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 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.     

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.     

我国工业污染源产排污核算系数法发展历程及研究进展

污染源排放量及其变化趋势是重要的环境管理基础信息,是国家和地方准确预判生态环境形势、高效开展生态环境管理决策和实施产业结构优化调整等的重要依据.工业污染源产排污系数作为我国工业源污染物排放量核算的主要方法之一,过去30年来为工业领域污染减排和环境监管等提供了重要支撑.本文综述了国内外产排污系数研究和应用现状,梳理了我国3次较大规模的产排污系数制修订历程,并从制定方法、覆盖度、核算方法等多个维度进行了比对分析.结果表明:随着对工业生产认识的不断深入以及环境保护要求的不断变化,我国3次制修订的产排污系数也在同步变化和升级,在产排污系数的覆盖度、适用性等方面不断提升.对工业污染源产排污系数现状及其存在问题的分析结果表明,我国产排污系数广泛应用于环境管理制度与技术支撑、节能减排与产业结构调整以及环境科学相关研究等方面,为上述工作提供了重要的支撑.但由于我国产排污系数仍存在缺乏动态更新机制等原因,导致其时效性不足,适用性有待持续提升,亟需将系数制定的方法标准化,制定过程中的定量化方法也有待进一步拓展研究.针对上述问题提出如下建议:研究提出工业污染源产排污系数后评估方法,有计划开展系数后评估;建立工业污染源产排污系数标准体系框架,实现核算体系标准化;完善工业污染源产排污系数核算技术体系,开展系数的动态更新;加强工业污染源产排污系数在环境管理中的应用研究,为排污许可、环境统计、污染源普查等多套工业污染源数据统一和融合提供基础.      

露天煤矿矿区生态资产负债核算技术方案

生态资产负债核算技术体系是施行生态环境管理政绩考核制度的必要科技支撑.目前生态资产研究在核算内容上注重生态资产流量评估而忽视生态资产存量损失计量,强调生态系统服务变化研究而对其变化原因探索不足,并且在研究技术手段上强调3S宏观技术手段而忽视微观生态要素调查和生态环境质量评价,因此尚不足以为地方政府生态环境管控绩效考核提供强有力支撑.针对露天煤矿开采所导致的严峻生态环境问题,将微观研究手段与宏观分析技术方法相结合,通过对比来分析核算时段起止年份生态资产存量的类别、数量、质量、空间格局,辨识矿区采矿作业、土地复垦、生态恢复等人类活动对生态环境的损益类型和特征;基于不同类别存量生态资产质量评价来判别其损益程度,进而划分生态资产负债核算类型区并探究其损益原因;以此为前提探索构建包括存量、流量及负债三部分内容在内的生态资产负债核算框架及技术方法,并采用直接法和间接法编制生态资产负债表.研究旨在弥补现有区域生态资产评估技术的不足,以为生态环境管理绩效考核提供更为客观、详实、可靠的资料数据为核心,倡导生态资产研究内容与方法的革新.      

企业环境管理会计核算框架与方法研究

企业环境管理会计从环境的角度,将企业的环境影响纳入到环境会计的核算范围之内,构建一些实物型或价值型的环境业绩指标,表达企业对环境造成的影响或损害。本文立足于国际环境会计应用案例,结合财务会计特征和我国目前的环境教据基础,研究提出了中国企业环境管理会计的基本内涵和方法框架,并就如何加强企业环境管理会计的应用进行了讨论。     

Implementing service-based chemical procurement: lessons and results

Chemical use reduction is strongly desirable for environmental and public welfare reasons, and is a critical element of moving towards more sustainable consumption in the business-to-business economy. However, the fundamental economic relationship between chemical supplier and chemical customer creates supply side incentives for increased chemical use. Chemical management services (CMS) is a business model that aligns economic incentives in the chemical supplier–customer relationship towards reduced chemical use by making chemical services rather than chemical volume the basis of supplier compensation. CMS thus ‘servicizes’ the chemical supply chain and is a Product Service System with significant potential environmental benefits. CMS enjoys high penetration in the US auto and semiconductor sectors, and is emergent in other sectors. The paper synthesizes lessons learned from hands-on work with 15 chemical-using firms over 5 years in all aspects of CMS program implementation. Key points are that poor cost accounting and chemical information management form significant barriers to making, understanding and evaluating the CMS business case. The details of contractual compensation mechanisms are critical to achieving in practice the potential environmental benefits of the CMS model.     

深圳市环境信息公开和公众参与管理实践与对策

环境信息公开和公众参与已经成为一种重要的环境管理辅助手段,深圳市立足城市之先,在立法和执法方面开展了一系列实践工作,并积累了一定的经验和教训。在研究深圳市环境信息公开和公众参与管理现状的基础上,结合实践中存在的焦点和难点问题,以提高公民环境知情权和参与权的落实水平为目标,从观念、立法、技术指引和参与形式等方面提出政策建议,为深圳市环境信息公开与公众参与管理实践提供了较好的理论和实践探索。     

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.     

