Environmental Management Accounting: The Missing Link to Sustainability?

CITATION

Gibassier, D., & Alcouffe, S. (2018). Environmental Management Accounting: The Missing Link to Sustainability? Social and Environmental Accountability Journal, 38(1), 1–18

For library access / research help in a similar topic: anyangoceline19@gmail.com

ABSTRACT
In this editorial, we review how environmental management
accounting (EMA) and controls (EMCS) are linked with
sustainability. We present six avenues for research to investigate
further how EMA and EMCS can contribute to the missing link to
sustainability. Finally, we present the four contributions to this
special issue.


REFERENCES
Adams, C. A. 2014. “Accountants Taking a Lead on Sustainable Development.” Towards Sustainable
Business (Drcaroladams.net).

Adams, C. A., and C. Larrinaga-Gonzalez. 2007. “Engaging with Organisations in Pursuit of Improved
Sustainability Accounting and Performance.” Accounting, Auditing and Accountability Journal 20:
333–355.

Antheaume, N. 2007. “Full Cost Accounting: Adam Smith Meets Rachel Carson?” In Sustainability
Accounting and Accountability, edited by J. Unerman, J. Bebbington, and B. O’Dwyer, 211–225.
London: Routledge.

Antheaume, N. 2013. “Le contrôle de gestion environnemental. Etat des lieux, état de l’art.”
Comptabilité – Contrôle – Audit 19: 9–34. doi:10.3917/cca.193.0009.

Antonini, C., and C. Larrinaga. 2017. “Planetary Boundaries and Sustainability Indicators. A Survey of
Corporate Reporting Boundaries.” Sust. Dev 25: 123–137.

Arjalies, D.-L., and J. Mundy. 2013. “The Use of Management Control Systems to Manage CSR
Strategy: A Levers of Control Perspective.” Management Accounting Research 24: 284–300.
doi:10.1016/j.mar.2013.06.003.

Baker, R., B. Cohanier, and D. Gibassier. 2018. “Environmental Management Controls at Michelin –
How do They Link to Sustainability?” Social and Environmental Accountability Journal 38 (1).
doi:10.1080/0969160X.2018.1438300.

Bansal, T. 2017a. How Sustainability Centres Can Support Research That Impacts Practice.” https://
nbs.net/p/how-sustainability-centres-can-support-research-that-im-e18e81d7-93df-4123-ad22-
b3a04ad0392d.

Bansal, T. 2017b. “How to Publish Research Co-created With Practitioners: Advices from Editors.”
https://nbs.net/p/how-to-publish-research-co-created-with-practitioners-advice-from-editors-
5f386f01-5565-4703-a138-f494ed8c8657.

Bartolomeo, M., M. Bennett, J. J. Bouma, P. Heydkamp, P. James, and T. Wolters. 2000. “Environmental
Management Accounting in Europe: Current Practice and Future Potential.” European Accounting
Review 9: 31–52. doi:10.1080/096381800407932.

Baumann-Pauly, D., C. Wickert, L. J. Spence, and A. G. Scherer. 2013. “Organizing Corporate Social
Responsibility in Small and Large Firms: Size Matters.” Journal of Business Ethics 115: 693–705.
doi:10.1007/s10551-013-1827-7.

Bebbington, J. 1997. “Engagement, Education and Sustainability.” Accounting, Auditing and
Accountability Journal 10 (3): 365–381. doi:10.1108/09513579710178115.

Bebbington, J. 2001. “Sustainable Development: A Review of the International Development,
Business and Accounting Literature.” Accounting Forum 25 (2), doi:10.1111/1467-6303.00059.

Bebbington, J. 2009. “Measuring Sustainable Development Performance: Possibilities and Issues.”
Accounting Forum 33 (3): 189–193. doi:10.1016/j.accfor.2008.09.002.

Bebbington, J., and R. Gray. 2001. “An Account of Sustainability: Failure, Success and a
Reconceptualization.” Critical Perspectives on Accounting 12 (5): 557–587. doi:10.1006/cpac.2000.
0450.

Bebbington, J., R. H. Gray, C. Hibbitt, and E. Kirk. 2001. “Full Cost Accounting: An Agenda for Action.”
Certified Accountants Educational Trust, London.

Bebbington, J., R. Gray, I. Thomson, and D. Walters. 1994. “Accountants’ Attitudes and
Environmentally-sensitive Accounting.” Accounting and Business Research 24 (94): 109–120.

