Why choose MSc Accounting & Sustainability?

Current MSc Accounting & Sustainability student Erinna Nugraha shares how her time at Warwick Business School is helping her connect Indonesia’s sustainability goals with real-world financial practice.

My home country, Indonesia, is strengthening its sustainability policy framework - especially in financial services. We want to improve our Sustainability Roadmap and make our National Sustainability Taxonomy more useful for financial industries.

To help that transition, I wanted to learn how to connect a big purpose with real, practical change. That is why I chose the MSc Accounting and Sustainability at Warwick Business School.

I needed a bridge, deeper tools and to connect ESG ambition with day-to-day management and controls. This course sits exactly in the middle. It answers the big questions that have always been buzzing inside my mind: What do we measure? Who decides materiality? How do we design controls so that ‘net zero’ isn’t just a slogan, but part of budgeting and performance reviews?

What makes WBS accounting courses different?

As a public-sector professional, I also looked for a school that values both corporate and policy perspectives. WBS offers that balance - strong analytical thinking combined with a real-world lens on how companies, markets, and regulations work together. I felt this would help me contribute more effectively when I return home - to build smarter ESG rules, support fair assurance practices, and encourage genuine, data-driven regulation.

The modules and structures are very hands-on. Lectures give us frameworks, and seminars push us to apply them. I’ve debated how executive compensation is tied to ESG metrics with my classmates, built a simple carbon-costing model for a hotel case study, and presented a memo on how internal controls can prevent “green-wishful” thinking.

One of my favourite sessions used a banking case from Indonesia, which made the classroom feel close to my real-life experience. I’ve learned that a good sustainability argument is still a valid accounting argument - because we define the boundary, measure the impact, test the sensitivity, and stay transparent about uncertainties.

Outside the classroom, the learning continues. I was invited to a UNCTAD conference in Geneva, which opened my eyes to how emerging markets are aligning trade, development, and climate goals. During the winter break, I also joined a sustainability policy-making conference in Paris, which helped me connect what we learn in lectures with real decision-making.

What is the MSc community like at Warwick?

My favourite part of WBS is the people. My classmates and I in the Accounting and Sustainability programme are the course’s first cohort. We’re diverse in backgrounds and ambitions yet share the same curiosity. Our professors invite challenge and encourage us to move from ‘why?’ to ‘how’. I also love the balance between technical depth and practical tools.

On a personal note, I was concerned that studying abroad might feel lonely - but it certainly hasn’t. WBS has a strong community, from study groups to sports and student clubs. My diary is packed with both academic and social opportunities – which is perfect.

What should I expect from a Master’s course?

At first, I expected a lot of theory. I’m grateful that the course is more applied than I imagined. We read frameworks and standards, but we also build things - dashboards, case solutions, carbon-costing analyses, and policy briefings. That discipline, which intertwines definition, measurement, testing, and improvement, has become my favourite habit.

If you’re thinking about this course, come with a clear question that matters to you - like how to calculate carbon costing or how to link a net-zero target to budgeting or bonuses. Let that question guide your readings, projects, and conversations.

Get comfortable with logical, simple thinking, because sustainability lives in numbers and transparent assumptions. Be honest about uncertainty - say what you know, what you assume, and how the result could change.

Lean on the community: career support, societies, and classmates will challenge you, support you, and make the difficult parts lighter. This mix of curiosity, discipline, and teamwork is what turns ambition into impact.

Studying at Warwick Business School has shown me that sustainability is not just an idea - it’s a discipline of measurement, accountability, and purpose. What we choose to count truly counts.