A framework for a green accounting system-exploratory study in a developing country context, Colombia

Abstract

Current accounting systems assume a purely financial approach, without including environmental information, such as environmental costs and companies’ expenses. On the one hand, this study proposes a framework that considers the environmental impact of firms within their accounting system, the Green Accounting System (GAS). On the other hand, and in the context of developing countries, Colombia carried out an exploratory study. With a sample of 150 Colombian industrial and commercial companies, this research revealed that 100% of them had not yet implemented environmental practices within the accounting system. Therefore, this research would be useful not only for academia, but also for practitioners and governments. As GAS would contribute to traceability in the quantification of environmental accounting, it would simultaneously generate a movement toward cleaner production that would increase environmental quality.

Assessing the impact of financing decisions and ownership structure on green accounting disclosure: Evidence from developing economies

“…Green accounting and environmental reporting are pivotal in corporate sustainability [ 17 ]. Green accounting involves assimilating ecological factors, such as carbon emissions, resource utilization, and environmental impact, into a corporation's financial reporting and disclosure procedures.…”

“…These conflicts may be avoided by creating contracts and monitoring systems that align the interests of the agents and the principals [ 27 ]. In line with the agency theory, shareholders may be interested in the organization's environmental performance as it can impact its long-term financial viability, reputation, and social responsibility [ 17 ]. On the other hand, management may be more concerned with short-term financial performance and may not prioritize environmental concerns [ 28 ].…”

“…Studies have revealed that businesses in developing economies particularly Sub-Saharan Africa often report less environmental information than those in developed economies despite the rising trend toward green accounting [ [9] , [10] , [11] ]. Earlier studies focused on the interplay between financing decisions and sustainability performance Wahyuningrum, Budihardjo [ 12 , 13 ], financing choices and environmental information disclosure Liu, Li [ 14 , 15 ], ownership structure and corporate social responsibility [ 16 ], ownership diversity and environmental performance Gonzalez and Peña-Vinces [ 17 , 18 ], and corporate governance and ESG performance [ 19 ]. Moreover, most prior studies are based on institutional theory, legitimacy theory, agency theory, and resource dependence theory to investigate the relationship between financing decisions and sustainable development Zhang, Tang [ 20 ], as well as financing decisions and sustainable performance [ 21 ].…”

Tren Perkembangan Penelitian Akuntansi Hijau: Systematic Literature Review

“…Kelestarian lingkungan menjadi sebuah konsep yang semakin dipertimbangkan untuk dimasukkan perusahaan ke dalam operasi sehari-harinya (Buric et al, 2022;Chamorro et al, 2022). Banyak perusahaan menghadapi masalah lingkungan dan mencari pendekatan seperti apa yang dapat digunakan sebagai bentuk laporan dan mengungkapkan kepada publik (Miqdad, 2016;Rounaghi, 2019).…”

“…Sangat penting untuk menggunakan akuntansi lingkungan atau green accounting sebagai upaya untuk melindungi lingkungan (Rounaghi, 2019). Akan tetapi, sistem akuntansi saat ini mengasumsikan pendekatan keuangan murni, tanpa memasukkan informasi lingkungan, seperti biaya lingkungan dan pengeluaran perusahaan (Chamorro et al, 2022). Investor dan pemangku kepentingan kini tidak hanya menuntut pelaporan kinerja keuangan perusahaan, namun perusahaan juga dituntut untuk melaporkan pengaruhnya terhadap lingkungan dan masyarakat (Lako, 2017;Maama & Appiah, 2019;Prasetyo et al, 2019;Sulistiawati & Dirgantari, 2016).…”