Environmental Management Accounting: Informational and Institutional Developments

Environmental Management Accounting (EMA) is increasingly recognised as a distinguished tool of environmental management. It helps to integrate a company's environmental and business interests, whereby enhancing corporate eco-efficiency in terms of reducing environmental costs or making one's product more competitive. This book gives a comprehensive coverage of the state of the art. It presents a number of EMA frameworks that companies can take as a basis for implementing their own specific EMA structures. Besides discussing environmental accounting issues within conventional management accounting, it gives a detailed picture of materials flow (cost) accounting as an alternative way of looking at the ecology-economy relationships at the corporate level. A fascinating case study shows how a large company (Siemens) applies materials flow accounting and what benefits it entails. A final chapter explores a possible theoretical foundation for research on why, how and to what extent companies adopt EMA. Such research may help to turn available insights as to what EMA should be into effective EMA strategies. The book has been developed under the auspices of the Environmental Management Accounting Network (EMAN-EU). The chapters derive from a selection of papers presented at different EMAN meetings. The authors comprise a truly international group of EMA experts, among whom are the most prominent ones in the field.