Green Accounting & Financial Performance
Green Accounting & Financial Performance
ABSTRACT : Sustainability is a broad concept that refers to the ability to meet the needs of the present
without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs. It comprises three
dimensions: environmental, social, and economic sustainability. Sustainable development and practices
take into account these dimensions with the goal of creating a better and more equitable world for present
and future generations. The ability of a corporation to create long-term financial success while also taking
into account and addressing ESG factors is referred to as sustainable financial performance. In this context,
green accounting plays a major role. This study aims to provide an understanding of the importance of
sustainability in business, green accounting, and the relationship between sustainability and financial
performance. Some studies reveal that the relationship between sustainability practices and financial
performance is confusing or contradictory, showing positive and occasionally negative outcomes. Even
though in some cases it shows a negative relationship, every organisation must adopt sustainable practices,
because, it helps the organizations gain a competitive advantage in the marketplace, attract a broader
customer base, and adapt more readily to changing market dynamics. Sustainability is positioned as not
merely a choice but a requirement for a better, more equitable future, and businesses are encouraged to
navigate this intersection for the benefit of both society and the environment.
KEYWORDS: ESG factors, financial performance, green accounting, Sustainability, Sustainable
development.
                                                      1
                                                        and      sustainable    financial    performance,
                                                        highlighting the ambiguity in existing literature.
                                                        It highlights the challenges organizations face in
2. STATEMENT OF PROBLEM                                 adopting green accounting practices, such as lack
                                                        of standardized reporting frameworks, high
The study on green accounting techniques and            implementation costs, and limited awareness of
their effect on sustainable financial performance       benefits. The research aims to unravel these
illustrates important issues that require careful       complexities, identify factors contributing to
consideration in the context of sustainable             ambiguity, and propose strategies to improve
business practices. The study explores the              green accounting adoption for long-term
relationship between green accounting practices         financial success aligned with environmental,
                                                        social, and economic sustainability goals.
3. OBJECTIVES OF THE STUDY                              while sustainable development focuses on
                                                        infrastructural development and environmental
The objectives of the study are:                        cleanliness, while sustainability aims to sustain
    1. To explore the concept of sustainability         lifestyles while limiting carbon footprints.
       and green accounting.                            (Admin, 2012).
    2. To examine the relationship between              The United Nations' Sustainable Development
       Sustainability      and       Financial          Goals (SDGs) guide global development until
       Performance.                                     2030,     aiming    to   improve    businesses'
    3. To identify challenges and importance            communication, loyalty, and transparency by
       of Green Accounting.                             setting 17 objectives and 169 indicators. (Inna
                                                        Makarenko, 2017). Sustainable development
4. METHODOLOGY                                          was initiated as a human environment agenda at
                                                        the UNCHE in 1972 and became an international
The research design followed for this study is          agenda in 1987 (Putu Sudana, 2014).
descriptive in nature. This review paper employs
a systematic and comprehensive approach to               6. FINANCIAL PERFORMANCE AND
analyse existing literature on green accounting         SUSTAINABILITY PRACTICE.
practices and sustainable financial performance.        Financial performance refers to the extent to
                                                        which financial objectives are or have been met.
                                                        It is the process of determining the monetary
5. SUSTAINABILITY VS. SUSTAINABLE                       value of a company's policies and operations. It
DEVELOPMENT                                             is used to assess a company's overall financial
                                                        health over time and can also be used to compare
Understanding sustainability and sustainable            similar enterprises within the same industry or to
development is crucial for comprehending the            compare industries or sectors in aggregate
interplay between finance, economy, society, and        (Verma, 2023). It gives decision-makers the
environment (Saputra, 2022). The Brundtland             information they need to implement intentional
Commission in 1987 defines sustainable                  and focused improvements and grow their
development as: “Sustainable development is             business (Luther, 2023)
development that meets the needs of the present
without compromising the ability of future              Sustainable financial performance refers to a
generations to meet their own needs.”                   corporation's ability to achieve long-term
Sustainability is a future paradigm that balances       financial success while addressing ESG factors,
environmental, societal, and economic factors to        including climate change mitigation, human
enhance quality of life(Jeronen, 2013).                 rights, consumer protection, and governance
Sustainability is about long-term survival;             practices. It prioritizes long-term wealth creation
environmentally, socially and economically.             over short-term gains (Bakken, 2021).
