Green Accounting

This title was first published in 2003. Our cherished economic indicators of income, product, consumption and capital fail in taking a long-term view of social progress. They do not account for environmental deterioration, which impairs the quality of life of present and future generations, and hence the sustainability of development. "Greening" the conventional national (and corporate) accounts introduces environmental impacts and costs into these accounts and balances. The result is a new compass for steering the economy towards sustainability, which may change not only our main measures of economic performance but also the basic tenets of environmental and resource policies. This book presents methodological advances and case studies of environmental accounting, and discusses their use in environmental management and policies. In their introduction, the editors provide a critical perspective of historical developments and current debates.

In today’s society, environmental concerns are at the forefront of entrepreneurial decision-making and planning. With increased attention on an organization’s environmental impact, researchers and business leaders strive to provide the best methodologies and strategies for effective environmental reporting and accountability. Green Accounting Initiatives and Strategies for Sustainable Development presents the latest scholarly research on the economic, social, and environmental objectives essential to the planning and support of future organizations and communities. This publication is an essential reference source for academicians, researchers, advanced level students, and professionals interested in designing business models and financial plans with consideration for environmental and social liabilities. This publication features timely, research based chapters on economic, social, and environmental policies including, but not limited to, green performance measurement, triple bottom line reporting, sustainable societies, environmental protection, and risk and adaptive management.

This handbook showcases the broad spectrum of diverse approaches to environmental accounting which have developed during the last 30 years across the globe. The volume covers a range of physical issues such as water, carbon and biodiversity, as well as specific accounting matters such as management control, finance and audit. Moreover, seven chapters present environmental accounting issues that arise in the regions of Africa, Asia, Europe, MENA, North America, the Pacific and South America. The handbook also highlights future challenges in all the topic areas addressed as well as introducing new topics, such as links between environmental accounting and the circular economy, and the issues associated with animal rights. Edited by leading scholars in the area and with key contributions from across the discipline, and covering a diverse range of perspectives and locations, the volume is divided into five key parts: • Part 1: Framing the issues • Part 2: Financial accounting and reporting • Part 3: Management accounting • Part 4: Global and local perspectives • Part 5: Thematic topics in environmental accounting This handbook will act as a significant publication in drawing together the history of the field and important reference points in its future development, and will serve as a vital resource for students and scholars of environmental accounting and environmental economics.

In this important new work, Howard T. Odum, widely acknowledged as the father of systems ecology, lucidly explains his concept of emergy, a measure of real wealth that provides a rational, science-based method of evaluating commodities, services, and environmental goods. Using specific real-world examples, Dr. Odum clearly demonstrates the revolutionary role of emergy in environmental management and policy making. Environmental Accounting: Emergy and Environmental Decision Making offers environmental professionals—policymakers, managers, ecologists, planners, developers, and activists—a systematic approach to environmental and economic valuation that will eliminate much of the rancor and adversarial decision making that often plagues environmental issues. Specifically, this book: Describes the theoretical basis, calculation procedures, and applications of emergy Introduces the concept of "transformity," the ratio of emergy (work put into a product) and energy (value received from the product) Provides formulas for emergy calculations, procedures for making an emergy evaluation table, and parameters for updating evaluations Demonstrates the use of emergy to evaluate environments, minerals, waters, primary energy sources, economic developments, and international trade Compares the emergy approach to environmental evaluation with others Environmental Accounting: Emergy and Environmental Decision Making will help environmental decision makers and the society they serve maximize economic vitality with less trial and error, innovate with fewer failures, and adapt to change more rapidly. It provides the tools they need to arrive at the best policies in resource management, economics, and the environment. Balancing the economy and the environment— from the father of systems ecology Increasing economic dependence on diminishing natural resources has sparked a highly charged debate over the use and fate of the world environment. Environmental Accounting: Emergy and Environmental Decision Making presents a unique method of environmental management based on maximizing real wealth, the whole economy, and the public benefit. Renowned ecologist Howard T. Odum introduces the concept of emergy to provide a rational alternative to the tug-of-war over the world's most vital assets. Emergy measures the energy put into making a product and is the cornerstone of Odum's revolutionary text. This timely and important book offers key insights into: Determining the real value of a product or service Transformity, or the relationship between emergy (input) and energy (output) Stored wealth, available energy, and the final product Balancing economic and environmental needs Environmental Accounting: Emergy and Environmental Decision Making will help economists, ecologists, policymakers, and planners make more responsible, informed decisions to sustain economic and environmental development.

To date, both internal and external corporate environmental reporting and management systems have focused on physical input–output measures. However, external stakeholders are increasingly demanding that organisations provide more financial information about the costs and benefits of their environmental actions. As environmental costs rise, internal decision-makers are also seeking such information to ensure that money is well spent. Beyond basic compliance, many companies will not countenance environmental actions for which a "business case" cannot be made. A number of companies – such as Baxter, BT, Xerox, Zeneca and others – are now beginning to develop a better understanding of the costs and benefits of environmental action. The US Environmental Protection Agency has also done considerable work on models designed to understand the "full costs" of pollution control investments, with the aim of demonstrating that – when these are properly considered – pollution prevention can be a more cost-effective alternative. The Green Bottom Line brings together much of the world's leading research and best-practice case studies on the topic. Divided into four sections, covering "General Concepts", "Empirical Studies", "Case Studies" and "Implementation", the book includes case studies from the US EPA's Environment Accounting Programme and contributions from authors at institutions including the IMD, INSEAD, Tellus Institute and the World Resources Institute. It constitutes a state-of-the-art collection.

Contemporary Environmental Accounting: Issues, Concepts and Practice has been written by two of the world's leading experts in the field in order to provide the most comprehensive and state-of-the-art textbook on environmental accounting yet attempted. The book is suitable for both undergraduate and graduate students and their teachers, professional accountants, and corporate and organisational managers. Although no prior knowledge of environmental accounting is necessary to understand the critical issues at stake, academic accountants will also find that the book provides a useful introduction to the topic. The goals of the book are to discuss and illustrate contemporary conceptual approaches to environmental accounting; to make readers aware of crucial controversial topics; and to offer practical examples of how the concepts have been applied throughout Europe, North America and Australia. In order to increase the usefulness of the book for relevant courses, each chapter concludes with a set of questions for review. This book is essential reading for all those who are interested in how environmental issues influence accounting.A solutions manual is available on request with the purchase of this book.

This book presents national environmental, or 'green' accounting as it has developed in Europe and other parts of the world. It introduces the most recent methods developed through the United Nations Statistical Department and other international organizations, but bridges the gap between the superficial treatment of environmental accounting in economics textbooks and environmental literature, on the one hand, and the highly technical manuals of international organizations, on the other. Joy Hecht begins with a history and introduction to national income accounting. The first part of her book explains how the environmental accounts build on the structure of the 1993 System of National Accounts. She then shows the UN approach to accounting applied to pollution, recycling, and the management of natural resources such as forests, minerals, and fisheries. The third section discusses how the accounts approach green GDP and other macroeconomic indicators. The book concludes by going beyond the UN structures to discuss other adjusted macroeconomic measures and how accounting data can be used to build them. National Environmental Accounting is a non-technical introduction to an increasingly important field. It is a must-read for anyone interested in how environmental accounts can help society move towards greater sustainability.