Handbook of Accounting and Sustainability (Research Handbooks in Accounting series)

445 Pages·2022·5.226 MB·English

by  Carol A. Adams (editor)

HANDBOOK OF ACCOUNTING AND SUSTAINABILITY
RESEARCH HANDBOOKS IN ACCOUNTING
This new and exciting series brings together authoritative and thought-provoking contribu-
tions on the most pressing topics and issues in accounting. Research Handbooks in the series
feature specially commissioned chapters from eminent academics, and are each overseen by
an editor internationally recognized as a leading name within the field. Chapters within the
Research Handbooks feature comprehensive and cutting-edge research, and are written with
a global readership in mind. Equally useful as reference tools or high-level introductions to
specific topics, issues, methods and debates, these Research Handbooks will be an essential
resource for academic researchers and postgraduate students.
Handbook of Accounting and
Sustainability
Edited by
Carol A. Adams
Professor of Accounting, Durham University Business School, UK
RESEARCH HANDBOOKS IN ACCOUNTING
Cheltenham, UK • Northampton, MA, USA
© Carol A. Adams 2022
All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system
or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical or photocopying, recording,
or otherwise without the prior permission of the publisher.
Published by
Edward Elgar Publishing Limited
The Lypiatts
15 Lansdown Road
Cheltenham
Glos GL50 2JA
UK
Edward Elgar Publishing, Inc.
William Pratt House
9 Dewey Court
Northampton
Massachusetts 01060
USA
A catalogue record for this book
is available from the British Library
Library of Congress Control Number: 2022937622
This book is available electronically in the
Business subject collection
http://dx.doi.org/10.4337/9781800373518
ISBN 978 1 80037 350 1 (cased)
ISBN 978 1 80037 351 8 (eBook)
EEP BoX
Contents
List of contributors vii
Preface x
1 Accounting and sustainability: an introduction 1
Carol A. Adams
PART I SETTING THE SCENE: ACCOUNTING AND SUSTAINABILITY
2 Bringing together finance and sustainability: the perspective of A4S 10
Helen Slinger
3 The development and implementation of GRI Standards: practice and
policy issues 26
Carol A. Adams, Abdullah M. Alhamood, Xinwu He, Jie Tian, Le Wang and
Yi Wang
4 Conceptions of materiality in sustainability reporting frameworks:
commonalities, differences and possibilities 44
Stuart Cooper and Giovanna Michelon
5 Capital market perspectives on sustainability accounting and reporting 67
Richard Slack
6 Calls for accountability and sustainability: how organizations respond 89
Hannele Mäkelä and Charles H. Cho
PART II ACCOUNTING, POWER, SOCIAL (IN)JUSTICE AND
(UN)SUSTAINABILITY
7 Accounting for sustainability: insights from the institutional logics perspective 110
Massimo Contrafatto
8 Accounting, sustainability and the feminine 136
Christine Cooper, Andrea M. Romi and Daniela Senkl
9 Shadow accounts and alternative portrayals 157
Michelle Rodrigue and Matias Laine
10 Rethinking accounting for employees from living wage perspectives 173
Andrea B. Coulson
11 Connecting global SDGs to local government: a developing country case 191
Danture Wickramasinghe, Chandana Alawattage, Lee Parker and
Alvise Favotto
v
vi Handbook of accounting and sustainability
PART III CRITIQUING THE ROLE OF INTEGRATED REPORTING
IN (UN)SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT
12 Critical analysis of the contribution of Integrated Reporting (IR) to
sustainability 210
Charl de Villiers and Ruth Dimes
13 Indigenous cultural values, integrated reporting and sustainability 224
Russell Craig, Rawiri Taonui, Lúcia Lima Rodrigues and Susan Wild
PART IV CONTEMPORARY ISSUES IN ACCOUNTING AND
SUSTAINABILITY
14 The history and future of sustainability assurance 241
Roger Simnett, Shan Zhou and Hien Hoang
15 Environmental management accounting: development, context,
contribution and outlook 260
Stefan Schaltegger, Roger L. Burritt and Katherine Christ
16 An exploration of developing approaches to water accounting 279
Matthew Egan and Gloria Agyemang
17 Sustainability accounting via databases: current work and future possibilities 300
James Hazelton, Shane Leong and John Dumay
18 Directions for future research to steer environmental, social and
governance (ESG) investing to support sustainability: a systematic
literature review 318
Subhash Abhayawansa and Oren Mooneeapen
PART V CLIMATE CHANGE-RELATED DISCLOSURES,
ACCOUNTING FOR GREENHOUSE GASES AND
EMISSIONS TRADING SCHEMES
19 The state of climate change-related risk disclosures and the way forward 343
Kathleen Herbohn, Peter Clarkson and Mark Wallis
20 Accounting for carbon emissions trading schemes 365
Hongtao Shen and Nan Huang
21 Greenhouse gas accounting and disclosures by cities 381
Parvez Mia, James Hazelton and James Guthrie
22 Evolution of climate-related disclosure guidance and application of
climate risk measurement in research 397
Jonathan Jona and Naomi Soderstrom
Index 421
Contributors
Subhash Abhayawansa, Associate Professor, Swinburne Business School, Swinburne
