Environmental Management Accounting: Policies and Linkages
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E C O N O M I C & S O C I A L F R Environmental Management Accounting: Policies and Linkages UNITED NATIONS, New York, 2001 PREFACE Pressures and incentives for the adoption of cleaner production or pollution prevention processes by business have emerged from both inside and outside enterprises. Internally, the adoption of cleaner technologies may be driven by efforts to avoid the costs of waste management, to bypass the uncertainty of constantly changing regulations, and to position the firm as a "green" enterprise in the local, national, or global marketplace. Externally, corporate environmental performance is increasingly scrutinized by investors, financial advisors, regulatory bodies, host communities, and the public at-large. To satisfy these pressures, enterprises are examining and modifying managerial and external reporting processes in response to internal and societal environmental and social concerns. Environmental management accounting (EMA) is an essential business tool for creating internal demand in businesses for cleaner and less wasteful production processes. EMA changes the reasons why companies engage in pollution prevention activities from one of environmental concern or market access to one of engaging in pollution prevention activities purely because it makes good business sense and delivers immediate financial benefits. Though managerial accounting systems are traditionally viewed as matters internal to a firm, the potential social and environmental benefits resulting from widespread use of environmental management tools calls for active governmental involvement in promoting such systems. Government policies can play an important role in encouraging and motivating businesses to adopt environmental management accounting systems as a part of rationalizing a firm's managerial accounting practices so that all project and decision costs (including social and environmental ones) become fully inventoried, properly allocated, and integrated over the life of an investment. Effective government policies and programmes for promoting EMA will result in willing cooperation by industry in the policies and programmes and widespread dissemination of such accounting systems. The purpose of this publication is to examine various approaches to promoting EMA. Broad adoption of EMA by industry would have a watershed effect on industry attitudes towards environmental protection. If companies were to realize that producing waste is more costly than treating and disposing of it, then those companies would engage in cost reduction through waste minimization. This internal demand for cleaner processes would produce changes in overall national waste and emission levels. This process would motivate companies to strive for continuous improvements to improve profit and efficiency levels and not only as a way to comply with present and future environmental regulations. This publication is targeted primarily at government institutions and policy makers. It is intended to support policy makers in designing effective policies to promote the use of EMA by industry and other organizations. This publication is the second of a series of publications prepared by the Expert Working Group on “Improving the Role of Government in the Promotion of Environmental Management Accounting”. This publication consists of two distinct but complementary parts. Part One, “EMA: Policy Pathways”, presents an evaluation of policy options available to government to promote the use of EMA by business and other organizations. This part reviews a range of policy choices based on experience by governments in implementing these instruments. It includes a number of case studies of policy instruments in use to promote EMA directly or indirectly. -i- Part Two, “EMA: Links to Management Systems and Stakeholders” presents an analytical tool to assist government in framing the scope, targets and pathways for policies to promote EMA. It identifies and evaluates the direct and indirect links between stakeholders relevant to EMA policy design and the relative effectiveness of these stakeholders and links in supporting EMA policies. The members of the Expert Working Group and the authors of this publication hope that it will be useful in guiding government policy makers to design policies that optimize the potential of EMA within their national situations. The Expert Working Group would like to extend its appreciation to the Austrian Ministry of Transport, Innovation and Technology, Environment Canada, and Joanneum Research Institute for Sustainable Techniques and Systems for providing financial support for the development of Part 1. The Group would like to thank the German Federal Ministry of Education and Research (BMBF) for the financial support for the preparation of Part 2. The Division for Sustainable Development of the United Nations Department of Economic and Social Affairs would like to thank the members of the Expert Working Group for their efforts in reviewing this material. Recognition for a job well done is extended to Dr. Deborah Savage, Mr. Paul Ligon and Mr. Johann Lomsek as lead authors of Part One, and to Dr. Stefan Schaltegger, Mr. Roger Burrit and Mr. Tobias Hahn as lead authors of Part Two; “ EMA: Links with Management Systems and Other Stakeholders”. Editorial and design assistance was provided by the Interpretation, Meeting and Publishing Division of the Department of Public Information of the United Nations. This publication is produced by the United Nations Division for Sustainable Development as part of its work programme on the “Transfer of Environmentally Sound Technologies”, managed by Mr. Tarcisio Alvarez-Rivero with the assistance of Ms. Theresa Olvida and under the supervision of Mr. Ralph Chipman. This publication is available electronically free of charge at http://www.un.org/esa/sustdev/estema1.htm or it can be purchased in printed form through the United Nations Publications website at http://www.un.org/Pubs/catalog.htm -ii- The Expert Working Group on “Improving the Role of Governments in the Promotion of EMA”. The Expert Working Group on Improving Government’s Role in the Promotion of Environmental Management Accounting was organized as a follow up to informal discussions on the issue at the 1998 session of the United Nations Commission on Sustainable Development (CSD 6) in the context of considerations of environmentally sound technologies. Those discussions indicated that a number of governments were involved or interested in promoting EMA, but that there had been little or no communication between the agencies concerned. The Expert Working Group has met three times. The first meeting was held in Washington DC, hosted by the United States Environmental Protection Agency (USEPA), 30-31 August 1999. The second meeting took place in Vienna, 15-16 May 2000 and was hosted by the Austrian Federal Ministry of Science and Technology. The third meeting was held in Bonn, Germany, 1-2 November 2000, hosted by the German Federal Ministry for Education and Research and the Federal Ministry for the Environment, Nature Conservation and Nuclear Safety. The fourth meeting was held in Tokyo, Japan, 5-7 June 2001, hosted by the Ministry of the Environment of Japan, and the fifth is planned for Bristol, UK, 13-15 February 2002 hosted by the Environmental Agency of England and Wales. The participants in the Expert Working Group are from national environment agencies and ministries, international organizations, industry, accounting firms, ac ademia, and United Nations agencies, as well as from the United Nations Division for Sustainable Development. To date the group includes participants from government agencies in Argentina, Australia, Austria, Brazil, Canada, China, Colombia, Czech Republic , Denmark, Egypt, Finland, Germany, Hungary, India, Indonesia, Italy, Japan, Republic of Korea, Malaysia, Mexico, Nepal, Netherlands, Norway, Philippines, Poland, Portugal, Slovak Republic, Sweden, United Kingdom, United States and Zimbabwe. -iii- Table of Contents A. Preface.................................................................................................................................................................i B. Part 1: EMA: Policy Pathways for Promoting Environmental Management Accounting........................ - Foreword............................................................................................................................................2 - Acknowledgements...........................................................................................................................3 - Executive summary..........................................................................................................................4 - Chapter 1. Introduction................................................................................................................ 10 - Chapter 2. Government-supported policies and programmes that promote EMA concepts......................................................................................................... 15 - Chapter 3. Lessons learned........................................................................................................ 32 - Chapter 4. Conclusions................................................................................................................ 39 - Chapter 5. List of potential instruments/activities to promote EMA concepts............................................................................................................ 42 - Chapter