“It takes a lot of people working together to bring about real change”

Chartered Star 2025 winner Sophie Sweeney talks to Susan Rossney, Sustainability Advocacy Manager with Chartered Accountants Ireland, about the future of sustainability in the profession and its impact on wider society

Sophie Sweeney was recently named Chartered Star 2025, an annual designation recognising outstanding work in support of the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).

Run in partnership with One Young World and Chartered Accountants Worldwide, the annual Chartered Star competition aims to celebrate the difference-makers in the profession helping to combat climate change by bringing real, positive change to the profession, their workplaces and wider communities.

As a lecturer at University of Galway, Sweeney integrates sustainability into finance and tax education, embedding the UN SDGs across her teaching and inspiring the next generation of leaders in Chartered Accountancy.

Q The Chartered Star designation recognises outstanding work in support of the UN’s Sustainable Development Goals. Tell us about the SDGs?

There are 17 SDGs, adopted by UN Member States in 2015 as part of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development.

Together, the SDGs comprise an urgent call to action and shared blueprint for peace and prosperity for people and the planet, now and into the future.

The way I explain the goals to my students is that they present a structured global framework for the key priority areas we can focus on and invest in today.

It takes a lot of people working together to bring about real change and, though we may not be able to fix everything, we have to start somewhere.

Chartered Accountants have an especially important role to play in progressing the SDGs because our qualification gives us an overall understanding of all aspects of business, from large multinationals through to small and medium-sized enterprises and sole traders.

Q Why do you think Chartered Accountants have a key role in supporting the UN SDGs and driving the environmental, sustainable and governance agenda forward?

Chartered Accountants are trained to be skilled at so much more than just record- or book-keeping.

Our role is important because we are regarded as trusted advisers; as the “gatekeepers”, with the analytical skills, qualifications and business acumen needed to support and drive real, meaningful change.

Business owners understand the product or service they are selling but we understand the numbers underpinning the business.

We have the skills to be able to take a 360-degree view of the business, determine how best it can thrive and adapt, making a profit without damaging the world we live in.

We can steer the focus towards lasting impact and legacy and interpret and communicate the relevant information in a way all stakeholders can understand.

Even for those of us who don’t have “sustainability” in our job title, it is set to become an increasingly important part of the work we do.

In the future, I foresee the role of the Chartered Accountant sitting between science, policy and business.

We will be deeply involved in embedding ESG principles and practices in business, improving both efficiency and profitability by ethical means.

Among my students, sustainability and ethical business are key personal and professional priorities and, on a broader level, people increasingly want to invest in, buy from and work with businesses that share their values.

This is why the Chartered Accountant, in particular, is so very important in the broader movement to reach the UN’s SDGs.

Q Tell us about your role as a lecturer at University of Galway, and how you are embedding ESG in your work with students.

I teach financial reporting, tax, finance and management accounting, and deliberately integrate and explore the SDGs with my students, both at undergraduate and postgraduate level.

By teaching them about the SDGs as early as their first year at university, I hope I can help them understand just how integrated the work of the accountant is with all areas of business.

The sooner we start teaching younger generations about the principles of ESG, the more likely they are to make a meaningful contribution to reaching the SDGs over the course of their career.

My focus with my students is on environmental sustainability but also social sustainability and governance, such as board composition.

To me, equality is about more than gender equality; it is about equality between people of all backgrounds, diversities and orientations. I bring this concept to discussions with my students.

I am also involved in The Tax Clinic, a free student-led tax information service for students and marginalised individuals run out of University of Galway.

The clinic was created by Emer Mulligan, Personal Professor of Taxation and Finance at University of Galway’s JE Cairnes School of Business and Economics, and it is the first of its kind in Ireland.

We train students to answer tax queries and provide information to other students. Professional advisers also work at the clinic, helping marginalised individuals with tax advice and support.

“TO ME, EQUALITY IS ABOUT MORE THAN GENDER EQUALITY; IT IS ABOUT EQUALITY BETWEEN PEOPLE OF ALL BACKGROUNDS, DIVERSITIES AND ORIENTATIONS. I BRING THIS CONCEPT TO DISCUSSIONS WITH MY STUDENTS”

I am currently undertaking PhD research around the concept of “fiscal citizenship” and how an individual’s self-perception, and understanding of their role in society, is affected by the taxes they contribute to the running of that society.

My focus is on how our attitudes towards fiscal citizenship change throughout our lifetime, and the impact the digital transformation of our tax system will have on the one percent of our population who won’t be able to engage with it.

Q What does it mean to you to be named Chartered Star 2025?

I still can’t believe it! It is wonderful to get this recognition for the work I am doing at University of Galway. I entered the Chartered Star competition mainly to draw attention to the work we are doing with our Tax Clinic.

Getting involved in initiatives like The Tax Clinic is incredibly important to me; it is about using all of the skills, experience and training my profession has given me to bring about positive change in the world and support and progress the SDGs.

Like so many other Chartered Accountants, my work is about much more than the three letters at the end of my name.

As Chartered Star 2025, I will be travelling to the One Young World Summit taking place in November in Munich, Germany, representing Chartered Accountants Ireland and Chartered Accountants Worldwide.

I can’t wait to attend the event on behalf of all the passionate and progressive Chartered Accountants in our membership working to support the SDGs.

Especially coming from the public sector and academia which people sometimes (mistakenly) regard as a bit stuffy, I will make sure everyone in Munich knows this is far from the truth!

Beyond One Young World, the Chartered Star 2025 designation will allow me to continue building on my work encouraging my students to think about their future in terms of their potential to make a positive impact on the world around them.

Sustainability, in particular, is never going to be just “done”; it’s like an engine we will need to keep running.

We are never going to have it all figured out but, at its heart, it is about finding ways to progress together towards a better future for people and the planet.