University of Technology, Melbourne, Australia
Carol A. Adams, Professor, Durham University Business School, Durham University, UK
Gloria Agyemang, Professor, School of Business and Management, Royal Holloway,
University of London, UK
Chandana Alawattage, Professor, Adam Smith Business School, University of Glasgow, UK
Abdullah M. Alhamood, PhD candidate, Durham University Business School, Durham
University, UK
Roger L. Burritt, Honorary Professor, Fenner School of Environment & Society, Australian
National University, Canberra, Australia
Charles H. Cho, Professor, Schulich School of Business, York University, Canada
Katherine Christ, Senior Lecturer, UniSA Business, University of South Australia, Adelaide,
Australia
Peter Clarkson, Professor, Business School, University of Queensland, Australia; Beedie
School of Business, Simon Fraser University, Canada
Massimo Contrafatto, Reader, Business School, University of Sussex, Brighton, UK
Christine Cooper, Professor, Business School, University of Edinburgh, UK
Stuart Cooper, Professor, School of Accounting and Finance, University of Bristol, UK
Andrea B. Coulson, Reader, Strathclyde Business School, University of Strathclyde, UK
Russell Craig, Professor, Durham University Business School, Durham University, UK;
Adjunct Professor, College of Business and Law, University of Canterbury, Christchurch,
New Zealand
Charl de Villiers, Professor, Faculty of Business and Economics, University of Auckland,
New Zealand; Adjunct Professor, University of Pretoria, South Africa
Ruth Dimes, PhD candidate, Faculty of Business and Economics, University of Auckland,
New Zealand
John Dumay, Associate Professor, Department of Accounting and Corporate Governance,
Macquarie University, Australia; Nyenrode Business Universiteit, the Netherlands; Adjunct
Professor, Aalborg Universitet, Denmark
Matthew Egan, Senior Lecturer, Business School, University of Sydney, Australia
Alvise Favotto, Senior Lecturer, Adam Smith Business School, University of Glasgow, UK
vii
viii Handbook of accounting and sustainability
James Guthrie, Distinguished Professor, Department of Accounting and Corporate
Governance, Macquarie University, Australia
James Hazelton, Associate Professor, Department of Accounting and Corporate Governance,
Macquarie University, Australia
Xinwu He, Lecturer, Queen’s Management School, Queen’s University Belfast, UK
Kathleen Herbohn, Professor, UQ Business School, University of Queensland, Australia
Hien Hoang, Senior Lecturer, Business School, University of New South Wales, Sydney,
Australia
Nan Huang, Lecturer, School of Accounting, Nanjing Audit University, China
Jonathan Jona, Assistant Professor, Anderson School of Management, University of New
Mexico, USA
Matias Laine, Professor, Faculty of Management and Business, Tampere University, Finland
Shane Leong, Department of Accounting and Corporate Governance, Macquarie University,
Australia
Hannele Mäkelä, Senior Lecturer, Faculty of Management and Business, Tampere University,
Finland
Parvez Mia, Lecturer, Newcastle Business School, University of Newcastle, Australia
Giovanna Michelon, Professor, School of Accounting and Finance, University of Bristol, UK
Oren Mooneeapen, Researcher, Faculty of Law and Management, University of Mauritius
Lee Parker, Professor, Adam Smith Business School, University of Glasgow, UK;
Distinguished Professor, College of Business and Law, RMIT University, Australia
Michelle Rodrigue, Professor, School of Accounting, Université Laval, Canada
Lúcia Lima Rodrigues, Professor, NIPE Research Centre, University of Minho, Braga,
Portugal
Andrea M. Romi, Associate Professor, Tawls College of Business, Texas Tech University,
USA
Stefan Schaltegger, Professor, Centre for Sustainability Management, Leuphana University
Lüneburg, Germany
Daniela Senkl, Assistant Professor, Department of Management, University of Guelph,
Canada
Hongtao Shen, Professor, Management School, Research Centre of Low Carbon Economy
for Guangzhou Region, Jinan University, China
Roger Simnett, Professorial Research Fellow, Deakin University, Australia
Richard Slack, Professor, Durham University Business School, Durham University, UK
Helen Slinger, Executive Director, Accounting for Sustainability (A4S), UK
Contributors ix
Naomi Soderstrom, Professor, Department of Accounting, University of Melbourne, Australia
Rawiri Taonui, independent writer, researcher and advisor
Jie Tian, Lecturer, Jiangsu Second Normal University, China
Mark Wallis, Lecturer, UQ Business School, University of Queensland, Australia
Le Wang, PhD candidate, Durham University Business School, Durham University, UK
Yi Wang, PhD candidate, Durham University Business School, Durham University, UK
Danture Wickramasinghe, Professor, Adam Smith Business School, University of Glasgow,
UK
Susan Wild, Senior Lecturer, College of Business and Law, University of Canterbury,
Christchurch, New Zealand
Shan Zhou, Senior Lecturer, Business School, University of Sydney, Australia