Sustainability is thought to have an economic, a
social and an environmental component. All
three overlap, and they interact (MacGillivray,
2001).
Sustainability focuses on enduring growth
without compromising future generations' needs,
                                                    2
Several studies have shown the positive and              employing accounting practises with an
negative impact of sustainability on financial           emphasis on sustainability. It is the result of
performance. The impact of sustainability can be         accounting combined with sustainability. (Dr.
measured by; Firm growth, company’s ability to           Ranpreet Kaur, 2019). It reflects CSR,
survive, an acceptable overall level of earnings         environmental spending and reporting, corporate
risk exposure, and an attractive earnings risk           governance as well as natural resources and
profile (Werner,2022).                                   environmental management (Muhaiminul Islam,
                                                         2022). It is very significant in a firm's corporate
Researchers use accounting and market-based              social responsibility and also plays a critical role
indicators to assess organizations' performance.         in the firm's decision making regarding the
Accounting measures like ROA, ROE, and profit            approaches or procedure used and also the
margin assess short-term performance, while              profitability of the firm (Agarwal Varsha, 2018).
market-based metrics like Tobin's Q and stock            Green accountancy focuses on enhancing
returns assess long-term growth (Duc Cuong               corporate social responsibility, environmental
Pham, 2021). These ratios help investors predict         cost reporting, and sustainable governance in all
profitability, financial stability, and the firm's       countries worldwide, ensuring environmental
bottom line (Parvez Khan, 2022).                         sound management and administrative systems
                                                         (Yeasin, 2021).
7. GREEN ACCOUNTING
The phrase "green accounting" was coined in the          Raju (2018) in his study identified steps in green
1980s by economist and Professor Peter Wood.             accounting. They are as follows: identifying and
Green accounting is often known as                       establishing       environmental         reporting
Environmental accounting. It is also referred to         requirements; describing the environmental goals
as resource accounting, or integrated accounting         that must be met; and make an attempt to
(Matthew N. O. Sadiku, 2021). It is a valuable           develop environmental performance indicators.
tool for weighing the costs and benefits of              Make a list of environmental performance
initiatives in relation to their environmental           indicators and report on the environmental
impact. Green accounting (also known as                  performance findings. According to Rewadikar
sustainable accounting) emerged as a measure of          (2014), the forms of green accounting are
sustainable income level that can be provided            Environmental         Financial       Accounting,
without depleting the stock of natural assets.           Environmental       Management        Accounting,
Norway was among the first to implement Green            Environmental Cost Accounting, Ecological
Accounting. Netherlands was a pioneer in the             Accounting and Natural Resource Accounting.
creation and implementation of environmental             Life cycle costing, full cost accounting, benefit
accounting. In the 1980s, France was the third           assessment, and strategic planning for
early user of Green Accounting (Mr.                      environmental management are all examples of
Shashidhara, 2019).                                      green accounting (Krishna Moorthy, 2013).
                                                     3
ENDIANA, 2020). As corporate citizens,                     company that does not engage in sustainability
businesses have a moral obligation to help                 reporting may be seen to be striving for
decrease the environmental damage they cause               unsustainable development (Ezeokafor, 2019).
(Harsh, 2020). The World Bank urges                        Sustainability reporting is the disclosure of a
governments to adopt green accounting, a                   company's social responsibilities, ESG goals, and
standardized system developed by the                       financial performance. It is also known as triple
Commission on Statistics to measure national               bottom line reporting, environmental, social, and
accounts, revealing a company's contribution to            governance      (ESG)     reporting,    corporate
the environment and quality of life (Suharsono,            responsibility reporting, and corporate social
2022).                                                     responsibility reporting (Lusher, 2012). CSR
                                                           reporting and triple bottom line accounting are
9. CHALLENGES OF GREEN                                     the most regularly used methodologies for
ACCOUNTING                                                 measuring sustainability accounting (Dr. Snehal
The absence of accounting standards for                    Maheshkar, 2023).