Bebbington, J., and C. Larrinaga. 2014. “Accounting and Sustainable Development: An Exploration.”
Accounting, Organizations and Society 39 (6): 395–413. doi:10.1016/j.aos.2014.01.003.

Bebbington, J., S. Russell, and I. Thomson. 2017. “Accounting and Sustainable Development:
Reflections and Propositions.” Critical Perspectives on Accounting 48: 21–34.

Bebbington, J., and I. Thomson. 2013. “Sustainable Development, Management and Accounting:
Boundary Crossing.” Management Accounting Research 24 (4): 277–283. doi:10.1016/j.mar.2013.
09.002.

Bell, J., and Z. Hoque. 2012. “Accounting’s Role in Promoting Social Change: A Guest Editorial.”
Journal of Accounting and Organizational Change 8 (3): 249–256. doi:10.1108/18325911211258290.

Berquier, R. 2017. “Corporate Participation in the Standardization of Environmental Accounting: The
Case of Environmental Labelling of Consumer Products”, PhD Thesis, University of Toulouse.
Brown, J., and J. F. Dillard. 2013. “Accounting Innovation and Sustainability Transitions: What Might

We Learn from the Multi-level Perspective?” Working paper presented at CSEAR Conference, St
Andrews, UK.
Caron, M.-A., and A. Fortin. 2014. “Accountants’ Construction of CSR Competencies and
Commitment.” Sustainability Accounting, Management and Policy Journal 5 (2): 172–196.

CICA. 1993. “Environmental Stewardship: Management Accountability and the Role of Chartered
Accountants.”

CIMA. 1997. “Environmental Management: The Role of the Management Accountant.”

CIMA. 2011. “Sustainability and the role of the management accountant.” https://www.cimaglobal.
com/Documents/Thought_leadership_docs/Sustainability%20and%20Climate%20Change/
Management-control_NZICA.pdf. Accessed January 28th, 2018.

Crutzen, N., D. Bounnazef, and W. Qian. 2018. “Developing Sustainability Mobility Controls: The Case of Four Belgian Local Governments.” Social and Environmental Accountability Journal 38 (1), doi:10.1080/0969160X.2018.1424644.

Dean, M. 1999. Governmentality: Power and Rule in Modern Society. London: Sage.

Ditillo, A., and I. E. Lisi. 2014. “Towards a More Comprehensive Framework for Sustainability Control
Systems Research.” Advances in Environmental Accounting and Management 5: 23–47.

Durden, C. 2008. “Towards a Socially Responsible Management Control System.” Accounting, Auditing
and Accountability Journal 21 (5): 671–694. doi:10.1108/09513570810872969.

FEE. 1995. “Environmental Accounting, Reporting and Auditing: Survey of Current Activities and
Developments Within the Accountancy Profession.”

Frame, B., and J. Cavanagh. 2009. “Experiences of Sustainability Assessment: An Awkward
Adolescence.” Accounting Forum 33 (3): 195–208. doi:10.1016/j.accfor.2008.07.007.

Gasparatos, A., M. El-Haram, and M. Horner. 2009. “The Argument Against a Reductionist Approach
for Measuring Sustainable Development Performance and the Need for Methodological
Pluralism.” Accounting Forum 33 (3): 245–256. doi:10.1016/j.accfor.2008.07.006.

Gibassier, D., and S. Alcouffe. 2018. “From Saving Water to Accounting for Water: The Role of
Boundary Objects in the Development of an Environmental Accounting Innovation.” Working
Paper, Toulouse Business School.

Gibassier, D., C. Garnier, and D.-L. Arjalies. 2018. “Sustainability CFO: The CFO of the Future?” forthcoming
publication by IMA.

Gleeson-White, J. 2014. “Six Capitals: The Revolution Capitalism Has to Have –- or Can Accountants
Save the Planet?” Allen and Unwin.

Global Reporting Initiative (GRI). 2013. “G4 Guidelines.” https://g4.globalreporting.org/how-youshould-
report/reporting-principles/principles-for-defining-report-content/sustainability-context/
Pages/default.aspx. Accessed January 27th, 2018.

Gomes, D., G. D. Carnegie, C. J. Napier, L. D. Parker, and B. West. 2011. “Does Accounting History
Matter?” Accounting History 16 (4): 389–402.

Gond, J.-P., S. Grubnic, C. Herzig, and J. Moon. 2012. “Configuring Management Control Systems:
Theorizing the Integration of Strategy and Sustainability.” Management Accounting Research 23
(3): 205–223. doi:10.1016/j.mar.2012.06.003.

