_00: The answer?
• 1:47
  SPEAKER_00: The ability to connect people.
• 1:50
  SPEAKER_00: Now, that might sound soft next to the technical rigor of a chartered accountancy qualification, but Asta's career illustrates exactly why it is not.
• 1:59
  SPEAKER_00: When she arrived in London on a working visa with both a law degree and a chartered accountancy qualification, she quickly found that it was the chartered accountancy designation that opened doors.
• 2:12
  SPEAKER_00: Employers recognized it immediately.
• 2:14
  SPEAKER_00: It gave her immediate credibility in a new country.
• 2:17
  SPEAKER_00: That credibility led her to a role with what was then UK trade and investment, where she traveled internationally talking to businesses about the UK investment landscape.
• 2:29
  SPEAKER_00: From there she moved to the Italian Trade Agency, a role that draws on everything.
• 2:36
  SPEAKER_00: Finance, cross-cultural communication, and yes, her ability to build relationships and bring the right people together.
• 2:45
  SPEAKER_00: There are a few things Aster said in that conversation that really stand out.
• 2:50
  SPEAKER_00: On cultural awareness, she recommends a book called The Culture Map by Erin Meyer as essential reading for anyone working across borders.
• 3:00
  SPEAKER_00: Understanding the norms of different workplace cultures is not just nice to have, she argues, it is a genuine professional advantage.
• 3:09
  SPEAKER_00: On community, she moved to Greenwich during the pandemic, knowing almost nobody, and pregnant with her second child.
• 3:17
  SPEAKER_00: She started a coffee meetup.
• 3:20
  SPEAKER_00: That meetup now has over 2,000 members and is incorporated as a social enterprise.
• 3:25
  SPEAKER_00: Her message there is direct.
• 3:28
  SPEAKER_00: If you want the village, you have to show up for it.
• 3:31
  SPEAKER_00: Community is a two-way commitment.
• 3:34
  SPEAKER_00: And on career, Asta's advice is to let your interests compound.
• 3:39
  SPEAKER_00: Every year she deliberately learns something unrelated to her professional field.
• 3:44
  SPEAKER_00: A pottery class, a board chair certification program.
• 3:49
  SPEAKER_00: Her reasoning is simple.
• 3:51
  SPEAKER_00: It keeps her thinking differently, and you never know when an unexpected skill becomes directly relevant.
• 3:58
  SPEAKER_00: It is a conversation about what a chartered accountancy career can look like when you follow your own direction.
• 4:05
  SPEAKER_00: And for anyone at any stage of their career, it is well worth your time.
• 4:10
  SPEAKER_00: You can find the Full Difference Makers Discuss episode on the Chartered Accountants Worldwide Website and on all major podcast platforms.
• 4:19
  SPEAKER_00: Our second topic takes us into economic measurement, and a question that is getting harder to ignore.
• 4:26
  SPEAKER_00: Is GDP still fit for purpose?
• 4:29
  SPEAKER_00: Gross domestic product has been the dominant measure of economic activity and living standards for decades.
• 4:36
  SPEAKER_00: But it has a fundamental flaw, it counts almost everything as a gain.
• 4:42
  SPEAKER_00: Military spending, waste management, the economic activity generated by cleaning up a natural disaster, all of these boost GDP figures.
• 4:52
  SPEAKER_00: Deforestation and overfishing are counted as gains.
• 4:56
  SPEAKER_00: The damage done to the environment in the process of producing economic output simply does not show up.
• 5:01
  SPEAKER_00: United Nations Secretary General Antonio Guterres put it bluntly earlier this year when he called on economies to move beyond GDP, warning that continuing to rely on it risks what he called planetary disaster.
• 5:16
  SPEAKER_00: He has described GDP as a measure that tells us the cost of everything and the value of nothing.
• 5:24
  SPEAKER_00: So if not GDP, then what?
• 5:27
  SPEAKER_00: Several alternatives and complementary frameworks are gaining traction.
• 5:31
  SPEAKER_00: The Genuine Progress Indicator, or GPI, adjusts for factors like income inequality, volunteer work, and environmental degradation.
