Adrian Bex Blog

The first week of August 2025 marks my fourth week as a sustainability intern at a large consulting company in Belgium. I began my business studies last year, where I became acquainted with the term "sustainability report", the standards, and the system. Photo by MART  PRODUCTION: https://www.pexels.com/photo/a-man-in-a-gray-sweater-using-a-laptop-7256466/ As an accounting major, I am already well-versed in financial reports, which include all the key statements: statement of financial position (balance sheet), statement of profit and loss, statement of other comprehensive income, statement of changes in equity for the period, statement of cash flows for the period, and, last but not least, the notes. These are comparable, well-established, and standardized, allowing investors to properly analyze financial ratios and compare a company's performance both historically and across the industry. However, I must admit that I will only have one course in sustainability reporting...

I have been thinking recently about what makes a person stand out in a world with almost 8 billion people. Whether in business or personal life, standing out in the "market" seems like a tedious task. It occurred to me that being good at everything may not be better than being extremely good at one or a few things. Photo by Paweł L.: https://www.pexels.com/photo/grayscale-photography-of-people-1245055/ I recently read the book Infidel: My Life by Ayaan Hirsi Ali, and it was an impressive, eye-opening account of her life, passions, and fight for liberty for all. One of the things I find most impressive about her personality is how definite she is in deciding what she likes and dislikes, and what she is good at. She excels in languages, philosophy, and social science, but she is not interested in math and physics. In her first few years living in the Netherlands, she tried to attend a bookkeeping school but quit a few weeks later in order to wait and try to enroll at Leiden Un...

Accounting is about providing a clear and accurate picture of a company's financial health. To ensure this clarity and reliability, accountants adhere to a set of fundamental principles that guide their work. These principles can be grouped into four key areas: Objectivity, Quality of Information, Prudence, and Periodicity. Before we begin, I have to say that I am writing this as I am preparing myself for the first exam of financial accounting. The course that I am taking spans for one year. I am based in Antwerp, Belgium, so the accounting treatment provided here is aligned with the Belgium GAAP and IFRS, and may be different with US GAAP. I wrote this based on this book: Book: A Practical Guide to Financial Accounting 1. Objectivity Objectivity means that financial information should be unbiased, verifiable, and based on factual evidence. This is achieved through several key concepts: 1.1 Unit of Measurement : All transactions are recorded using a single, stable currency, like th...

Commercial transactions form the foundation of a company's operations, involving the essential activities of purchasing and selling goods or services, as well as managing the corresponding payments. In this post, we will examine the accounting treatment of these fundamental transactions, using the example of BexCo, a pet food and toy company, to provide a clear illustration of the principles involved. This analysis will follow the various categories of commercial transactions encountered by BexCo. Each category will be defined, the key relevant accounting accounts will be identified, and illustrative examples with solutions will be provided. Before diving into the transaction categories, we will first explain the fundamental calculation of the total invoice amount, including Value Added Tax (VAT). Before we begin, I have to say that I am writing this as I am preparing myself for the first exam of financial accounting. The course that I am taking spans for one year. I am based in An...

 I wrote this essay as part of evaluation for a course Foundations of International Business taught by Prof. Sascha Albers. This is one of my favorite courses in the first semester of my business economics education. I emigrated to Europe in September 2021 to obtain my first master’s degree in environmental science. I was privileged to be enrolled in a program that allowed me to live in three countries. When I was younger, I already knew that every individual is unique, and every society is of different characteristics. However, in the wake of social justice and equality movements, I became convinced that everyone is inherently human, and we are all equal - the same. Back to my experience living for a relatively extended time in different European countries, I noticed the subtle nuances of how people think and behave differently. Even within the same country, the culture may be divided by multiple factors (suburbs vs urban areas, languages, political views, history, etc.). Then it ...

Love. It's such a confusing thing, isn't it? I say I want it more than anything. I think it'll give my life meaning, anchor me to something real. But then, it's also like stepping into a storm on purpose. I know it'll shake me up, turn everything upside down, and leave me wondering who I even am when it's gone. Photo by self-documentation, taken on 19/12/2021 in front of the Centre Pompidou in Paris, France But why him? Why is it his face I see when I close my eyes, his voice I imagine when I drift into sleep? It is not just the physical desire, though that is there, loud and unrelenting. It's more like he's taken up residence in my head and heart. He's there even when he's not. For me, love isn't about big, showy moments. It's the tiny things that feel huge. The way he tilts his head when he's thinking, his laugh, how he types on his computer so fast, the way he puts effort into his salad, the exact way he smiles. Things nobody else ...

Sustainable finance, despite its rapid growth, is at a crossroads. The sector’s credibility is being eroded by a wave of skepticism surrounding ESG practices, exacerbated by weak regulatory alignment and economic turbulence. If left unaddressed, these issues risk stalling progress just when climate finance is most urgently needed. Photo by Denniz Futalan: https://www.pexels.com/photo/woman-holding-green-yellow-and-white-umbrella-standing-near-black-crt-tv-1344265/  At the heart of the problem lies trust, or the lack of it. Investors and regulators increasingly question whether sustainability-linked instruments deliver meaningful change or merely greenwash corporate reputations. A 2023 analysis of sustainability-linked bonds (SLBs) revealed that 34% of issuers missed their stated sustainability targets, raising doubts about the robustness of underlying KPIs. Worse, many issuers provided limited transparency, fueling perceptions that these instruments are more about optics than subs...

I was born and raised in a conservative society where one religion dominated the cultural norms of the entire nation. I discovered my attraction to men at an early age, as early as elementary school, just before 2010. I continued my education through to my bachelor's degree before leaving the country. Through my lens, I can share what it was like to live as a young gay man in what I experienced as a repressive society.

As the world gathers at COP29 in Azerbaijan to confront the ongoing climate crisis, the issue of emissions remains central to global climate policy. Representatives from around the world are examining the growing impact of emissions, particularly in developing countries, and debating strategies to mitigate the adverse effects of industrial growth. With climate change at the forefront, some argue that emissions may be an inevitable byproduct of economic development, especially for nations now scaling up their economies in ways Western countries did decades ago. However, the question arises: can emissions ever be justified, especially as the planet reaches critical environmental tipping points? Photo by self-documentation, taken on 16/04/2023 in Pemaluan village, Sepaku, Penajam North Paser Regency, East Kalimantan, Indonesia  In developing countries, industrial activities have surged, often resulting in rising emission rates. According to recent data from the Global Carbon Project (...