Environmental Accounting and Reporting: Theory and Practice PDF
Preview Environmental Accounting and Reporting: Theory and Practice
CSR, Sustainability, Ethics & Governance Series Editors: Samuel O. Idowu · René Schmidpeter Maria-Gabriella Baldarelli Mara Del Baldo Ninel Nesheva-Kiosseva Environmental Accounting and Reporting Theory and Practice CSR, Sustainability, Ethics & Governance Serieseditors SamuelO.Idowu,LondonMetropolitanUniversity,London,UnitedKingdom Rene´ Schmidpeter,CologneBusinessSchool,Germany More information about this series at http://www.springer.com/series/11565 Maria-Gabriella Baldarelli (cid:129) Mara Del Baldo (cid:129) Ninel Nesheva-Kiosseva Environmental Accounting and Reporting Theory and Practice Maria-GabriellaBaldarelli MaraDelBaldo DepartmentofManagement DepartmentofEconomics UniversityofBologna Society&Politics Bologna,Italy UniversityofUrbinoCarloBo Urbino,Italy NinelNesheva-Kiosseva DepartmentofEconomics andBusinessAdministration NewBulgarianUniversity Sofia,Bulgaria ISSN2196-7075 ISSN2196-7083 (electronic) CSR,Sustainability,Ethics&Governance ISBN978-3-319-50916-7 ISBN978-3-319-50918-1 (eBook) DOI10.1007/978-3-319-50918-1 LibraryofCongressControlNumber:2017936485 ©SpringerInternationalPublishingAG2017 Thisworkissubjecttocopyright.AllrightsarereservedbythePublisher,whetherthewholeorpartof the material is concerned, specifically the rights of translation, reprinting, reuse of illustrations, recitation, broadcasting, reproduction on microfilms or in any other physical way, and transmission or information storage and retrieval, electronic adaptation, computer software, or by similar or dissimilarmethodologynowknownorhereafterdeveloped. The use of general descriptive names, registered names, trademarks, service marks, etc. in this publicationdoesnotimply,evenintheabsenceofaspecificstatement,thatsuchnamesareexempt fromtherelevantprotectivelawsandregulationsandthereforefreeforgeneraluse. Thepublisher,theauthorsandtheeditorsaresafetoassumethattheadviceandinformationinthis book are believed to be true and accurate at the date of publication. Neither the publisher nor the authors or the editors give a warranty, express or implied, with respect to the material contained hereinor for anyerrors oromissionsthat may havebeenmade. Thepublisher remainsneutralwith regardtojurisdictionalclaimsinpublishedmapsandinstitutionalaffiliations. Coverillustration:Thepresentworkhasbeenevaluatedbyanonymousreviewers. Printedonacid-freepaper ThisSpringerimprintispublishedbySpringerNature TheregisteredcompanyisSpringerInternationalPublishingAG Theregisteredcompanyaddressis:Gewerbestrasse11,6330Cham,Switzerland Dedication Toourfriendship,whichismorethanascientificcollaboration, To our respective families, who have already supported our efforts, sacrifices, andtravels, To our students, wishing that they will improve their learning, sensibility, and curiosityforbeingtransformationalmanagersorentrepreneursforbecomingcapa- bletodrivechange, Toourcolleaguesandscientificcommunities,hopingthatthisisasmallstoneto contributetoscientificdebate, ToourCountries,wishingthatthisbookwillbenefittochangetheculture. Preface The crisis that affects enterprises has two salient features, the first of which concernsthetransitionphasewearegoingthroughandthatwillresultinamarket system, which has no precedent and that will need to develop ways to address enterprises that were never, or partly only, previously considered. We are in the process of transition to “modern sustainable” growth where “dissipative” growth, whichconsidersprofitasthemainobjectiveofcompanies,requiresforthevarious countriesaseriesoflocalandinternational interventionsthatarebasedmostlyon thedefenseofresourcesatthetimereferredtoas“nonrenewable.” Thisovertimehasincreasedthefocusonaparticularaspect,whichinthepast hadnorelevanceandthatwasincludedinthenamingofnonrenewableresources. Currently,insteadofthetermthatinspiresevenmoreconcernalwaysandaboveall forcompanies,increasingattentionisgiventothe“commongoods,”i.e.,notonly goods that belong to everyone and therefore potentially include nonrenewable