Gray, R. H. 1992. “Accounting and Environmentalism: An Exploration of the Challenge of Gently
Accounting for Accountability, Transparency and Sustainability.” Accounting, Organizations and
Society 17 (5): 399–425. doi:10.1016/0361-3682(92)90038-T.

Gray, R. 2010. “Is Accounting for Sustainability Actually Accounting for Sustainability…and how
Would We Know? An Exploration of Narratives of Organisations and the Planet.” Accounting,
Organizations and Society 35 (1): 47–62. doi:10.1016/j.aos.2009.04.006.

Guenther, E., J. Endrikat, and T. W. Guenther. 2016. “Environmental Management Control Systems: A
Conceptualization and a Review of the Empirical Evidence.” Journal of Cleaner Production 136 (Part
A): 147–171.

Herbohn, K. 2005. “A” Full Cost Environmental Accounting Experiment.” Accounting, Organizations
and Society 30 (6): 519–536. doi:10.1016/j.aos.2005.01.001.

ICAEW. 2004. “Sustainability: The Role of Accountants.” Institute of Chartered Accountants in England
& Wales.

IFAC. 2005. “International Guidance Document, Environmental Management Accounting.”

IFAC. 2006. “Professional Accountants in Business – At the Heart of Sustainability?” https://www.ifac.
org/publications-resources/professional-accountants-business-heart-sustainability. Accessed
January 28th, 2018.

IMA. 2016. “From Share Value to Shared Value: Exploring the Role of Accountants in Developing
Integrated Reporting in Practice.” https://www.imanet.org/insights-and-trends/externalreporting-
and-disclosure-management/share-value-to-shared-value?ssopc = 1. Accessed January
28th, 2018.

Johnstone, L. 2018. “Theorising and Modelling Social Control in Environmental Management
Accounting.” Social and Environmental Accountability Journal 38 (1), doi:10.1080/0969160X.2017.
1422778.

Jones, M. J. 2010. “Accounting for the Environment: Towards a Theoretical Perspective for
Environmental Accounting and Reporting.” Accounting Forum 34 (2): 123–138. doi:10.1016/j.
accfor.2010.03.001.

Jones, M., and J. Matthews. 2000. “Accounting for Biodiversity: A Natural Inventory of the Elan Valley
Nature Reserve.” ACCA.

Lamberton, G. 2000. “Accounting for Sustainable Development – A Case Study of City Farm.” Critical
Perspectives on Accounting 11 (5): 583–605. doi:10.1006/cpac.1999.0475.

Lisi, I. E. 2015. “Translating Environmental Motivations into Performance: The Role of Environmental
Performance Measurement Systems.” Management Accounting Research 29: 27–44. doi:10.1016/j.
mar.2015.06.001.

Lodhia, S. K. 2003. “Accountants’ Responses to the Environmental Agenda in a Developing Nation: an
Initial and Exploratory Study on Fiji.” Critical Perspectives on Accounting 14 (7): 715–737. doi:10.
1016/S1045-2354(02)00190-9.

Malmi, T., and D. A. Brown. 2008. “Management Control Systems as a Package – Opportunities,
Challenges and Research Directions.” Management Accounting Research 19: 287–300. doi:10.
1016/j.mar.2008.09.003.

McElroy, M. 2017. “Is It Possible That GRI Has Never Really Been About Sustainability Reporting at All?”
Sustainable Brands.

Medley, P. 1997. “Environmental Accounting – What Does it Mean to Professional Accountants?”
Accounting, Auditing and Accountability Journal 10: 594–600. doi:10.1108/09513579710180833.

Miller, P. 1991. “Accounting Innovation Beyond the Enterprise: Problematizing Investment Decisions
and Programming Economic Growth in the U.K. in the 1960s.” Accounting, Organizations and
Society 16: 733–762. doi:10.1016/0361-3682(91)90022-7.

Milne, M. J. 1996. “On Sustainability; the Environment and Management Accounting.” Management
Accounting Research 7: 135–161. doi:10.1006/mare.1996.0007.

Milne, M. J., and R. Gray. 2013. “W(h)ither Ecology? The Triple Bottom Line, the Global Reporting
Initiative, and Corporate Sustainability Reporting.” Journal of Business Ethics 118: 13–29. doi:10.
1007/s10551-012-1543-8.

Moneva, J. M., P. Archel, and C. Correa. 2006. “GRI and the Camouflaging of Corporate
Unsustainability.” Accounting Forum 30: 121–137. doi:10.1016/j.accfor.2006.02.001.