• 5:42
  SPEAKER_00: The Human Development Index from the United Nations incorporates health and education alongside economic output.
• 5:50
  SPEAKER_00: Donut economics, a model developed by economist Kate Raworth, sets out a framework where human well-being sits within planetary boundaries rather than in tension with them.
• 6:01
  SPEAKER_00: And natural capital accounting attempts to place an economic value on ecosystems, biodiversity, and natural resources, making those things visible in financial decision making.
• 6:13
  SPEAKER_00: For chartered accountants and finance professionals, this is not a theoretical debate.
• 6:19
  SPEAKER_00: It directly shapes the sustainability reporting landscape, the metrics embedded in ESG frameworks, and the way organizations are being asked to account for their environmental impact.
• 6:31
  SPEAKER_00: The push to move beyond GDP is, in a real sense, a push for better accounting, for a fuller, more honest picture of what progress actually looks like on a vulnerable planet.
• 6:42
  SPEAKER_00: You can read the full article, first published by Acuity Magazine, and shared on the Chartered Accountants Worldwide Knowledge Hub via the link in the show notes.
• 6:53
  SPEAKER_00: And our third story this week brings us to something more operational, but no less relevant, the role of electric vehicles in corporate net zero strategies.
• 7:03
  SPEAKER_00: For many businesses, switching a fleet of company cars or commercial vehicles to electric versions looks like an obvious quick win.
• 7:11
  SPEAKER_00: Transport emissions are tangible, measurable, and, unlike scope 3 supply chain emissions, something a business can take direct control of.
• 7:21
  SPEAKER_00: And there is now a broad range of EV options available, from passenger cars to vans and increasingly larger commercial vehicles.
• 7:30
  SPEAKER_00: But the transition is not without its complications.
• 7:34
  SPEAKER_00: Charging infrastructure remains patchy in many locations, which creates real logistical challenges for businesses with drivers who cover large distances or work across multiple sites.
• 7:46
  SPEAKER_00: The upfront cost of fleet electrification is significant, even where the long-term running costs are lower.
• 7:53
  SPEAKER_00: And for businesses that lease rather than own their vehicles, the timeline and flexibility for switching can be constrained by existing contract terms.
• 8:02
  SPEAKER_00: Despite these headwinds, the direction of travel is clear.
• 8:06
  SPEAKER_00: Many organizations are setting phase transition targets, beginning with vehicles that do shorter, more predictable routes, before tackling longer range requirements.
• 8:16
  SPEAKER_00: Fleet electrification is also increasingly tied to scope 1 emissions reduction, the direct emissions a business generates, making it a credible and reportable component of net zero roadmaps.
• 8:30
  SPEAKER_00: For finance teams and sustainability leads, the key question is not just whether to switch, but how to plan the transition in a way that is financially sound, operationally realistic, and aligned with broader climate commitments.
• 8:44
  SPEAKER_00: That means thinking carefully about total cost of ownership, charging infrastructure investment, and how EV adoption integrates with existing sustainability targets.
• 8:57
  SPEAKER_00: The full article, originally published by Acuity Magazine, is available via the link in the show notes on the Chartered Accountants Worldwide website.
• 9:06
  SPEAKER_00: That is all for episode 41 of the Chartered Accountants Global Update.
• 9:11
  SPEAKER_00: This week we heard from Asta Thackeray on why the skill of connecting people might be just as valuable as any technical qualification.
• 9:20
  SPEAKER_00: We explored the growing case for moving beyond GDP toward economic measures that account for the real condition of the planet.
• 9:28
  SPEAKER_00: And we looked at what it actually takes for businesses to make the shift to electric vehicles in a way that meaningfully supports their net zero goals.
• 9:37
  SPEAKER_00: All three stories, and much more, are available on the Chartered Accountants Worldwide Knowledge Hub at Chartered AccountantsWorldwide.com.
• 9:46
  SPEAKER_00: You can also find the Difference Makers Discuss podcast on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Amazon Music, and all major podcast platforms.
• 9:55
  SPEAKER_00: If you have enjoyed this episode, please do share it with a colleague and subscribe so you do not miss the next one.
• 10:02
  SPEAKER_00: Until then, thank you for listening.