The use of Environmental Management Accounting (EMA) for identifying environmental costs

The Expert Working Group on “Improving the Role of Government in the Promotion of Environmental Management Accounting (EMA)” was set up by the United Nations Division for Sustainable Development (UN DSD) in cooperation with a number of government agencies and non-governmental experts to promote Environmental Management Accounting (EMA) through publications, pilot projects and by establishing an international forum for discussion on the role of governments in the promotion of EMA.EMA, Environmental management accounting represents a combined approach that provides for the transition of data from financial accounting, cost accounting and mass balances to increase material efficiency, reduce environmental impacts and risks and reduce costs of environmental protection. EMA is performed by private or public corporations, but not by nations and has a financial as well as a physical component.The core focus of environmental management accounting and of the EMA UN DSD methodology is assessment of total annual environmental expenditure on emission treatment, disposal, environmental protection and management. In addition, and that is new and challenging for most companies, the material purchase value of all non-product output and its production costs are added. This total sum often provides a frightening picture of total annual costs of inefficiency and gets companies to improve their information systems and material efficiency options, which is the goal in the light of cleaner production.The first book published by the Expert Working Group, Environmental Management Accounting—Procedures and Principles (Jasch, C., United Nations, New York, 2001), defines principles and procedures for EMA, with a focus on techniques for quantifying environmental expenditures or costs, as a basis for better controlling and benchmarking purposes. The methodology excludes costs external to the company (so-called externalities, e.g. environmental and social effects that occur to the general public), but focuses on comprehensive assessment of direct annual expenditure on emission treatment, environmental protection and management as well as wasted material and energy input (efficiency losses in production). Firstly, total annual expenditure is assessed, then improvement options, savings and investment projects as well as product prices can be (re-)calculated. The method is currently applied in several case studies. The following summary provides some of the core definitions and generic assessment tables.     

Environmental management accounting as a reflexive modernization strategy in cleaner production

Understanding the material purchase value of wastes and emissions and related processing costs is the essential contribution of an Environmental Management Accounting methodology proposed by a United Nations expert working group organised through the Division for Sustainable Development (UNDSD). Tracing costs and benefits according to this UNDSD methodology, considered as a “reflexive” modernization strategy in this article, sheds new light on cleaner production initiatives for corporate sustainability. Information on the first category of costs, waste and emission treatment, is generally the most accurate. Information on the second category, prevention and environmental management costs, is more difficult to determine because this category overlaps with, or is confused with, the first category of costs. Data for the two novel and innovative cost categories of the material purchase value of waste and emissions and related processing costs are even harder to obtain. Frequently, the costs are either hidden in overhead accounts or are not recorded because they are not required in conventional accounting systems. The outcome is that companies, even though they may profess otherwise, have very little knowledge about their full environmental costs, cost saving opportunities, or how best to achieve cleaner production initiatives to promote corporate sustainability. A more systematic application of the UNDSD EMA methodology would provide a better record of costs and act as a catalyst in promoting cleaner production processes. This application inevitably requires “reflexive institutions” including “reflexive corporations”, that is, corporations with the capacity to examine the side effects of their operations as modernization rebounds upon them.     

Pilot project on sustainability management accounting with the Styrian automobile cluster

The paper is based on a project with the Styrian automobile cluster in Austria and selected member companies. In six companies, the environmental management costs, as well as further costs for health and safety, risk management and other social issues were assessed. Less tangible items and external effects are addressed. Starting with the efforts to assess the financial effects of the sustainability performance indicators provided by the Global Reporting Initiative (GRI) for sustainability reporting, the UN DSD (United Nations Division for Sustainable Development) method for environmental management accounting (EMA) was enlarged by several other cost categories. This paper describes these and the experiences from the pilot projects.The two major cost drivers are the purchase costs of non-product output and the costs related to lost working days because of sick leave and accidents and the overtime pay to make up for these lost working days. The work of the Environmental Health and Safety (EHS) department helps to reduce these costs. The cost assessment scheme allows one to better understand the relationships between costs for treatment of undesired effects due to unimplemented protection measures and lost material purchase value in comparison to the prevention costs, which mainly consist of the internal management departments and related external consultants.The assessment of sustainability management costs is of interest for organisations, which already publish a sustainability report and want to more accurately assess the financial effects of such aspects addressed via EMA. It is also useful for small and medium sized companies, which use the assessment as a starting point to shape their (EHS) system. The main benefits are more accurate data and better arguments for investment appraisal or performance indicators as well as improved consistency of information and management systems that should help them to improve their environmental, social and economic performance.     