resourcesbutalsogoodsthatappeartobebelongingtoanationoraterritory,i.e,, energysources,etc.,which,paradoxically,insteadinvolvethefateofallhumanity. Inthepasttheredweltthereasoningabouttheadvantagesanddisadvantagesof globalization; the current status of this reasoning is useful, but it is no longer sufficienttoguidebusinessdecisions,sinceglobalizationisacharacteristicfeature of all business decisions. These decisions are enriched with other important elements such as just the modern sustainable and common goods. What answers togivetotheseguidelines,whicharecriticalforthesurvivalofcompaniesandthe planet. The company’s objectives are enriched in their new carrier (or dusted) decisionvariablesandthe search for “better” becomesthe object ofmeasurement processesandcommunication. Onesuchvariableistheenvironmentalvariable.Theimpactoftheenvironmen- talvariableontheenterprisehaschangedconsiderablyovertime.Infact,inthepast itwasfoundtohaveabearingmainlyonthephysicalaspectsofnaturalpollution.It alsohadaconnotationofthenegativeimpactonenvironmentinthesensethatthe companywaspollutingandwantedtotakeintoaccountthisimpact,andtherefore, itwasnecessarytomakeimprovementswithappropriatelong-terminvestmentsor vii viii Preface throughtheincurrenceofcostsattributabletoexercisetomakeupforthedamage allegedlycausedbythecompany. Thecurrentstateoftheart,theecologicalvariableisnolongerconsideredonly intermsofphysicalenvironment andonlyintermsofanoverloadofhighercosts for the company, but it has recently developed the logic that the environment variable generates significant economic opportunities for both the company that takescareofit.Theenvironmentalvariableiscreatingnewbusinessopportunities and employment. This concept is known as “business environment.” This stems from the recognition that the “ecological bales,” such as plastic, paper, and glass, definedasrecycledrawmaterials,areavailableatalowercostandthenatalower finalcostforthegoodsderivedfromthem. It develops therefore a positive consideration of attention to the environment understoodasdirectimpactandnotjustindirectimpactonbusinessactivity. Onecanimaginearoutethatstartsfromanegativeconnotationoftheenviron- mental variable and gradually becomes more and more positive and reaches the oppositeendwhichexaminestheexcessivefocusontheenvironment.Thisexces- siveattentiontotheenvironmentcouldgeneratenewactivitiesarisingfromit,such as waste management. In this sense, the meaning of environmental management fromthepastisreversed,becausethepushtowardsaninterestinthecompanywas likely to create environmental variable increases, forward excessively oriented towardsaprofitresultingfromthetreatmentofwaste(!). Thebookdevelopsaninterestingscientific andpractical pathstartingfrom the importance of the environmental variable to arrive at new and more all-encompassing measurement methods and communication of environmental, social,sustainable,andintegralones.Theseassessment methodsandcommunica- tion are increasingly necessary to develop and transmit information to guide the decisions of enterprises and stakeholders. Such information is also important to legitimizetheenterprises’activitiesinthecontextofglobalizationinordertobuild a sustainable modernity. Moreover, the information system must know how to identify (and reward) the ability of companies to create sustainable value and amendthebehaviorthatunderminesthesustainability. Whileinthepasttheredweltthereasoningabouttheadvantagesanddisadvan- tages of globalization, currently this reasoning is no longer sufficient to guide businessdecisions,whichare(andmustbe)enrichedbyotherimportantelements such as the “modern sustainability,” common goods, and the environmental vari- ablewhicharecriticalforthesurvivalofcompaniesandtheplanetitself. Thecurrentstateoftheart,theecologicalvariableisnolongerconsideredonly intermsofphysicalenvironmentandintermsofanoverloadofhighercostsforthe company,butitisalsoconsideredintermsofbusinessenvironment.Thelogicthat theenvironmentvariablegeneratessignificanteconomicopportunitiesforboththe company and in the socio-economic context (local, national, and international context)hasbeendevelopedrecently. Itisclearthatthecompaniesmustadapttotheneedtoworkonglobalmarkets, giventheincreasinglyfiercecompetition,ever-dwindlingnaturalresources,andthe