Depok, July 29th 2023. On Saturday (29/7), Universitas Indonesia (UI) appointed Prof. Dr. Ratna Wardhani, S.E., Ak., M.Sc., as Permanent Professor in Accounting, Faculty of Economics and Business (FEB) UI. The inauguration ceremony was led directly by Rector of Universitas Indonesia, Prof. Ari Kuncoro, S.E., M.A., Ph.D., which was broadcasted virtually via the Universitas Indonesia’s YouTube channel and UI TV. In the procession, Prof. Ratna delivered her scientific oration entitled “Evaluation of Sustainability Performance through the Development of the Sustainability Performance Measurement Framework (SPMF) in Supporting the Achievement of Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs)”.
Globally, many multinational companies and large companies in various countries are aware of the importance of sustainability and report their sustainability performance to stakeholders, including companies in Indonesia. However, there are still many companies in Indonesia that experience difficulties in establishing an appropriate sustainability strategy.
Therefore, Prof. Ratna encouraged accountants to understand the SDGs better as a whole, “Accountants are required to understand the concept and support the achievement of sustainability (SDGs) in a comprehensive manner, understand how to measure, monitor and evaluate, as well as manage performance. Accountants need to take leading roles in accelerating the growth of sustainability performance,” said Prof. Ratna.
She further explained that the SPMF was born as a result of a systematic review process carried out on rules, standards and guidelines for sustainability reporting, namely POJK 51/POJK.03/2017 concerning the Implementation of Sustainable Finance for Financial Service Institutions, Issuers and Public Companies. In addition, technical guidelines are also regulated in SEOJK 16/SEOJK.04/2021 concerning the Form and Content of Annual Reports of Issuers or Public Companies, exposure drafts of International Financial Reporting Standards (IFRS) Sustainability Disclosure Standards, Global Reporting Initiative (GRI) Standards, standards that issued by the Sustainability Accounting Standards Board (SASB), and guidance from the Task Force on Climate-related Financial Disclosures (TCFD).
Through SPMF, Prof. Ratna observed 80 companies listed on the Indonesian Stock Exchange (IDX) which had Environmental, Social, and Governance (ESG) scores. Of the 80 companies, an evaluation was carried out on 68 companies that had published a Sustainability Report for the 2022 financial year. As a result, most of the companies had disclosed environmental performance related to waste, emissions, energy, and water and liquid waste. Furthermore, more than 90% of companies have disclosed performance information related to energy use within the organization, emission scopes 1 and 2, and waste management. Meanwhile, relatively, only few performance indicators related to biodiversity, materials, and environmental assessment of suppliers were disclosed.
“I want to reemphasize that achieving the SDGs is our shared responsibility. Companies as business entities need to implement a sustainability strategy using a clear and comprehensive framework. Thus, companies can carry out sustainability strategies in a more focused manner and open up new opportunities that support growth, such as funding opportunities, emerging new business innovations, and increasing corporate resilience,” said Prof. Ratna. She added, it is hoped that the developed framework can be used to accelerate sustainability performance by various parties through making adjustments to their respective contexts.
Prof. Ratna Wardhani graduated with a Bachelor of Economics, Majoring in Accounting, FEB UI in 1999, and continued her Masters of Science in Financial Management in 2022. At the same campus, she earned her Doctorate in Accounting in 2009. Prof. Ratna is also heavily involved in various community service activities, especially for the development of Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises (MSMEs) such as measuring the social impact of the company’s Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) program which focuses on the development of MSMEs and women entrepreneurs . Besides that, Prof. Ratna also plays many roles in the implementation of Governance and Sustainability in the Company.
Several of her scientific works in the last three years, including The Effect of COVID-19 Pandemic on Banking Financial Performance through Credit Risk with ESG Performance as Moderating Variable: Study in ASEAN (2023), The Effect of Comprehensiveness Levels and Assurance Quality Of Sustainability Reports and Investor Protection Levels on Information Asymmetry (2023); Complementary Level of Financial and Tax Aggressiveness and The Impact on Cost of Debt: A Cross-Country Study (2022); The Effect Of Transfer Pricing and Tax Haven On Cross-Border Acquisition (2022); and Sustainability Strategy of Indonesian and Malaysian Palm Oil Industry: A Qualitative Analysis (2021).
