Is the environmental professional... An accountant?

The nature of professional recognition is considered fluid and indistinct within a particular social context. The accounting profession has continually readjusted and realigned its knowledge set with societal expectations (expanding this body of knowledge from financial accounting to audit, taxation and management information systems). The specialised knowledge and technical skills relating to performance measurement, analysis, reporting and auditing are also relevant to the management of environmental performance and sustainability. As the global community has become more cognisant of environmental issues, there have been increasing demands on accountants for the provision of environmental cost and performance information. The ability to provide this critical financial and non-financial information for corporate decision-making has seen the evolution of 'environmental accounting'. One may now ask: is the environmental professional an accountant? This paper examines the extent to which an understanding of environmental sustainability principles is captured within the expert knowledge set of the accounting profession and explores the role of the accounting professional in environmental sustainability.