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Introduction
Accounting is now facing the challenge to account for the environment not only through its traditional role of recording and reporting financial information, but also through its role to manage environmental performance ([16] Hopwood, 2009; [24] Schaltegger and Wagner, 2006). The United Nations Division for Sustainable Development ([27] UNDSD, 2001, p. 1) states:
The general use of environmental management accounting information is for internal organisational calculations and decision making. EMA (environmental management accounting) procedures for internal decision making include both physical procedures for material and energy consumption, flows and final disposal, and monetarized procedures for costs, savings and revenues related to activities with potential environmental impact.
The International Federation of Accountants ([18] IFAC, 1998, para. 1) defines environmental management accounting (EMA) as:
[...] the management of environmental and economic performance through the development and implementation of appropriate environment-related accounting systems and practices. While this may include reporting and auditing in some companies, environmental management accounting typically involves life-cycle costing, full-cost accounting, benefits assessment, and strategic planning for environmental management.
The two definitions reveal that the development of EMA is set within an environmental management context ([1] Bartolomeo et al. , 2000; [5] Burritt et al. , 2002; [11] Graff et al. , 1998). For this paper, EMA is defined as the generation, analysis and use of both monetary and physical (or financial and non-financial) environment-related information in order to improve organisational financial and environmental performance ([1] Bartolomeo et al. , 2000).
EMA has attracted increasing attention and interest as a support mechanism to manage environmental performance, which in turn helps improve financial performance ([3] Bouma and van der Veen, 2002; [8] Ditz et al. , 1995; [9] Epstein, 1996; [11] Graff et al. , 1998; [12] Gray and Bebbington, 2000; [17] Howes, 2004; [21] Mathews, 1997; [25] Tuppen, 1996). Various industries have been included in EMA-related research and case studies (see [4] Burritt (2004) for a summary of available EMA-related studies), but universities as part of the service organisations have typically failed to be the focus of interest and attention. It is true that universities generate less obvious environmental impacts[1] relative to manufacturing industries, but they still do - both direct and indirect ([2] Bennett et al. , 2006). Indirect impacts include (but...