Insights from a Systematic Search for Information on Designs,Costs, and Effectiveness of Poliovirus Environmental Surveillance Systems

Poliovirus surveillance plays a critical role in achieving and certifying eradication and will play a key role in the polio endgame. Environmental surveillance can provide an opportunity to detect circulating polioviruses prior to the observation of any acute flaccid paralysis cases. We completed a systematic review of peer-reviewed publications on environmental surveillance for polio including the search terms “environmental surveillance” or “sewage,” and “polio,” “poliovirus,” or “poliomyelitis,” and compared characteristics of the resulting studies. The review included 146 studies representing 101 environmental surveillance activities from 48 countries published between 1975 and 2016. Studies reported taking samples from sewage treatment facilities, surface waters, and various other environmental sources, although they generally did not present sufficient details to thoroughly evaluate the sewage systems and catchment areas. When reported, catchment areas varied from 50 to over 7.3 million people (median of 500,000 for the 25% of activities that reported catchment areas, notably with 60% of the studies not reporting this information and 16% reporting insufficient information to estimate the catchment area population size). While numerous studies reported the ability of environmental surveillance to detect polioviruses in the absence of clinical cases, the review revealed very limited information about the costs and limited information to support quantitative population effectiveness of conducting environmental surveillance. This review motivates future studies to better characterize poliovirus environmental surveillance systems and the potential value of information that they may provide in the polio endgame.     

Environmental,financial and quality assessment of drinking water processes at Waternet

Waternet (formerly Amsterdam Water Supply) has been seeking a sustainable scenario for producing drinking water and offering services that fulfill the requirements of clients and regulations, and, at the same time, maintains a sound environmental performance while keeping costs as low as possible. Presently, the company is in the process of evaluating alternatives for the treatment of water that cause the least financial and environmental impacts. The quantification of these impacts, for the current conditions, was carried out in earlier investigations. However, until now, the water quality aspect was not yet considered.In order to include this water quality aspect into the financial and environmental assessment, a quality function was constructed created by comparing water quality parameter values for a current and an alternative treatment process. Four qualifications were assigned to the sum of these scores: “Worse”, “Same”, “Better” and “Much better”. The qualifications allowed the comparison of the water quality and the financial and environmental impacts of the selected alternatives using a graphical representation of them.The method was applied focusing on the environmental and financial assessment of six alternative processes for the Loenderveen–Weesperkarspel treatment line, and including the quality aspect, as a third parameter for comparison.     

How to perform an environmental management cost assessment in one day

The article provides definitions for environmental accounting and environmental management accounting based on the approach developed for the United Nations Division of Sustainable Development UN DSD/DESA. It presents the basic framework for assessing corporate environmental costs as well as materials flows (including energy and water) and their costs. The paper is based on experiences from applying the UN DSD EMA framework in company workshops and case studies mainly in Austria. It especially describes how to check for data consistency within different information systems, like the list of accounts, stock management, production planning and process engineering. Common hurdles for obtaining data from different information systems are described and solutions for improved consistency of data in an organization are presented. It provides a detailed example of an assessment in a brewery in the excel tool developed to assist in the application of the UN DSD EMA approach.     

Environmental management accounting in Lithuania: exploratory study of current practices,opportunities and strategic intents

