Auditors' responses to emerging issues: a UK perspective on the statutory financial auditor and the environment

The relevance of environmental issues for financial reporting and financial auditing is a matter of concern for many individual accountants and auditors, and for professional bodies and regulatory agencies in the UK and elsewhere. This paper reports on a large scale survey of audit practitioners in the UK which was part of a project funded by the Institute of Chartered Accountants in England and Wales. The questionnaire investigated auditors' experience of the issues and any actions that they may have taken in response to them. The survey also sought opinions about (1) the need for professional guidance and regulation in the fields of financial accounting and auditing and (2) a possible wider role for the financial auditor in the verification of environmental reports. Two quite distinct populations were surveyed: half the questionnaires were sent to offices of ‘large’ firms (drawn from the approximate top 100 in terms of fee income), and half were sent to a random sample of other firms listed in the ICAEW directory. These groups have been further subdivided for parts of the analysis and firm size was found to be significantly related to responses in some, though not all, areas. In particular, the results suggest that some firms may be at risk of giving insufficient attention to the financial implications of environmental issues. A clear majority of respondents thought that the environmental awareness of auditors needed to be raised but opinions were more evenly divided on the need for regulation.