Environmental management accounting in Europe: current practice and future potential

Abstract

This paper reports and analyses the results of a trans-European project to investigate the present and potential future links between the environmental management and management accounting functions of a company or business. A taxonomy of four broad but distinct approaches to environmental accounting is identified from the literature: external financial reporting; social accountability reporting; energy and materials accounting; and environmental management accounting. This project focuses on the latter the generation, analysis and use of financial and related non-financial information, in order to support management within a company or business, in integrating corporate environmental and economic policies and building sustainable business. The research involved interviews with accountants¹ and environmental managers at eighty-four companies in Germany, Italy, The Netherlands and the UK, and detailed case studies of fifteen companies in those four countries. The paper summarizes the findings of the research and their implications for four core hypotheses, goes on to discuss international differences, and concludes by reviewing the implications of the results for likely future developments.