There is a growing consensus among the Lithuanian policy makers, practitioners and industrialists that environmental policy must move from a reactive stance to a more proactive, sustainable development approach. As a result, many companies are increasingly interested in the application of economic incentives at least as supplements or reinforcements of environmental standards.The Institute of Environmental Engineering (EU Centre of Excellence in Sustainable Industrial Development (APINI – SID)) in 1992–2003 has been involved in introduction and implementation of preventive environmental strategy in industry in Lithuania and in other countries. In Lithuania, these efforts resulted in the implementation of more than 200 cleaner production innovations in more than 150 Lithuanian companies. It should be stressed that effective plant maintenance is becoming a higher priority to plant managers. It is important to ensure cost-savings, at all levels, that include maximizing productivity and implementing energy-saving approaches. Effective and efficient maintenance are not just desirable, but fundamental to profitable business operations. Therefore, central to the environmental view of sustainable development is the concept that economic and social systems are sub-systems of the global environment.APINI's experience shows that decision-makers at the company level often fail to recognize the economic values of natural resources as assets as well as the business and financial value of good environmental performance. Therefore, there is a need to upgrade the business decision-making process by including information on material flows and related costs to account for efforts of sustainable development [Staniskis JK, Stasiskiene Z. Promotion of cleaner production investments: international experience. Journal of Cleaner Production 2002;11(6):619–28. ISSN: 0959-6526, Elsevier Science]. Decisions are increasingly affected by environmental costs. Application of environmental management accounting (EMA), which integrates two of the main principles of sustainable development – environment and economics, can help to significantly improve corporate decision-making.EMA is becoming increasingly important not only for environmental management decisions and development of environmental management systems (EMS), but also for all types of routine management activities, such as product and process design, cost allocation and control, capital budgeting, purchasing, product pricing and performance evaluation.Companies, which use EMA as a part of integrated management system, are provided with accurate and comprehensive information for the measurement and reporting of environmental performance.This paper investigates the current state of EMA practices in Lithuanian SMEs that have already been or are being implementing EMS and which have implemented CP innovations. In this case, EMA is analysed as an innovative assessment and evaluation method of EMS and CP innovation's environmental impacts and economic benefits. It should be stressed, that there are obvious differences in case studies from different industries. However, review of the results shows that there are many similarities in what improvements can be suggested for environmentally concerned companies both in terms of environmentally sound operation and for reporting of environmental management accounting information.     

Environmental management accounting applications and eco-efficiency: case studies from Japan

This paper explores the links between environmental management accounting and measures of eco-efficiency in Japanese business. Environmental management accounting is a relatively new environmental management tool initially designed to trace and track environmental costs and physical environmental flows. In the paper, first, the recent development of environmental management accounting is considered; second, the links between environmental management accounting and eco-efficiency measurement are examined. Recent case studies in environmental management accounting from Japan are used as a basis for the analysis. It is concluded from the analysis that the practice of linking eco-efficiency measurement with environmental management accounting information is underutilised, diverse and in need of further promotion if EMA is to help Japanese business move production processes and consumption of its products towards sustainability.     

环境会计在环保项目财务分析中的应用

环境会计是研究经济发展与环境资源之间的关系,计量、记录环境污染、环境防治、开发、利用的成本费用,并对企业经营过程中对社会环境的维护和开发形成的效益进行合理计量与报告,综合评估环境绩效及环境活动对企业财务成果影响的一门新兴会计学科,它是进行环境保护经济评估的理论基础.以一钢铁公司的污水处理项目为实例,介绍了环境会计在环保项目财务分析中应用的基本方法,尤其是包括常规成本、负债性成本和环境成本在内的生命周期成本的计算方法,可确定环保项目的成本与收益,为同类型项目的财务评价提供参考.运用环境会计的理论和实践,进行环保项目财务分析,目的明确,方法简便可行,操作性强,对于环保项目财务评价及投资决策,具有较高的实用价值.     

Environmental management accounting (EMA) as the next step in the evolution of management accounting

Why should organizations and accountants care about environmental issues? Environmental performance and disclosure pressures from the supply chain, finance providers, regulatory agencies, and other stakeholders result in ever-increasing environment-related costs for organizations, but there is also an increasing recognition of the potential monetary benefits of improved environmental performance. There is also growing consensus that traditional accounting practices do not adequately provide the information required for environmental management and the strategic decisions related to it.Environmental Management Accounting (EMA) has been promoted by the Working Group on EMA of the United Nations Division for Sustainable Development UN DSD EMA WG and the publications commissioned by it [UNDESA/DSD, 2001. United Nations Division for Sustainable Development. Environmental Management Accounting, Procedures and Principles. United Nations Publications, New York/Geneva, http://www.un.org/esa/sustdev/sdissues/technology/estema1.htm; UNDESA/DSD, 2002. United Nations Division for Sustainable Development. Environmental Management Accounting: Policies and Linkages. United Nations Publications, New York/Geneva, http://www.un.org/esa/sustdev/sdissues/technology/estema1.htm]. Recently, IFAC has published a guidance document on EMA [International Federation of Accountants (IFAC), 2005. International Guidance Document of EMA. IFAC, New York, http://www.ifac.org] that will further promote its application among accountants.This special issue of the Journal of Cleaner Production on EMA focuses on this methodological background as well as upon experiences from case studies from Australia, Austria, Argentina, Canada, Japan and Lithuania.     

