Brian Keegan: Sustainability will tax minds long after other issues are forgotten

Corporation tax might be dominating the headlines now, but environmental matters are of more long-term importance to international finance

Ideas for what constitutes sustainable behaviour change over time too. Over a decade ago, motor tax on diesel cars was reduced here to reflect lower greenhouse gas emissions

From the headlines you could be forgiven for thinking that the G7 finance ministers discussed nothing but multinational corporation tax last week. Accounting standards rarely deserve such coverage, but the G7 statements about how businesses should account for their environmental behaviour will have repercussions long after the tumult over tax has subsided.

The fundamental issue considered by the G7 finance ministers is that there is no universally accepted standard to measure claims by a business ...