This book explores corporate environmental discourse by examining a sample of corporate environmental reports through the lens of environmental philosophy. Findings include the predominant use of a dualistic approach towards nature, which highlights the perceived ‘separateness’ of companies from the natural world. Also explored are the corporate articulations of interconnectivity and transcendence, two philosophical approaches that are also in common use in western culture. The expression of these themes reveals the discursive underpinnings of a harmful relationship with nature. Exploring the ways in which discourse informs corporate relationships with nature allows for an in-depth ‘diagnosis’ of current environmental problems. The history of environmental philosophy demonstrates how some powerful philosophical approaches have shaped the western relationship with nature over time, and continue to do so through corporate environmental reporting. Corporate Environmental Reporting: The Western Approach to Nature demonstrates how corporate reporting is used to reduce the perception of the corporate responsibility, and contributes to the erosion of broader cultural restraints against the harmful treatment of nature. As such, discourse is integral to the survival of the world which we – and other members of our biotic community – are utterly reliant on. It shows the latest state of knowledge on the topic and will be of interest both to students at an advanced level, academics and reflective practitioners. It will be of interest to researchers, academics, and students in the fields of accounting, management, environmental philosophy and sustainable management.

Invaluable guidance for complete integration of sustainability into reporting and performance management systems Global businesses are under close scrutiny from lawmakers, regulators, and their diverse stakeholders to focus on sustainability and accept responsibility for their multiple bottom line performance. Business Sustainability and Accountability examines business sustainability and accountability reporting and their integration into strategy, governance, risk assessment, performance management and the reporting process. This book also highlights how people, business and resources collaborate in a business sustainability and accountability model. Looks at business sustainability and accountability reporting and assurance and their incorporation into the reporting process Focuses on how the business sustainability and accountability model are impacted by the collaboration of people, business, and resources Presents laws, rules, regulations, standards and best practices relevant to business sustainability performance, reporting and assurance Organizations worldwide recognize the importance of all five EGSEE dimensions of sustainability performance and accountability reporting. However, how to actually assess sustainability risk, implement sustainability reporting, and obtain sustainability assurance remain a major challenge and best practices are evolving. Straightforward and comprehensive Business Sustainability and Accountability hits on all of the hottest topics around sustainability including multiple bottom line (EGSEE) performance and reporting, related financial and non-financial key performance indicators (KPIs), business social responsibility and environmental reporting.

This book proposes an integrated approach to sustainability reporting, the goal being to overcome certain limitations of the well-established additive approach, where the reporting of environmental, social and economic issues is sequential, but separate. It argues that, in order to successfully communicate its commitment to sustainability, a company should report on how environmental and social issues impact its way of doing business, namely its business model, contributing to value creation. Thus, a reporting framework for business models that encompasses sustainability is presented. In turn, a number of illustrative examples are examined to show how business model reporting could be optimally used to provide effective and integrated sustainability reporting. The book also offers a broad analysis of corporate sustainability reporting, which includes a discussion of the theoretical background, an explanation of why companies provide sustainability reporting, a description of the current regulatory framework for sustainability disclosure, and a review of sustainability reporting literature that shows the main characteristics of sustainability disclosure practices. Given its scope, the book will be of interest to all researchers and practitioners working for companies or organizations that aim to support, implement and improve their sustainability reporting, by adopting a more integrated approach that interconnects environmental and social aspects with the economic and financial results via the business model. The book also offers a valuable reference guide for social science researchers, including PhD students, interested in a discussion of the latest literature on sustainability, corporate social responsibility, and the communication of business models.

This is the fourth in a series publishing the best contributions on environmental management accounting (EMA) from around the world. This volume brings together international examples of leading thinking and practice in this rapidly developing area. This is the most comprehensive volume to date covering theory, practice and case studies on sustainability accounting and reporting. It covers tools, frameworks, concepts as well as case studies and empirical analysis.

This book discusses the foundations of social and environmental accounting and highlights local differences in countries like Italy and Bulgaria. It also describes the institutional environment, which affects the development and application of environmental accounting and reporting, as a basis for evaluating current achievements and the future steps that need to be taken to develop and spread environmental accounting. The book is unique in presenting exemplary cases from different emerging and developed countries. It is a valuable resource for theorists in the field, practitioners in companies, as well as investors and other stakeholders. Moreover, it provides students with the necessary theoretical constructs, empirical studies as well as practical and managerial tools to allow for a quick orientation in the methodology, techniques and selected practices used in environmental accounting and reporting.

This book constitutes the refereed proceedings of the 9th IFIP WG 5.11 International Symposium on Environmental Software Systems, ISESS 2011, held in Brno, Czech Republic, in June 2011. The 68 revised full papers presented together with four invited talks were carefully reviewed and selected from numerous submissions. The papers are organized in the following topical sections: eEnvironment and cross-border services in digital agenda for Europe; environmental information systems and services - infrastructures and platforms; semantics and environment; information tools for global environmental assessment; climate services and environmental tools for urban planning and climate change - applications and services.

Business sustainability has advanced from greenwashing and branding to being a business imperative. Stakeholders, including shareholders, demand, regulators require, and companies now need to report their sustainability performance. No longer is this a choice for businesses. A decade ago, fewer than 50 companies released sustainability reports, and now more 8,000 global public companies disclose sustainability performance information on some or all five economic, governance, social, ethical, and environmental (EGSEE) dimensions of sustainability performance, and this trend is expected to continue. Indeed, more than 6,000 European public companies would be required to disclose their environmental, social, governance and diversity information for their 2017 reporting year. However, the proper determination of sustainability performance, accurate and reliable reporting and independent assurance of sustainability information remain major challenges for organizations of all types and sizes. Through reading this book, you will: Identify sustainability strategies to create innovation in new products, services, energy-efficiency, environmental facilities and green initiatives. Understand the role and responsibilities of all participants in the corporate reporting process, including directors, officers, internal auditors, external auditors, legal counsel, and investors. See ways to improve public trust, investor confidence, business reputation, employee satisfaction, corporate culture, social responsibility and environmental performance. Learn all five economic, governance, social, ethical and environmental (EGSEE) dimensions of sustainability performance separately and their integrated and interactive effects on achieving the goal of creating sustainable value for all stakeholders, including shareholders. Learn how to adopt best practices in sustainability development and performance, and deliver effective integrated sustainability reporting and assurance.