environmental reporting from regulatory bodies             Companies are required to disclose information
can create confusion. Companies might oppose               about their social activities or corporate social
green accounting if there's no clear framework or          responsibility as is the case with company
guidelines for them to follow. (SEBASTIAN,                 financial disclosures. Good environmental
2022). High cost of incorporating green accounts           information disclosure can affect the survival of
into financial statements or lack of knowledge of          the surrounding community, the prevention of
the benefits of following them might be the                environmental damage, and the company's
reasons for not following green accounting                 future. As a result, businesses have begun to
(Aarathi B, 2018). Inadequate data availability            embrace green accounting, which will improve
prevents green accounting implementation.                  businesses' ability to mitigate environmental
Because data on environmental impacts is scarce,           challenges. This is aimed, in addition to
it is difficult to accurately measure and report the       minimising      environmental      concerns    and
environmental impacts of economic activity                 expenses, to offer a positive image of the firm to
(Tater, 2022). According to (SHAIK, 2014),                 the surrounding area, particularly in which the
Comparing two countries or firms is impractical            company operates (Wenni Anggita, 2022).
if their accounting methods are significantly              Companies should increase their investment in
different. Green accounting is not widely                  social and environmental problems, in addition
accepted, and many companies believe it is a               to ensuring proper disclosure in their annual
burden on their earnings rather than a benefit             financial or sustainability report. (Okafor, 2020).
(Sinha, 2021). O. Florence Osemene (2016)                  Environmental disclosure via the internet would
claimed that there are additional costs associated         be the future of scientific reporting (Dr. Preeti
with       sustainability     and    environmental         Malik, 2015).
accounting, which reduces the profitability of the
affected organisation.                                     11. THE GLOBAL REPORTING
                                                           INITIATIVE (GRI)
10. SUSTAINABILITY REPORTING
                                                           GRI standards are a widely used framework for
Sustainability reporting is an important                   reporting on the triple bottom line, promoting
communication tool that allows businesses to               responsibility, reducing environmental risk, and
communicate their commitment to sustainable                enabling organizations to capitalize on market
development to a wide range of stakeholders                opportunities (Abhishek N, 2018). GRI aids
(Mostafa, 2023). It comprises a company's                  businesses, governments, and organizations in
ethical, economic, social, and environmental               understanding          and       communicating
obligations to its stakeholders (Asogwa, 2017). It         environmental, governance, human rights, and
is previously known as corporate social                    corruption impacts through sustainable reporting
responsibility. It includes all aspects of social,         frameworks and standards (Wan Adibah Wan
environmental, and economic reporting in a far             Ismail, 2022). It has improved reporting, and the
broader sense than its predecessor, "Corporate             updated advice of the sustainability reporting
Social Responsibility”. Transparency and                   guidelines has formed the foundation for
accurate reporting, in alignment with relevant             reporting     sustainability  performance      by
regulations, can help to achieve the goals while           organisations globally. (Heba Y. M. Abdel-
also building trust and accountability within the          Rahim). According to the study of (Dr. Rajani B
organization (Martina Vallesi, 2012). Any                  Bhat, 2018), 92% of the world's top 250 firms
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report on their sustainability performance, and          existence of the environmental disclosure
74% adopt GRI Standards. GRI is used in the              practices and financial performance. there is a
sustainability policy of 35 nations throughout the       significant     relationship   between     total
world. Its reporting standards are the most              environmental disclosure and profit margin.
utilised sustainability reporting standards in the       other three variables which are ROA, ROE, and
world.                                                   EPS showed no significant relationship between
                                                         total environmental disclosures.         Parvez
There are many other international accounting            Khan(2022) and M. Victoria López (2007) study
standards, such as International Financial               showed negative significance of social SDGs on
Reporting     Standard    (IFRS),     Financial          firms’ financial performance.