ever-increasingandnewregulatoryrequirementsforcleanproduction. Preface ix Weshowthevarietyandbreadthofopportunitiesforenvironmental(andsocial) accountingandreporting. Withthis,webelievethatthereadersofthisbookfrom the circles of business will be convinced about the opportunities it provides in takingappropriatemanagementdecisionstoimprovethefinancialandreputational performanceoftheorganizations.Wehopethatthecriticsandskepticsconcerning thepossibilitiesofenvironmentalaccountingwillbecomeless. Wealsobelievethataccountingcolleaguesincountrieswithoutsystematicrules for national environmental accounting and reporting, who would read this book, maybeconvincedhowimportantitistocreatenationalstandardsforenvironmen- talaccountingandreportingthatcanassistthemanagementofthebusiness. Thereisabundantexperienceinpurelyscientificresearchandinthepracticeof environmental accounting and reporting. These two aspects expect their new specificandcreativeapplication,adaptation,andenrichment,whichistheinevita- blefutureoflaboratoryscienceandbusiness. Allofourhopes arebasedontheconvictionthatthepainfulwithdrawalofthe “industrial wave” may become easier precisely by the efforts of the greening of human industrial and domestic activities and that “postindustrial society and postindustrialeconomy”aretheworldinwhichmanbelongstonature,notnature toman. Environmentalaccountingandreportingintheirtremendousdiversityservethis newworldtoachievethecomplexbalancebetweenthehumanwell-beingandthe naturalwell-being—thesymmetrybetweenhumansandtheenvironment. Indeed,thisbookisthefirstattempttoshowthebusinesscircleshowtoreadthe measurement methods and how to communicate them. It opens the way to new researchquestionsandtonewresearchfields,andwewouldbequitesatisfiedifwe havebeenabletorespondtothecomplexresearchquestions,whichweposeatthe beginning of the work, that is: “What are the elements that must be taken into accountasthefoundationoftheenvironmentaldecision-makingprocess?Wehave tried to give a first response both from a theoretical point of view and from the practicalpointofview.” New perspectives are in fact developing in the environment and enterprise administration,asapassagefromEnvironmentalreportingtoIntegratedreporting. Thesenewchallenges,thecurrentstateoftheart,cannotfindanexhaustiveanswer intermsofmeasurementandinternal/externalcommunication.Suchnewdoctrinal andempirical orientations create anattractive perspective ineconomics andman- agementresearchfieldsthatmayprovidenewchallengestoaccountingscholars. Bologna,Italy Maria-GabriellaBaldarelli FiglineeIncisaValdarnoFI,Italy Urbino,Italy MaraDelBaldo Montevideo,Sofia,Bulgaria NinelNesheva-Kiosseva Acknowledgements The Editors want to thank very much Antonio Matacena (Full Professor of Accounting-University of Bologna, Department of Management, Via Capo di Lucca34,40126Bologna-Italy);LudmilaPascari(AssociateprofessorofManage- ment at Department of Economic International Relation and Marketing, Moldova StateUniversity);andAntonioImperiale(practitioner)fortheircontribution. Chapter1 ThesectionsincludedinChap.1“NewChallengesfortheEnterpriseintheAgeof ‘Sustainable Modernity’” should be attributed to Antonio Matacena (1.1), Maria-GabriellaBaldarelli(1.2.,1.3,and1.5),andLudmilaPascari(1.4). Chapter2 ThesectionsincludedinChap.2,“EnvironmentalAccounting:ConceptualFrame- work,” should be attributed to Nesheva-Kiosseva Ninel (2.1 and 2.4) and BaldarelliMaria-Gabriella(2.2.and2.3). Chapter3 Chapter3“Measurement andCommunication ofEnvironmentalVariable”should beentirelyattributedtoBaldarelliMaria-Gabriella. Chapter4 The sections included in Chap. 4, “Toward the Future Perspectives of Business Integrated Measurement and Communication,” should be attributed to Del Baldo Mara (4.1, 4.2, 4.3, 4.4, 4.5, 4.6 and 4.7) and Nesheva-Kiosseva Ninel (4.8and4.9). Chapter5 ThesectionsincludedinChap.5“SomeToolsandStandardsforReporting”should beattributedtoDelBaldoMara(5.1.and5.5),BaldarelliMaria-Gabriella(5.2), Nesheva-KiossevaNinel(5.4),andImperialeAntonio(5.3). xi
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