By Harriet Hodgson‑Grove

Harriet Hodgson‑Grove is a Partner at UHY Hacker Young in the UK with a focus on sustainability and assurance. As a member of the UHY International ESG Working Group, she is closely involved in shaping how sustainability is embedded across the network - from assurance methodology to knowledge sharing and capability building. She brings a practical, client‑centred perspective to sustainability, grounded in real advisory experience.

What is Earth Day and why does it matter in 2026?

Earth Day is the world's largest civic environmental event, observed every year on 22 April by more than a billion people across 193 countries. It began on 22 April 1970, when US Senator Gaylord Nelson, inspired by the environmental devastation caused by a major oil spill in California, called on Americans to demonstrate for the planet. An estimated 20 million people took part in that first event, leading directly to the creation of landmark legislation including the Clean Air Act, the Clean Water Act, and the establishment of the US Environmental Protection Agency.

Fifty-six years on, the ambition has grown considerably. Earth Day is no longer a single national demonstration, it is a co-ordinated global call to action, supported by thousands of events in communities, workplaces, schools and businesses.

The 2026 theme: Our Power, Our Planet

This year’s theme - “Our Power, Our Planet” - carries a clear and deliberate message: environmental progress does not depend on the policy choices of any single government or election cycle. It is built, sustained, and defended by the daily decisions of communities, professionals, educators, workers, and organisations around the world.

The 2026 manifesto from EarthDay.org describes sustainability as a collective responsibility: one grounded in economic sense, public health, and long-term resilience - not abstract idealism. Local systems, businesses and professional networks are called on to lead where national policy is uncertain.

Why this matters to an international professional services network

UHY International is a global network of independent member firms providing audit, tax and advisory services. Our purpose - “Connect to possibility” - is about helping clients move forward with clarity and confidence, whatever challenges they face.

Earth Day 2026 matters to a network like ours because the issues behind it now directly shape how businesses operate and how clients make decisions. Across every sector and every market, sustainability is no longer a peripheral concern. It is influencing:

• How businesses report to investors, lenders and regulators
• How organisations manage and disclose risk
• How companies qualify for public sector tenders and supply chains
• How businesses access finance and capital markets
• How employers attract and retain talent

For clients navigating this landscape, professional advisers have a practical and important role; not as commentators, but as partners who help organisations understand what is expected of them, what it means in practice, and what steps they can take now.

That is precisely what UHY firms across the network are building towards.

UHY in the UK: leading on Sustainable Business Services

In the UK, I lead UHY Hacker Young’s Sustainable Business Services practice - a dedicated offering that supports clients in understanding what sustainability means for their organisation, what they may need to report, and what practical steps they can take to embed it into how they operate and grow.

This work spans a range of client needs: from helping businesses develop their sustainability strategy for the first time, to supporting those working through the growing framework of ESG and sustainability reporting expectations that are now shaping how companies are evaluated by stakeholders.

Sustainability reporting in the UK and internationally is evolving rapidly. Expectations from investors, lenders, customers and regulators are becoming more specific and more consistent. Our role is to help clients stay ahead of that curve - not with complexity for its own sake, but with practical, proportionate advice that fits their business.

Our first Sustainable Business Report

Over the past year, our UK work has been brought together in UHY’s first Sustainable Business Report, a public document describing a year of “monitoring, measurement and action.”

The report captures how sustainability is being embedded into day-to-day operations at UHY Hacker Young - from energy and emissions tracking through to governance and client-facing service development. It is designed as an honest, practical account of where we are and where we are heading - not a polished sustainability statement, but a working document that holds us to account year on year.

You can read the full report here: UHY UK Sustainable Business Report 2025

More on UHY Hacker Young’s UK’s Sustainable Business Services: uhy-uk.com/sustainable-business-services

The UHY International ESG Working Group

Alongside my UK role, I participate in the UHY International ESG Working Group - a cross-network group that brings together sustainability leads and practitioners from UHY member firms across different countries and regions.

The working group is expertly led by Roman Seredynski, the managing partner of UHY ECA Poland and UHY International Board Member. It exists to create something that individual firms cannot build alone: a shared knowledge base, a route for cross-border collaboration, and a growing body of practical tools and resources that can be used by practitioners across the network.