Accounting Standard Board (FASB), and
International Accounting Standard Board                  According to Sanna Bäckström (2015),
(IASB), state the general principles for                 Greenwashing actions are possible in businesses.
measurement, disclosure of environmental                 Thus, in order to establish the quality of
issues, and recognition in financial statements          sustainability    financial    performance,     a
(IAS-39). (Riyadh, Al-Shmam, & Huang, 2020).             performance index comprised of both qualitative
                                                         and quantitative indicators should be developed
12. FINDINGS AND DISCUSSION                              and confirmed by a third party. Ismail Alhassan
   Most research findings on sustainability              (2021), in his study said that Companies should
reporting and financial performance are                  be ranked using a standardized sustainability
confusing or contradictory, showing positive and         index. This will help to put pressure on
occasionally negative outcomes. Study of O.              companies to pay more attention to the
Florence Osemene(2016), Egbunike(2018),                  environment and to take the issues of sustainable
Ezeokafor(2019),        Nandini        E.S(2020),        development more seriously. (Asogwa, 2017)
Christopher Thomas (2021), Arsala Khan (2021),           Recommend that sustainability reporting be
Saputra (2022), Okafor (2022), Ezekwesili                made a legal mandate for corporate enterprises,
(2022) and Israel S. Akinadewo (2023) showed a           with government backing at all levels
positive relationship between sustainability and         In the study of Navodya Sandamini (2022),
firm financial performance such as, ROA, ROE             Interviewees expressed burden in sustainable
and Tobin’s Q (TQ). The study of ABM Fazle               development reporting, negotiating Triple
Rahi (2022) revealed that the governance                 Bottom Line Reporting and Global Reporting
dimension was found to have a positive                   Initiatives, and stating it is a part of their current
relationship with ROA, indicating that solid             job responsibilities. Edward Botchwey’s (2022)
governance practices can enhance profitability.          study suggests that businesses can now provide
This aligns with the idea that proper governance         sustainability information through social media
is crucial for financial firms.        Study of          platforms like Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, and
Alphasyah Sidarta (2023) resulted positive               YouTube, enabling real-time stakeholder
impact of green accounting and environmental             engagement at no cost. Low environmental and
performance on company profitability. In the             social disclosures among developing-country
study of Raj (2018), it is found that the most           enterprises pose a significant challenge to
favoured technique of green accounting was               achieving the UN's sustainable development
cost-benefit analysis, followed by managing              goals by 2030(Aifuwa, 2020).
environmental expenses, life cycle costing, flow
cost accounting, overall quality environmental           13. CONCLUSION
management, and carbon credit computation.
Companies with stronger green accounting                 Environmental protection actions will produce a
practices may perform better in terms of                 new and distinct environmental profile, resulting
Economic Value Added and it seems that green             in cost savings and increased market potential
accounting positively affects this financial             (Navodya Sandamini, 2022). Companies that
metrics (Al-Dhaimesh, 2020).                             embrace sustainability may gain a competitive
                                                         advantage in the marketplace. They can
Study of Tensie Whelan(2021) analysed 1000               differentiate themselves from competitors, attract
research publications from 2015 to 2020. The             a broader customer base, and adapt more readily
association between ESG and financial                    to changing market dynamics
performance was determined to be 58% positive,
13% neutral, and 21% mixed. Norhasimah Md                Sustainability is not an abstract concept; it is a
(2016) study reveals mixed results between the           responsibility that rests on the shoulders of every
                                                         individual,     community,        business,     and
                                                     5
government. The urgency of addressing                    increasingly viewed as a smart business strategy
sustainability issues has never been greater. Our        that can boost profitability, minimise risk, and
planet's ecosystems are under threat, and                foster resilience in a fast-changing world. It
inequalities persist on a massive scale. The             acknowledges that corporations can no longer
imperatives of environmental, social, and                operate in isolation from the environmental and
economic sustainability demand our attention             social concerns we confront. Inaction is no
and      concerted       efforts.    Incorporating       longer an option. Sustainability is not a choice,
sustainability into financial performance is more        but rather a requirement, a blueprint for a better
than simply an ethical consideration; it is              and more equal future.
                                                     6
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