Environmental Accounting: The Environmental And Natural Resources Accounting Framework

INTRODUCTION Organizations around the world, aim to create a plan that will both benefit the economy and preserve the environment. One of the action taken was the Earth Summit of 1992, where more than 100 state leaders gathered to learn and adopt the “Agenda 21” that aims to integrated environmental issues in developing policies (Virola, De Perio & Angeles, 2000, p.1). This lead to the creation of a framework that will analyse both economic and environmental issues. The framework is known as Environmental and Natural Resources Accounting Framework or Environmental Accounting. It refers to environment-related data compiled into an accounting framework which aims to include the cost of using the environment in the traditional measurement of

According to the article Environmental Accounting: Where We Are Now, Where Are We Heading by J.E. Hecht (1999, p. 15), the methods use in environmental accounting depends on the amount of investment, objective, and most especially the purpose of the entity and its impact to the policy. However, not all companies are convinced that environmental accounting can contribute in the development of the business and in the increase of its profit. With the different international companies in the Philippines using environmental accounting, the research aims to enumerate the data that can be gathered through environmental accounting. It also aims to identify the economic and environmental benefit of implementing environmental accounting. Moreover, the researchers also would identify whether the findings from the use of environmental accounting are being effectively used by following companies; (1) Canon, (2) Toshiba, (3) Mazda, (4) Mitsubishi, and (5)

The Toshiba Group implements environmental accounting to effectively learn environmental costs and benefits and to use the data as a guide for their business activities. According to Takayuki Ikeda (2014), the company has important pillars in Green management. These are: Greening of Products which makes the company reduces the environmental impact throughout its product life cycle; Greening of Process which the company conserves energy in making the products and; Green Management which the company provides environmental education to promote environmental activities. In the past years, Toshiba Group received environmental awards that prove that the company did the environmental management above the standards (Toshiba Group,