The International Federation of Accountants has issued new guidance on environmental management accounting.
Environmental management accounting focuses on the analysis of materials and energy flow information and environmental cost information. The document, commissioned by IFAC and supported by the division for sustainable development of the United Nations Department of Economic and Social Affairs, can be downloaded for free at
"Our goal in issuing this document is to reduce confusion on this important topic and to provide a framework and set of definitions that is comprehensive, yet as consistent as possible with other existing environmental accounting frameworks with which EMA must coexist," said IFAC president Graham Ward, in a statement.
Although the guidance is aimed primarily at professional accountants within organizations, it will also be of interest to professional accountants and auditors who are becoming more involved in tracking or verifying environment-related information in financial and other reports. According to IFAC, the guidance is already being used in a number of countries and the hope is that it will become accepted global best practice.
The report was written by Deborah Savage of the Environmental Management Accounting Research and Information Center and Christine Jasch of the Austrian Institute for Environmental Management & Economics.