Norris, G., and B. O’Dwyer. 2004. “Motivating Socially Responsive Decision Making: The Operation of
Management Controls in a Socially Responsive Organisation.” The British Accounting Review 36:
173–196. doi:10.1016/j.bar.2003.11.004.

Pacific Institute. 2017. “Exploring the Case For Corporate Context-Based Water Targets.”

Perego, P. 2005. “Environmental Management Control. An Empirical Study on the Use of
Environmental Performance Measures in Management Control Systems”. PhD Dissertation,
Universiteit Nijmegen.

Renaud, A. 2014. “The Controller’s Role in Environmental Management Control.” Comptabilité –
Contrôle – Audit 20 (2): 67–94. doi:10.3917/cca.202.0067.

Rikhardsson, P., M. Bennett, J. J. Bouma, and S. Schaltegger. 2005. “Introduction: Environmental
Management Accounting: Innovation or Managerial fad?” In Environmental Management
Accounting. Status and Challenges, edited by P. M. Rikhardsson, M. Bennett, J. J. Bouma, and S.
Schaltegger, 1–16. Dordrecht: Springer. Implementing.

Rockström, J., W. Steffen, K. Noone, Å Persson, F. S. Chapin, E. F. Lambin, T. M. Lenton, et al. 2009. “A
Safe Operating Space for Humanity.” Nature 461: 472–475. doi:10.1038/461472a.

Rodrigue, M., M. Magnan, and E. Boulianne. 2013. “Stakeholders’ Influence on Environmental Strategy
and Performance Indicators: A Managerial Perspective.” Management Accounting Research 24 (4):
301–316.

Russell, S. L., and I. Thomson. 2009. “Analysing the Role of Sustainable Development Indicators in
Accounting for and Constructing a Sustainable Scotland.” Accounting Forum 33: 225–244.
doi:10.1016/j.accfor.2008.07.008.

SASB. 2015. “Consumption I Sector Standards: Record of Public Comment”.

Schaltegger, S. 2018. “Linking Environmental Management Accounting. A Reflection on (Missing)
Links to Sustainability and Planetary Boundaries.” Social and Environmental Accountability
Journal 38 (1), doi:10.1080/0969160X.2017.1395351.

Schaltegger, S., and D. Zvezdov. 2015. “Gatekeepers of Sustainability Information: Exploring the Roles
of Accountants.” Journal of Accounting and Organizational Change 11: 333–361. doi:10.1108/JAOC-
10-2013-0083.

Simons, R. 1995. Levers of Control: How Managers Use Innovative Control Systems to Drive Strategic
Renewal. Boston, MA: Harvard Business School Press.

Songini, L., and A. Pistoni. 2012. “Accounting, Auditing and Control for Sustainability.” Management
Accounting Research 23: 202–204. doi:10.1016/j.mar.2012.06.002.

Spence, L. J. 2007. “CSR and Small Business in a European Policy Context: The Five “C"s of CSR and
Small Business Research Agenda 2007.” Business and Society Review 112: 533–552.

Spence, L. J., and L. Rinaldi. 2014. “Governmentality in Accounting and Accountability: A Case Study
of Embedding Sustainability in a Supply Chain.” Accounting, Organizations and Society 39 (6): 433–
452.

Thomas, M. P., and M. W. McElroy. 2016. The Multicapital Scorecard: Rethinking Organizational
Performance. Chelsea Green Publishing, White River Junction.

Thomson, I. 2014. “Responsible Social Accounting Communities, Symbolic Activism and the
Reframing of Social Accounting. A Commentary on new Accounts: Towards a Reframing of
Social Accounting.” Accounting Forum 38: 274–277. doi:10.1016/j.accfor.2014.05.002.

Vesty, G. M., A. Telgenkamp, and P. J. Roscoe. 2015. “Creating Numbers: Carbon and Capital
Investment.” Accounting, Auditing and Accountability Journal 28: 302–324. doi:10.1108/AAAJ-10-
2013-1507.

Watts, J. 2010. “Are Accountants the Last Hope for the World’s Ecosystems?”, The Guardian. https://
www.theguardian.com/environment/2010/oct/28/accountants-hope-ecosystems, accessed on
January 30th, 2018.

Wijethilake, C., R. Munir, and R. Appuhami. 2017. “Strategic Responses to Institutional Pressures for
Sustainability.” Accounting, Auditing and Accountability Journal 30: 1677–1710.