He began attending WBSCD conferences. “They had a very simple message, that 1.5°C [increase in average temperatures] has been broken and if global warming increases by 2.7°C before the end of the century we’re in a crisis. You can no longer argue with the science. So we need to accelerate and get things done,” he says.

“I’m very much focused on outcomes and execution. We needed corporates to start picking up the pace. I started to think about how we can speed up, and what we are doing wrong.”

Murray, who took up his current position in April 2024, says the introduction of the first two global sustainability standards, IFRS S1 and S2, has been “massive” in addressing how companies produce their public reports. He is even considering moving the sustainability target disclosures to the annual report so that a consistent framework and level of materiality can be ensured.

“For example, the Hong Kong stock exchanges now say you must produce your sustainability report at the same time as your annual report and release them together, because the sustainability disclosures piece is just as important.”

Prior to that, he says, the sustainability development office would issue its own report. Murray wasn’t a fan of that approach, to put it mildly, because issues that affect sustainability will inevitably also affect finance.

“If I had my time again, I’d move to Vietnam, Cambodia or Indonesia… There’s unanimous agreement that the growth will come from south-east Asia”

"If you really want to accelerate on climate, you have to integrate it into your business. The risk team, the finance team, the procurement team and the C-suite all have to understand this – and that the CFO is integral and can make a big, big difference." he says.

Murray also argues that for sustainability reporting you simply have to integrate what people have been doing for centuries in accounting which, he says, “is simply a way of measuring what you’re trying achieve”.

Less haste, more speed

Is Murray concerned or frustrated by recent stories of corporations rowing back on their climate commitments? He is of the view that corporations still recognise the threat posed by climate change but were being asked to do too much too quickly. While social issues are an integral part of sustainability, there has been particular push back on some specifics, such as targets for the make-up of a workforce.

“If you take on too much, you just get caught up in the muddle of disclosures and compliance. It becomes death by regulation,” he says.

Murray is also critical of “green financing” and says: “If you try to do things properly, it can be much harder to get green financing than someone who’s polluting, but making progress [on reducing emissions] even when that progress is a very slow burn.”

He was recently in London to receive his Finance of the Future award in the category of Climate Leadership, where he expressed his views on a range of issues, including green finance and the need for corporations to understand the risk natural events caused by climate breakdown pose to their supply chains. He also stressed that, for Swire, his priority is to “ensure that they focus on driving long-term sustainable shareholder value by listening to and knowing the concerns of major stakeholders”.

Speaking to CA magazine, a few weeks after the event, he’s insistent that businesses, including SMEs, must not feel overwhelmed by the prospect of sustainability reporting and that disclosures do not become a burden. He believes there are simple things that any company can do to embed sustainability into its company culture (see panel).

The Finance for the Future award was his second honour of the year, the first having come after a mysterious email – of a kind that could make you fear what chaos might be unleashed by following the instructions.

“[The email] was telling me that I was about to receive good news and I needed to dial a number. I looked at my wife and said, ‘Is this for real?’”

But the phone number he was instructed to call turned out to be the British Consulate-General in Hong Kong. “The man at the other end of the phone said I had been nominated for an award and that I might not get it, but if I would like to receive it then would I also like to fill out a form?”

Murray is a shining example of a CA who is applying his experience and position to make a positive impact. As it transpired the honour, an OBE, was in recognition of his charity work, particularly in Cambodia with the Indochina Starfish Foundation.

“In Cambodia, there’s no social services, so if you can’t afford to go to school, can’t afford a uniform, you just don’t get an education. Cambodia is near Hong Kong, so you can go there and see very, very quickly the tangible difference you make by giving kids an education. And that charity has just grown and grown.”

To help raise money for the charity he would often organise a fundraising event where he would book a famous sports star as a guest speaker. On one occasion he approached John Jeffrey, a Scottish rugby legend. “But he said the man you want is Doddie Weir. So I phoned Doddie, who had recently self-diagnosed with motor-neurone disease, but had not yet gone public. Both he and his wife needed a break, so he came out to Hong Kong, having not spoken to a doctor and not knowing for certain whether anything was seriously wrong. He was amazing and took our charity fundraising to a new level.”

Murray now runs the Hong Kong operation for Weir’s My Name’5 Doddie Foundation, which he set up in 2017. “In 2019, we wrote to Billy Connolly to take part in an event, because his mother died of the disease. Billy hadn’t been to Hong Kong for 20 years, but immediately said he wanted to do it. We believe it was his last live performance on stage,” says Murray.

Connolly had himself been diagnosed with Parkinson’s some years earlier and Weir – who would die three years later, aged just 52 – was also in attendance on the night. “It was just one of those surreal, extraordinary moments,” says Murray, “when you’ve got two huge personalities who are clearly suffering, but all they want to do is show that you live for the day, so let’s have fun and just enjoy ourselves.”

Going for growth

By any measure, Murray has had an extraordinary life and career. So what advice would he give to a young CA starting out? Perhaps not surprisingly, working abroad features, alongside… “Keep it simple. Cash is king. Always apply common sense. Have fun in what you do, don’t get too serious about anything. The CA qualification is a fantastic, knowledge base to have and to understand how business works, and how process works.

“Don’t be afraid of leaving your pasture. If I had my time again, I’d be moving to Vietnam or Cambodia or Indonesia and living the dream I had in Hong Kong. If you look at the figures, there’s unanimous agreement that the growth will come from south-east Asia, and I believe it’s always more fun working in a growth economy than one that is shrinking.

“And never forget that even in the moments when you may question your own ability, if you’re a CA you have a qualification that is recognised and respected around the world.”

swirepacific.com

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