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Environmental Auditing: Concepts, Methods and Developments
Author(s) -
Hillary Ruth
Publication year - 1998
Publication title -
international journal of auditing
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.583
H-Index - 21
eISSN - 1099-1123
pISSN - 1090-6738
DOI - 10.1111/1099-1123.00031
Subject(s) - audit , credibility , environmental audit , business , accounting , process (computing) , environmental management system , environmental consulting , environmental resource management , environmental impact assessment , environmental scanning , process management , computer science , environmental science , political science , ecology , irrigation , law , biology , operating system
Environmental auditing is most frequently thought of as an environmental management tool employed by businesses to facilitate better management of their environmental performance. The purpose of this paper is to investigate the origins and development of environmental auditing as a key management technique and as a self regulatory tool thought to have emerged in response to greater public and business awareness of environmental issues. Although environmental auditing is not precisely defined, a growing consensus around a broad group of criteria suggests that a number of audit types fall under the umbrella term. Conversely some activities exist which are inappropriately referred to as environmental audits. Some voluntary environmental codes specifically mention environmental auditing but these codes appear to be undersupported by businesses and seem to lack credibility. Ensuring the credibility of environmental audits with interested stakeholders may be assisted by external independent assessment of the process. Environmental auditing uniqueness appears to arise from the breadth of subjects covered in the process, the range of measurements and different types of data collected and the skills required to undertake an environmental audit, rather than the techniques employed.