环境监测质量控制问题研究

环境监测是环境保护工作的重要基础和核心组成部分,贯穿于环境管理的各方面和全过程。环境监测质量控制是环境监测的“生命线”,贯穿于环境监测全过程。基层环境监测站应着眼于实际工作特点,重点做好现场监测质量控制,在此基础上,加强实验室分析质量控制力度,重视仪器设备管理等环节的质量控制,精细化实施质量控制计划,切实提高环境监测质量水平,更好地为环境管理服务。     

地理信息系统及其在上海环境管理中的应用

地理信息系统(GIS)在众多领域中已成为一个独立发展的新的前沿领域。上海于80年代末开始着手在环境保护与管理中开展了环境地理信息系统方面的应用研究,并建立《上海市环境地理信息系统》等几个不同层次与专题的环境管理与辅助决策信息系统。本文分析了上海环保局系统所建立的2个信息系统的技术特征,并对建立环境信息系统的一些问题进行了探讨。      

Environmental performance,indicators and measurement uncertainty in EMS context: a case study

EMS is a tool for managing the interaction between the organization and the environment. The aim of an EMS is to improve the overall environmental performance of the organization. The performance should be monitored through measurements, and managed by indicators. Indicators are variables that summarize or otherwise simplify relevant information about the state of a complex system. A correct evaluation of environmental performance arises from the choice of adequate “raw” data and from the relationships among “raw” data.This paper, after a short excursus concerning the rule of indicators in environmental performance evaluation and the mean of uncertainty, proposes an approach to the study and the evaluation, through indicators and indices, of the environmental aspect “wastewater discharges” of a Local Authority who is involved in EMS implementation. Particularly, the critical analysis of one of the indices that has been used is reported. The role of the uncertainty of measurements has been stressed. The results showed that measurement uncertainty is essential for an efficient data comparison and for a correct evaluation of environmental performance, which, in turn, is essential to guarantee the effectiveness of the EMS application.     

关于土壤环境污染及控制指导值制订问题的探讨

《土壤污染防治行动计划》是国家系统开展土壤污染预防、保护、管控和治理的重大战略部署。文章从污染物来源和土壤污染判断依据两方面探讨了"土壤污染"的概念;提出了我国的"土壤环境污染控制指导值"包括3套指导值,分别为"土壤环境风险筛选值"、"土壤环境修复指导值"和"土壤环境修复启动值",并分析了3套指导值的目标定位、制订策略和执行策略。     

The Environmental Performance Strategy Map: an integrated LCA approach to support the strategic decision-making process

Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) is a well-known tool for analyzing environmental impacts on a wide perspective with reference to a product system and the related environmental and economic impacts. The need for a novel approach that complements environmental and financial considerations is addressed in this study with the introduction of a new graphical representation: the Environmental Performance Strategy Map. This graphical map allows one to combine the main environmental indicators (footprints) with the additional dimension of cost. The paper defines the Sustainable Environmental Performance Indicator as a single measure for sustainability of a given option. Comparison of different options for strategic decision-making purposes can be enhanced and facilitated by the use of this indicator.     

Linking analyses and environmental Kuznets curves for aggregated material flows in the EU

