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The research project “EMA in SMEs” arose from a wider programme which Associazione Industriale Bresciana (AIB) launched about three years ago to promote the diffusion of integrated management systems in local SMEs.

In this programme the environmental accounting system (EMA), linked with a quality costing, has represented an instrument to overcome the reluctance of small companies towards management systems. First AIB developed basic evaluation check lists consistent with the implemented environmental management systems (EMSs) and then it tested and improved them in ten different pilot companies.

In the stage now in progress, AIB experts are implementing EMAs in companies having suitable accounting systems, or adapting the existing ones to EMA requirements, with two main results:

This paper will present three complete case studies of three SMEs that prior to the AIB Project had no system for measuring and analysing environmental costs and which have now successfully implemented an EMA. For each case the identification and quantification of environmental costs will be described, as well as the solutions adopted to identify and register them periodically through the information systems.

Since the 1990s environmental accounting has spread rapidly as an effective tool for environmental management. Leading global companies, especially in Europe, North America and Japan, have applied environmental accounting to enhance their eco-efficiency and resource productivity.

Moreover, increasing external pressure from stakeholders like financial institutions, SRI (Social Responsible Investment), the government, and local communities has forced companies to show an active interest in environmental accounting.

Compared to advanced companies in developed countries, however, most companies in developing countries are still far behind in understanding and applying environmental accounting techniques and methods.

As a wide range of Korean stakeholders has been interested in corporate environmental performance and its disclosure in annual reports since the mid-1990s, a number of leading Korean companies have started to introduce environmental accounting. Also, in the late 1990s the Korean government made efforts to disseminate environmental accounting into the industrial sector to promote sustainable development. The Korean Ministry of Environment (KMOE) developed the “Environmental Accounting Guidelines” to disseminate information about environmental accounting into the corporate world. Also, is carrying out an EMA (Environmental Management Accounting) project to develop corporate EMA cases; these are funded by the Korean Ministry of Commerce, Industry and Energy (KMOCIE).

This paper considers environmental management accounting (EMA) techniques in projects carried out in Argentina, South America, in which the focus is on reflecting environmental factors in order to make a substantial contribution to both business success and sustainable development. The adoption of a Cleaner Production strategy in combination with EMA adds value for assessing environmental impacts which become a significant cost issue for business. It is considered that although environmental issues are a considerable challenge to business performance, they also offer a significant opportunity for the region. In the developing World, the introduction of cleaner technology will drive for new product concepts, new production processes and logistic solutions. The interim results of the projects on Cleaner Production, cleaner technology substitution assessments and EMAi carried out with the support of the government are also discussed. This study describes and analyses the efforts of the Cleaner Production and the EMA group to integrate economic, social and environmental issues with business strategy and operations; outlines the main characteristics of the projects; and evaluates the preliminary conclusions. Key consideration is given to the benefits and barriers of co-operation between local government and the private sector. As final reflections, it recommends focusing efforts on integration where value is created in the organisation

Environmental management systems are broadly implemented in enterprises in the Czech Republic. The Eco-Management and Audit Scheme (EMAS) consists in voluntary activity of the enterprise, intended to control the environmental impact of enterprise activities and to provide the relevant information to the general public and other interested parties.

The Czech Republic has included requirements on implementation of environmental management accounting in the framework of EMAS. If an enterprise is attempting to implement EMAS, then an essential part of the system consists in the obligation to establish and maintain procedures for tracing of environmental costs in order to implement environmental management accounting (EMA).

The paper deals with requirements on EMA implementation in the framework of EMAS as well as reporting of environmental costs and revenues. The paper includes some of the results acquired from a qualitative study of the state of preparedness of enterprises, registered in the EMAS, to implement EMA.

This paper aims at describing the roles of government in promoting and implementing environmental management accounting (EMA) in the light of the benefits in developing countries in general and in Bangladesh in particular. The promotion and implementation of EMA can gear up its benefits such as increase in fund, improve environmental performance, contribution to sustainable development, effective decision-making, increase market share, develop environment-friendly industrial sector, etc. Nowadays, external reporting aspect of EMA has created the awareness of the government to play its due role in promoting and implementing EMA. The government can play a role in promoting and implementing EMA through a variety of measures: formulating a policy package regarding EMA promotion and implementation, developing guidelines for the companies regarding the process of EMA reporting and for the government agencies regarding implementation of EMA ietc. for example. There are available policy options encouraging companies to practice EMA. These are information policy instruments; self-regulatory policy instruments, incentive base policy instruments, and direct regulatory policy instruments. The government can also formulate policy options at different levels as on a hierarchical basis for the implementation of EMA. The regulatory agencies of the government at various levels like the security exchange commission, financial institutions including banks, stock markets and insurance companies can also play a vital role in implementing EMA by being very strict in assessing the impacts before various financial and non-financial support is provided to the enterprises. Finally based on the available literature, the mentioned government practices of EMA; a suitable model for easy promotion and implementation of EMA in the developing countries is suggested. This paper will benefit a number of parties including the government of developing countries as to how EMA can be implemented. The researchers in this field can use the study as a reference material or as a source of further research ideas generation. The study will also benefit the academicians, practitioners and the professionals in the field of environmental accounting in general and EMA in particular.

Environmental accounting practices in Japan have been led by two governmental initiatives. One is the MOE initiative which emphasized external disclosure. The other is the METI initiative which emphasized the applications of environmental accounting to internal management, namely Environmental Management Accounting (EMA). To characterize corporate environmental accounting practices in Japan, a questionnaire survey was administered to all companies listed in the first section of the Tokyo Stock Market. After a brief review of these governmental initiatives, this paper will examine the survey results. From the results it is found that environmental accounting is still oriented mainly toward external information disclosure, but that the application to internal management (EMA) has increased steadily. The survey results are also used to assess a set of hypotheses regarding factors and conditions important to promoting adoption and maximizing the benefits of EMA. Findings suggest that key factors include: a well-established environment department actively engaged in decision-making across the firm, understanding of environmental accounting concepts by top and middle management, and the use of specialized EMA tools.

In November 2002 a “train the trainer” program on environmental management accounting was performed in Costa Rica, following the approach developed for the United Nations Division for Sustainable Development, Working Group on Environmental Management Accounting. This programme included a public lecture and five case studies. This article describes the project organisation and applied methodology, and compares the obtained results to similar case studies in Austria.