1st Edition

Contemporary Environmental Accounting Issues, Concepts and Practice

By Stefan Schaltegger, Roger Burritt Copyright 2000
    462 Pages
    by Routledge

    462 Pages
    by Routledge

    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.

    Foreword John Elkington, Chair, SustainAbility Ltd  Foreword Susan McLaughlin, US Environmental Protection Agency  Foreword Patrick Ponting FCPA, National President, Australian Society of CPAs  Foreword Dr Claude Martin, Director General, WWF International  Foreword Stig Enevoldsen, Chairman, International Accounting Standards Committee 1. Purpose and structure  Part 1: Introduction and framework 2. The emergence of environmental accounting 3. The purpose of managing environmental information 4. The environmental accounting framework  Part 2: Environmental issues in conventional accounting 5. Overview, criticism and advantages of conventional accounting 6. Environmental management accounting 7. Environmental issues in financial accounting and reporting 8. Environmental shareholder value and environmental issues in other accounting systems  Part 3: Ecological accounting 9. Overview and emergence 10. The efficiency of approaches to environmental information management 11. Internal ecological accounting 12. External ecological accounting and reporting of environmental impacts  Part 4: Integration 13. Integration with eco-efficiency indicators 14. Integrating eco-efficiency-oriented information management into the corporate environmental management system 15. Summary

    Biography

    Stefan Schaltegger, Roger Burritt

    ... as a reference text and as a text to stimulate and to prompt us into other ways of thinking, this book is a really substantial addition to the literature and deserves very serious attention. - Social and Environmental Accounting || The authors have compiled and structured the existing concepts of environmental accounting very thoroughly ... The book addresses students, controllers and business leaders equally. Although the structure helps readers without any prior knowledge of environmental accounting to get an overview, the book also provides a compendium for experts who want to look up something ... the book is therefore a clear buy. - Ökologisches Wirtschaften || ... two of the world's foremost experts on the subject have come together to write the definitive book on environmental accounting. Engaging and accessible, this book is suitable for academics and professionals alike. - World Resources Institute's Envirolink Newsletter || It provides a comprehensive and well structured overview. - Corporate Environmental Strategy || In essence, this book is essential reading for all those who are interested in how environmental issues influence accounting. - Sustain magazine || This is a new and welcome addition to the growing material on environmental accounting ... whilst hardly the lightest of topics the writers manage to break down the concepts into fairly user-friendly form, drawing out principal ways for incorporating environmental elements into accounting systems. - Connections – UNED Forum Quarterly Newsletter || ... it is a book worth taking seriously ... Anyone who is not sure of what is meant by "eco-efficiency" will be hard pressed to find a better explanation ... In particular, there is good, balanced discussion of life cycle assessment as the most common model in use in environmental information management, and how it might be improved to make it a more effective and efficient management tool ... this book is an invaluable resource for anyone who is involved or interested in how accounting is influenced by environmental issues. - Corporate Social Responsibility and Environmental Management