KICPA Launches "KICPA ESG Academy 7th Program"

The Korean Institute of Certified Public Accountants (KICPA) announced on September 24 that it will launch the "KICPA ESG (Environmental, Social, and Governance) Academy 7th Program," which is set to begin on September 30.

The KICPA ESG Academy offers a three-stage curriculum covering general, advanced, and certification courses in sustainability. The program operates through a combination of live Zoom lectures and recorded video lessons. The 7th program consists of 43 lectures totaling 61 hours, delivered by 38 sustainability experts from the Big Four accounting firms (Samil, Samjong, Anjin, and Hanyoung) and other organizations. The general course, running from September 30 to November 3, covers essential and fundamental topics such as an introduction to sustainability, domestic and international trends, history and development, sustainability-related accounting and taxation, ESG evaluation, implementation of sustainable management, and reporting/disclosure standards and guidelines. The advanced course, held from November 10 to December 8, builds on the general course with a focus on real-world cases and expands the curriculum to include sustainable finance, climate change, biodiversity, and human resources. The certification course, scheduled from December 15 to 22, focuses on standards and practical cases related to sustainability report certification.

This program will be operated on a new platform designed to enhance scalability and stability. AI-powered video lectures have been introduced on a trial basis, and the certification curriculum has been strengthened with additional content on sustainability certification methodologies, practical cases, and greenhouse gas emissions verification. Furthermore, an additional hands-on certification practice lecture will be offered to both previous certification course graduates and current 7th program certification course participants.

The KICPA ESG Academy was established in November 2021 to strengthen the capabilities of certified public accountants. Starting with the 3rd program in the second half of 2022, the target audience was expanded to include the general public in response to demand from corporate professionals. Both certified public accountants and the general public may enroll in the general and advanced courses, while only certified public accountants are eligible for the certification course.

Applications can be submitted through the KICPA ESG Academy website, with a maximum of 200 certified public accountants and 200 general participants accepted on a first-come, first-served basis. Certificates of completion will be issued to those who complete all lectures and pass the quizzes. In addition, the first lecture of the general course, "Introduction to Sustainability and Domestic/International Trends," will be available for free to anyone without prior registration via the KICPA YouTube channel at 3:00 p.m. on September 30.

A KICPA official stated, "As the government has identified the establishment of sustainability disclosure standards and a roadmap as key policy tasks, domestic companies also need to prepare more systematically. We expect that the KICPA ESG Academy will provide practical support not only to certified public accountants preparing for sustainability information disclosure, but also to corporate professionals, and will contribute to the successful implementation of a high-quality sustainability disclosure system."

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.