自然资源资产辨析和负债、权益账户设置与界定研究——基于复式记账的自然资源资产负债表框架

资源环境问题成为经济社会发展的约束性问题,成立自然资源部,探索编制自然资源资产负债表是加强自然资源统筹管理的重要举措。自然资源核算和自然资源资产负债表的编制是自然资源统筹管理的基础工作,目前国外较多自然资源核算成果建立在SEEA 2012的基础上。编制自然资源资产负债表首先由中国提出来并开展研究,但综合来看,在基础理论研究和实践方法上还处于研究初级阶段,需要进一步加强理论基础和科学方法研究。论文基于会计理论的复式记账核算理论,研究了自然资源负债和权益的生产论和自然资源循环理论基础,提出了基于资源环境承载力、相关资源功能规划、生态红线基础上的自然资源负债和权益界定标准,以及在此界定标准上设计自然资源资产负债表及其相关平衡核算。自然资源资产是指能够给人类带来直接或间接福利的自然要素总和,它不仅包括直接参与经济社会系统循环的物质和环境要素,也包括参与生态循环间接为人类带来生态服务价值的自然要素;基于自然资源资产分析,论文将自然资源资产的权益分为自然资源的生态权益和自然资源的经济权益,这样的分类也有其生态文明的伦理基础;自然资源负债的产生是由于资源过度损耗、环境污染和生态破坏,既有人为因素,也有自然因素,是经济社会为了补偿生态系统的可持续性而需要付出的经济代价。通过以上资产、负债、权益的界定,为我们设计自然资源资产负债表提供了逻辑基础。论文研究旨在设计合理的基于复式记账的自然资源过程核算,以及资源资产负债表编制账户体系设计和平衡关系理论,以期为自然资源核算和资产负债表的编制提供科学的理论基础,构建科学合理的自然资源核算理论和编制科学的自然资源资产负债表。     

基于低碳经济视角的环境资源会计的探析

随着低碳经济的发展,人们意识到环境问题日益严重,尤其作为企业,如何更好地履行社会责任需重点关注。低碳经济不仅影响企业的经济活动,而且使企业的会计核算面临更大的挑战。与传统的会计相比,环境资源会计在加强环境资源管理、促进低碳经济发展方面起到至关重要的作用。然而中国目前还没有构建完善的环境资源会计理论体系来指导相关工作。基于低碳经济视角的环境资源会计核算分析了环境资源会计的内涵、核算对象、目标、确认、计量和信息披露,形成了核算框架,为环境资源会计的具体实施提供参考。     

Improving environmental awareness training in business

The need for and the benefits of a more sustainable approach to business management have been widely discussed in the literature. Many organizations have engaged in environmental management initiatives to improve their environmental performance and have found other benefits to the process, such as financial savings and reduced risk of liability. However, many constraints can inhibit the transformation to an environmentally conscious and responsible organization. These constraints include issues related to organizational culture and change management. To overcome these constraints and succeed in implementing a successful environmental management initiative, the literature suggests the importance for members of the organization of understanding the environmental impacts and policies of the organization through participation in environmental awareness training efforts that produces enduring knowledge and commitment. Armed with this knowledge, employees can then understand how the environment can affect and be affected by their duties and decisions. Various companies have used different approaches to environmental management training. It is important that organizations evaluate the efficiency of their training investment to ensure that the benefits will be generated. A case study of two electricity companies is used to illustrate the importance of evaluating environmental awareness efforts. The results of the study suggest that the training performed did not sufficiently increase employee environmental awareness of the company's environmental impacts despite a considerable time and financial investment in a one-time environmental awareness training program. Results are briefly discussed and recommendations are made to improve the results of the training investment.     

森林资源资产负债表核算系统研究

森林资源是重要的自然资源,编制森林资源资产负债表,将森林资源管理纳入生态文明绩效评价考核体系,对实现可持续发展和保障生态安全具有重要意义。本文在分析森林资源核算研究进展的基础上,将森林资源资产负债表定位于服务各级政府森林资源资产管理的信息系统,借鉴会计理论与方法,结合中国森林资源管理的特点,构建了森林资源资产负债表核算系统。核算系统主要包括：森林资源资产负债表核算要素的界定和确认标准,森林资源资产、森林资源负债、森林资源净权益的核算账户设置,森林资源资产负债表、森林资源资产变动表、森林资源权益变动表的表式,以资源调查数据和资源变动数据为基础的动态核算流程,以及复式记账的核算方法。通过核算系统,实现以年度为核算周期编制森林资源资产负债表。     

基于WebGIS和ASP技术的矿区环境管理信息系统开发

将WebGIS和ASP技术应用于矿区环境管理信息系统(MIS)中,对于矿区的环境管理具有重要价值.在研究矿区实际环境信息管理流程及相关技术的基础上,开发出了矿区环境MIS,主要包括需求分析、系统分析、数据库结构和系统功能等内容.     

