INTERNAL ENVIRONMENTAL ACCOUNTING

Abstract

Abstract : The world has undergone a lot of dramatic change since the end of the Cold War. The winds of change, a 'new world order,' are sweeping through every field of life and ultimately affecting Britain, which is not only different globally but also important for its hostile environment, viewed by Greenpeace (1990) as the "dirty man of Europe." Business and accounting as such have clear involvement in that, as Owen (1992) points out, "conventional accounting techniques are heavily implicated in the current environmental mess we've got ourselves into." Whether or not one is entirely convinced by such allegations, there are clearly grounds for suggesting that practical change is an urgent necessity. The purpose of this study is to investigate, more specifically, how business activities and the accounting profession are affected, in the sense of becoming environmentally active. In particular, internal environmental accounting and reporting are prioritized within businesses seeking to embrace the environmental agenda and to point the way towards practical change. Now, whether organizational behavior influences the accounting profession or not, one must first recognize that accountants themselves need to be equipped and strong enough to sustain change. However, the author believes that 'you cannot change the accountant without accounting,' and as Francis (1990) has argued, "through accounting, accountants have the capacity to change things in the world" (quoted in Burritt & Lehman, 1995). The research findings indicate that organizations and accountants are in disarray between protecting their activities and the interests of stakeholders. Meanwhile, the consensus is that there are stages in the responses of firms and accountants to environmental issues, ranging from resistant adaptation to a proactive strategy that requires corporate environmentalism. The research concludes that we are only at the beginning of the road, but it is a step in the right direction