In practice, this means the group functions as a place where firms surface real client questions and specialist needs - and look across the network for expertise and experience that can help. A recent example: a request was shared within the group asking whether any UHY firms had existing experience with internal carbon pricing frameworks - specifically to support a client proposal where specialist knowledge was needed quickly. That kind of knowledge-sharing is exactly what the group is designed to enable.

The working group draws together member firms from across UHY’s global regions, reflecting the breadth of the network’s reach and the diverse regulatory and reporting environments in which our firms and clients operate.

What we’ve been focusing on and what comes next

The UHY International ESG Working Group has been active across several areas over the past twelve months. Here is a summary of where our energy has been directed.

1. Building practical sustainability capability

A recurring theme across working group discussions is the importance of making sustainability knowledge genuinely usable - for practitioners and for clients. The focus has consistently been on tools and frameworks that can be applied in real advisory contexts, rather than theoretical frameworks that sit on a shelf.

2. Webinars, events and shared learning

In the past year, the working group has used webinars and structured knowledge-sharing sessions to build capacity across the network and for our clients. These sessions bring together practitioners from different member firms and markets, allowing the group to test ideas, share experiences, and identify where more work is needed.

3. Contributing to UHY’s regional and annual conferences

Sustainability and ESG content is built into UHY’s regional and global conference programme. Planning is underway for sustainability-related content at regional events as well as the annual UHY Americas conference in Atlanta, with sessions and speaker assignments confirmed as part of the broader conference agenda.

This integration of ESG into mainstream conference content reflects the direction the network is heading: sustainability is becoming a core part of how UHY firms discuss their services and their value to clients - not a separate stream.

How UHY firms can help you “Connect to possibility”

Across the UHY network, member firms are already offering sustainability and ESG-related services to help clients respond to stakeholder expectations and evolving requirements. Whether you need help building an ESG strategy, understanding what to measure and report, or working through assurance and disclosure requirements, there are UHY firms with the experience to support you.

Country / Region	UHY Firm	Service Focus	Link
Colombia	UHY Colombia	ESG practices	Diagnóstico en ESG - uhy-co.com
Ireland	UHY FDW	Sustainability & ESG Reporting and Assurance	ESG Reporting & Sustainability Audit | UHY FDW
Poland	UHY ECA Poland	ESG advisory, reporting and assurance support	Usługi w zakresie doradztwa ESG - UHY Poland
Portugal	UHY PT	ESG Services – strategy, reporting and verification	ESG - Sustainability, CSRD and Reporting | UHY Portugal
Spain	UHY Fay & Co	CSR / Sustainability & ESG — strategy and reporting	Corporate Social Responsibility | CSR | UHY Fay & Co
United Kingdom	UHY Hacker Young	Sustainable Business Services — strategy, reporting, growth	Sustainable business services | Accountancy Services | UHY Hacker Young
United States	UHY-US	ESG Solutions — strategy, metrics, compliance	ESG Solutions | UHY

These are not future commitments, they are services being delivered to clients now, across different markets and regulatory environments. The common thread is practical, proportionate advice that helps organisations move from intention to delivery.

Our Power. Our Planet. What can you do this Earth Day?

Earth Day 2026 asks us all to recognise that responsibility doesn’t sit with one country, one government, or one generation. It sits with all of us. For professional services firms and the clients we advise, that means translating intention into practical steps.

Here are four things you can do this Earth Day, and beyond:

• Learn: Use Earth Day resources to build shared understanding across your team. EarthDay.org’s practical fact sheets and toolkits are designed for workplaces, not just activists.
• Act:  Choose one practical change at work: waste, energy, travel, procurement, or reporting discipline. Start small and make it repeatable.
• Share: Start a conversation - inside your organisation or with clients - about what sustainability means in your context, and what good looks like for you.
• Connect: If you need support building a plan, UHY firms across the network can help - from ESG strategy and reporting through to assurance and disclosure.

Because responsibility doesn’t sit with one country, one government, or one generation. It sits with all of us.

If you’d like to explore how UHY’s sustainability and ESG services could support your organisation, contact your local UHY member firm or visit uhy-uk.com/services/sustainable-business-services to find out more about UHY Hacker Young’s Sustainable Business Services offering.