The relationship between economy and environmental impacts has been an essential topic in the discussion on environmental problems for a long time. From the 1990s, this relationship has gained a position in environmental policy as well. De-coupling the use of natural resources from economic growth has been set as one of the policy goals in the sixth Environmental Action Programme by the European Commission. In the scientific discussion, the concept of environmental Kuznets curve deals closely with the de-coupling or de-linking phenomenon. Aggregated material flows, on the other hand, have often been considered as a macro-level proxy of environmental degradation. Different methods or approaches have been designed for “sustainability” or “carrying capacity” evaluation as well. The objective of this article is (i) to discuss the possibilities and limitations of using environmental and economic indicators in the sustainability analysis at the macro level, (ii) to present a theoretical framework for the linking analysis including a classification of the degrees of de-linking/re-linking environmental impacts from/to economic growth, and (iii) to give an empirical example by using indicators of direct material flows as a proxy of environmental degradation and by applying the framework into the European Union and its 15 member countries. The results show that the trend in the European Union is a weak de-linking of material flows from economic growth during the years 1980–2000. In other words, material intensity of the economy has generally decreased due to increased efficiency, but the absolute amount of material use has increased, although at a lower rate of increase than economic growth. On the other hand, there is a quite large variation between different EU member countries. However, absolute decrease in the use of materials cannot be found as a continuous trend between the years 1980 and 2000 in any of the studied EU member countries.     

Development of weighting factors in the context of LCIA

A new method is proposed for the identification of environmental impact category weights using a panel approach and a MultiCriteria Decision Aid (MCDA) for use within the weighting step in Life Cycle Impact Assessment (LCIA). Seven environmental criteria were assessed by panellists and weights were obtained. The weighting factors of 10 impact categories were calculated according to a four-step procedure: (1) criteria definition; (2) scoring of each impact category (scale of 1–100, 100 causing the most damage) according to seven environmental criteria (human health, ecosystem health, resource consumption as well as scale, duration, reversibility and “distance-to-target”) by a panel of Canadian citizens; (3) assessment of each criterion's importance using a “resistance to change” approach; and (4) criteria aggregation (through MCDA) which allowed the calculation of a final weighting score for each impact category. The greatest advantage of this procedure is the ease with which it can be implemented in a Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) study whatever the LCIA method is used. Integrating weighting factors specific to the Canadian environmental context into a site-dependant LCIA method will contribute to the progress of LCA in Canada.     

Environmental technologies – from misleading interpretations to an operational categorisation & definition

Environmental technology (ET) has become a catchphrase during the past decades. Nevertheless an operational definition is not yet plain, allowing manufacturers and engineers to add to their technologies the supplement “environmental” whenever they feel it is appropriate – even for marketing purposes only. Key institutes for the transfer of ET in Germany and Japan for example base their attempts on misleading interpretations about ET. But an analysis of existing literature allows the separation of ET into four categories, including Zero Impacts or Zero Emissions Technologies – the paradigm for ET. This moves towards a first attempt of an operational definition of ET.     

环境激素研究进展探讨

环境激素是一种外源性物质,能干扰生物体正常的内分泌,主要对生物体的生理过程产生很大的影响。目前已知的环境激素大概有70种左右,已经成为世界重大环境问题之一。对环境激素的概念、种类、来源、影响、作用方式以及研究现状等进行了初步的介绍。     

Sustainability in Mexican Higher Education: towards a new academic and professional culture

This article focuses on institutions of higher education and the introduction of sustainability in the curricula of these institutions. It states that a very important part of developing new curricula is the focus on a new academic and professional culture. The key argument is as follows. Normally institutions of higher education build upon the training that students received in previous phases of education. That is why institutions of higher education can focus on education in highly specific and specialized knowledge and skills. Education for sustainability, however, cannot follow this ‘normal’ pathway because much of what students learned in their previous education does not fit into the paradigm of sustainability. That is why sustainability education should include a partial ‘re-education’ and ‘re-programming’ of students. The article presents a framework for such a new academic and professional culture focussing on sustainability. It shows how this framework is developed within the Universidad Autónoma Metropolitana, Unidad Azcapotzalco (UAM-A) in Mexico. The article also shows how the development of this framework is embedded in various initiatives on a national and international level. First of all the framework is developed as part of the design and implementation of an environmental plan for the whole university. The making of this plan is encouraged by the Mexican National Association of Universities and Higher Educations Institutions. Since the year 2002 this Association stimulates all major universities in Mexico to develop and implement such an environmental plan. These activities on their turn fit very well into the “United Nations Decade of Education for Sustainable Development” that started in January 2005. Finally the article presents the first promising results of the new course “The environmental challenges” that is based on many elements of the framework. It was started in 2005 in the Division of Basic Sciences and Engineering of UAM-Azcapotzalco, Mexico.