环境经济综合核算的环境资源价值问题的研究

随着人类社会经济的发展,环境污染日益严重以及环境资源的日趋短缺问题的出现,环境资源也逐渐显示出其稀缺性。在环境经济综合核算体系中,环境资源价值估算是环境核算的核心问题。环境资源价值问题的研究对资源管理、生态建设和环境保护具有重要的理论和现实意义。通过查阅国内外文献,探讨环境资源价值的研究现状、理论及其评估方法。在总结现有的环境资源价值评估方法的基础上,提出了应用能值分析方法来客观核算环境资源价值,从而能够更接近环境资源的真实价值。     

Risk-cost trade-offs in environmental risk management decision-making

Risk-cost trade-offs are deemed to provide a basis for selecting between those risk reductions which are economic and those which are non-economic. Insufficient work has been done in environmental risk management decision-making practice to validate this assumption, or to develop an analytical framework within which it may be employed. Empirical evidence from the literature is offered for the existence of risk-cost trade-offs and the relationship of risk-cost trade-offs to the benefits side of the management decision-making issue is discussed. The risk-cost trade-off curve alone does not provide a complete basis for selecting between economic and non-economic risk-cost combinations. When combined with information on the willingness-to-pay for risk reductions, the risk-cost trade-off curve may be used to distinguish between risk reduction possibilities in a risk management decision-making context. Results allow for a more developed theoretical decision- making framework that, when amended for uncertainty, produces decision criteria useful for environmental risk management decision-making.     

Why do firms engage in environmental management? An empirical study in China

There are increasing pressures being put on firms, from a number of different sources, such as governmental regulation, community participation and market demand, to engage firms in environmental initiatives. These factors play different roles at various development periods. Government regulation was the major pressure, initially. However, community participation and market demand have become more and more important. Thus a better understanding of the determinant factors that play a role in engaging firms to take environmental management initiatives may help policy makers develop more effective environmental policies. Using data collected from 89 firms in Wujin county of Jiangsu Province, China, this paper developed an index system to evaluate the corporate environmental management performance. Furthermore, we used econometric methodology to identify the main factors that probably shape corporate environmental management performance, including both external pressures and firm characteristics. The results showed that pressures from supply chain, customers, and communities played positive roles in engaging firms to improve environmental management performance. However, the pressure from the regulatory system did not implicate positive effect on environmental management performance when basic compliance is not an issue in the region anymore. The results also showed that firms with larger scale will be more active in engaging in environmental management initiatives. Finally, our results suggest that: (a) regulation's stimulation may be reduced as long as firms have complied with requirements of local environmental standards and other environmental laws; (b) policy makers should pay more attention to market and information instruments; (c) more financial and technical support should be provided to encourage small- and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) to improve environmental performance.     

Using structured systems analysis to design an integrated system for transport planning and environmental analysis

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Cleaner production practices in a medium size gold-plated jewelry company in Brazil: when little changes make the difference

The paper reports the experiences of a medium size gold-plated jewelry company, located in São Paulo – Brazil, in order to reduce waste and pollution. Actions taken for this purpose are described, as well as the key factors affecting progress, the changes that have been introduced, their cost-effectiveness and the additional benefits accomplished. A waste minimization project was carried out to obtain environmental and economic benefits. The first cleaner production (CP) interventions targeting the improvement of the company's environmental performance are also described and related to economic benefits. Local scale performance indicators were employed to evidence the economic and the material savings by kilogram of piece produced. Additionally, savings achieved included 86% reduction in volume of degreasing solution and 36% reduction in electricity consumption. The results are complemented with the use of global scale performance indicators (Material intensity, MIs, and Emergy accounting), which look at upstream impacts and evaluate the environmental performance of the system on the biosphere scale, respectively. Material savings (MIs) account for each matter flow to and from a chain of processes from raw material to the final products, and were calculated in order to estimate the changes avoided in material flows and cycles due to the reduced use of inputs by the company. The total emergy of the savings is used as a quantitative measure of the total environmental support to the flows of energy and matter involved in the process, and is calculated to assess the work of nature spared by the reduced use of materials and energy by the company. Emergy values were converted to currency. Global scale performance indicators have shown that little changes within the company reduce upstream impacts and that benefits to the environment are greater than that observed in the companies neighborhood.     

Managing environmental quality at the enterprise: the role of project management

An exploratory field study conducted in Europe and the U.S. examines the challenges of managing environmental quality at the enterprise level. The results show that effective environmental quality management depend to a considerable degree on the ability to deal with the multidisciplinary organizational, technical, social, and cultural issues involved in the integration of environmental cost accounting at the enterprise level. The study suggests that the tools and techniques of modern project management can provide an important framework for developing and implementing environmental quality control systems. The recommendations put considerable emphasis on the human side, focusing on the criteria under which environmental quality is best achievable. Strong senior management leadership, people skills, organizational linkages, and alliances, all are critical for dealing with the complexities of managing responsibly toward sustained developments in today’s organizations.