حسابداری توسعه پایدار- مطالعه موردی مزرعه شهر

An accounting model designed to evaluate performance in achieving the objectives of sustainable development is applied to an organisation striving for a mix of ecological, social, and economic goals. The accounting model uses environmental performance indicators and life cycle analysis to measure performance against ecologically efficient and sustainability targets, utilising both quantitative and qualitative data. It is found that the organisation’s industrial design is consistent with some of the ecological goals of sustainable development, but ecological and financial constraints, together with priorities of the economic system within which the organisation functions, lead to specific aspects of the organisation’s operations being ecologically unsustainable. The paper concludes that the accounting model enables an organisation’s contribution to the multidimensional objectives of sustainable development to be evaluated, and the implications of this for accounting and the sustainable development agenda are discussed.

Inextricably linked to the ecological crisis that confronts humankind are the activities of business organisations which result in the production of industrial waste and pollution and the consumption of a diminishing natural resource base (Holland and Petersen, 1995; Aplin et al., 1995; Trainer, 1996). Concern about the severity and pervasiveness of ecological destruction has led to a search for a new form of economic development that is consistent with desired ecological and social goals. Emerging from this search is the concept of sustainable development which has the potential to provide business with an alternative set of values to divert decision making away from a singular focus on economic performance. Attempts within the accounting discipline to absorb the sustainable development concept are in the exploratory stages and have led to a new form of accounting referred to as “accounting for sustainability”, or alternatively “accounting for sustainable development”. This form of accounting goes beyond conventional accounting, which focuses on financial objectives, by including environmental and social objectives in the accounting framework. This paper reports on the results of applying an “accounting for sustainable development” model to an organisation which is striving to achieve the ecological, social and economic goals contained within a multidimensional perspective of sustainable development.

The aim of this research was to evaluate the performance of an organisation in achieving the objectives of sustainable development. An accounting model was designed specifically for this purpose and tested on a single organisation, leading to the conclusion that City Farm has not achieved the objectives of sustainable development due to its impact on critical and non- renewable stocks of capital, as well as it contribution to air pollution. Contributions to four significant environmental problems were linked to the operation of City Farm—ozone depletion, the enhanced greenhouse effect, air pollution and loss of biodiversity. Alternatives for reducing City Farm’s impact were identified, but are not necessarily economically viable. Another finding of this research is that the environmental accounting model used provides clear evidence of ecological unsustainability and its causes. Whether this information will initiate change within an organisation is problematic given that most business are operating within an industrial system that prioritises economic wealth over ecological preservation, and are forced to be competitive with organisations that do not consistently pursue ecological and social goals. Furthermore the implications of using a broad definition of sustainable development are that accountants need to be involved in the process of evaluating organisational performance and this would be best achieved through co-operation between accounting, environmental and social professionals to design and utilise integrated performance measures. Information unavailable to this study that would increase the confidence in the conclusions drawn includes estimates of carrying capacity and technological advancement in resource substitution, resource use and emissions defined at the organisational level and natural inventory accounts enabling the degree of the reduction in natural capital stocks to be measured.