Environmental Accounting for the Sustainable Corporation: Strategies and Techniques

by Bloomsbury Academic

Overview

Corporations must decide how much to invest in the natural capital (e.g. air, water, land, and forests) that they depend upon for their economic survival. How do they project the costs of essential investments under conditions of scientific and legislative uncertainty? An innovative roadmap is laid out with the help of a case study based on the actual experiences of a forestry company that made such an attempt. Everyone interested in developing a long-range environmental strategy will find this book instructive: senior corporate management, accountants, internal auditors, academics, students, and environmentalists.

Based on the author's research for the United Nations, a new methodology is advanced to compute fuller costs. In addition to practical guidance on the theory and practice of calculating fuller costs, the author illustrates alternatives to traditional capital budgeting models. A whole range of concepts and applications are offered on natural capital; intergenerational equity; waste minimization; asset depletion rates; application of risk-management principles to costing natural capital; off-balance sheet natural assets; modern definition of profit for natural and business capital. Pioneering reporting methods for returbans on investment and product costs are recommended in the concluding chapters.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780899308661
Publisher:	Bloomsbury Academic
Publication date:	07/21/1994
Pages:	224
Product dimensions:	6.14(w) x 9.21(h) x 0.56(d)

About the Author

DANIEL BLAKE RUBENSTEIN, Principal in the Office of the Auditor General and a Chartered Accountant in Canada, has specialized in environmental accounting for sustainable development for the last five years. He has recently finalized a research project on accounting for sustainable development for the UN's Conference on Trade and Development.

Table of Contents

Preface
Introduction
Charting a Middle Course
The Limitations of Traditional Accounting
A Guide to Environmental Accounting
Origins of the Concept of Sustainable Development
An Industry Under Intense Public Scrutiny
Negotiating with Today's Stakeholders
Introduction to the Basic Concepts of Natural Forest Capital, Intergenerational Equity and Waste Minimization
Transforming Natural Capital into Product
Valuation of a Forest
A Zero Impact Factory
Applying Risk-Management Principles to Costing Natural Capital
Reporting to the Board on the Stewardship of the Forest
Reporting to Shareholders and Others Who Benefit from the Forest
How Do I Apply This in My Work?
Afterword
References