Open AccessCorporate Environmental Disclosures on the Internet: an Empirical Analysis of Indian Companies
Author(s) -
P. Malarvizhi,
Sangeeta Yadav
Publication year - 2008
Publication title -
issues in social and environmental accounting/issues in social and environmental accounting (isea)
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
eISSN - 2460-6081
pISSN - 1978-0591
DOI - 10.22164/isea.v2i2.33
Subject(s) - business , sustainable development , environmental accounting , mainstream , environmental degradation , accounting , environmental reporting , global environmental analysis , marketing , political science , ecology , law , biology
The impact of industrialization, on natural resources, human health and environment was not clear till 1960s. Rachel Carson for the first time in 1962 raised important questions about human impact on nature in her book, Silent Spring. With the growing awareness towards sustainable development, industries and corporations have a major role in environmental degradation and protection thereof. In the past, accounting theories emphasized primarily on financial performance. This awareness on sustainable development is visible through varied environmental management mechanisms practiced amongst companies across the world. Environmental concerns are addressed by corporate giants through identification and estimation of environmental costs, benefits, investments, assets and liabilities into main stream accounting and reporting practices, for varied managerial decisions. These focused environmental efforts have sharpened and improved the global reporting standards. In India, the incorporation of environmental costs and benefits into mainstream financial reporting is at its nascent stage at present - but it is certain to grow. Indian companies have not yet developed a holistic approach to environmental reporting, as there is lack of environmental reporting guidelines. On the other hand environmental awareness among Indian stakeholders gets strengthened with advancement in communication technology. High propensity of environmental awareness ensures a more cautious approach among Indian corporations to be environmentally responsible. With the advancement of information and communications technologies, global corporate information disclosures have been on rise through the medium of internet, as confirmed by various recent national and international surveys. This research has observed that Indian companies follow diverse reporting practices on the internet viz., stand alone environmental reporting (satellite accounts) or reporting along with the Annual/Financial Reports, or Sustainability Reporting.