Accounting For Sustainability

This exciting book is one of the first textbooks in the fast growing area of sustainability accounting. Contributed to, and edited by an impressive array of internationally renowned authorities, it focuses on the use of sustainability accounting both as an external accountability mechanism (external reporting) and as a tool for helping managers assess and manage the social and environmental impacts of their operations (management accounting). Using real-life examples and case studies to emphasize the links between the conceptual basis and issues in practice, this outstanding book addresses the growing interest among both practitioners and academics in social, environmental and ethical accountability, as interpreted through the lens of sustainable development.

This book provides a broad overview of how sustainability reporting has grown, how it is used now and where it is heading. Daily, we read and hear in various media about concepts such as corporate social responsibility (CSR), sustainability reporting, sustainability accounting, environmental reports, corporate citizenship or environmental management systems. Accounting for Sustainability decodes this terminology by providing an accessible introduction to the topic that explores sustainability reporting from an internal and external perspective. It begins with an overview of how sustainability reporting has emerged and why it is important, before moving on to cover definitions of key terms and specific theories and frameworks. Subsequent chapters explore the role of financial management, sustainability standards, accounting communication and capital markets. With learning outcomes and study questions embedded in each chapter, this book will be of great interest to students of sustainability reporting and accounting, as well as practitioners taking related professional accreditations.

If businesses and other organizations are to meet the many and complex challenges of sustainable development, then they all, both public and private, need to embed sustainability considerations into their decision-making and reporting. However, the translation of this aspiration into effective action is often inhibited by the lack of systems and procedures that take sustainability into account. Accounting for Sustainability: Practical Insights will help organizations to address these issues. The book sets out a number of tools and approaches that have been developed and applied by leading organizations to: - embed sustainability into decision-making, extending beyond an organization's boundaries to take into account suppliers, customers and other stakeholders; - measure and link sustainability and financial performance; - integrate sustainability into 'mainstream' reporting, both to management and external stakeholders. In-depth cases studies from Aviva, BT, the Environment Agency, EDF Energy, HSBC, Novo Nordisk, Sainsbury's and West Sussex County Council show in detail how accounting for sustainability works in practice in a wide range of organizational contexts. Published with The Prince's Charities: Accounting for Sustainability

The demands placed on land, water, energy and other natural resources are exacerbated as the world population continues to increase together with the expectations of economic growth. This, combined with concerns over environmental change, presents a set of scientific, policy and management issues that are critical for sustainability. Resource Accounting for Sustainability Assessment: The nexus between energy, food, water and land use offers an approach for multi-scale, integrated assessment of this nexus. It presents a comprehensive and original method of resource accounting for integrated sustainability assessments. The approach is illustrated with three detailed case studies: the islands of Mauritius, the Indian state of Punjab, and the energy economy of South Africa. The relationships between flows of goods, services and materials in these case studies offer valuable insights. The book provides a much needed quality control on the information used in deliberative processes about policy and planning activities. This innovative book will be of interest to researchers, students and practitioners in the fields of sustainability science, international development, industrial ecology, sustainable resource management, geography and ecological economics.

This is the fourth in a series publishing the best contributions on environmental management accounting (EMA) from around the world. This volume brings together international examples of leading thinking and practice in this rapidly developing area. This is the most comprehensive volume to date covering theory, practice and case studies on sustainability accounting and reporting. It covers tools, frameworks, concepts as well as case studies and empirical analysis.

This volume draws together contemporary topics, themes and methodologies in the field of sustainability reporting and assurance to reveal how sustainability information is actually used, interpreted and processed by internal and external users.

This book advances the understanding of corporate sustainability and challenges and roles of sustainability accounting in the Asia-Pacific region. The Asia-Pacific region has shown fast economic growth for several decades which is expected to continue. In this context, Asia has become the “production engine” of the global economy. At the same time scientific reports reveal that some planetary boundaries are crossed, for example relating to biodiversity and climate change. Companies in the Asia-Pacific region are therefore increasingly challenged to reduce their environmental impacts, to document their social contribution and to contribute to sustainable development. Key approaches to identify sustainability problems and challenges, to support improvement processes and to back up sustainability contributions include accounting and reporting. In contrast to the high relevance of accounting and reporting for corporate sustainability for the Asia-Pacific region, academic research has so far been dominated by Western researchers and pre-dominantly dealt with Western and Japanese cases and approaches. It is thus time to take account of Asian perspectives on accounting and reporting for sustainability in the Asia-Pacific region.

This book deals with the limitations of economic and financial accounting as an appropriate instrument to reflect the real value created or destroyed by an organization. The authors present a sustainable social accounting approach that considers both the social and economic value – Blended Value – generated by an organization for all of its stakeholders. This approach is based on four major theories – Stakeholder Theory, Action Research, Phenomenological Perspective and Fuzzy Logic – and was developed on the basis of a cost-benefit analysis.