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Climate Change and Its Effects on Accounting Practices

In: Business and Management

Submitted By wconder33
Words 3762
Pages 16
Climate Change and its Effects on Accounting Practices
William Conder
Accounting 5233
November 26, 2013

Abstract in Climate change is a subject that invokes many different opinions and reactions from different people in different regions. Although there is a general consensus in the scientific and environmental advocate communities as to that the worldwide climate is changing, specifically warming, and that the activities of man are the primary cause, as for the degree of change and the possible effects, there is anything but a consensus. There is a fairly new concept that is taught in many businesses, colleges, and universities called the triple bottom line. This is referring to the three things that businesses should concern themselves with and strive to achieve excellence in if they wish to be sustainable; they are “profit, people, and the planet” (Elkington, 1995). The purpose of this research is to find out and explore some different ways that businesses today are utilizing good sustainability practices, and dive into some other areas like accounting for carbon emissions, and also seeing how accounting for predicted outcomes might work in the business environment. The environment affects us all and any sort of change, contingency, or preparation has to be accounted for, so this work is designed to find out how it is being done, and things that could be done to improve business.

The triple bottom line
The age old practice of businesses being concerned strictly with profits and how it affects shareholders is becoming a thing of the past. The short-sightedness of executives has in large part contributed to climate change and has helped erupt the business world into scandal over the past 20 years or so. The tendency to only look at quarterly profits or pressure accountants into employing “creative” practices has led to the downfall, and in some cases, the

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