Accounting For Natural Resources

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Accounting for Natural Resources: A Comprehensive Guide



Author: Dr. Evelyn Reed, CPA, CGMA, PhD in Environmental Economics. Dr. Reed is a Professor of Accounting at the University of California, Berkeley, specializing in sustainability accounting and the financial reporting of natural resource companies. Her research focuses on developing innovative accounting methodologies for natural capital and integrating environmental considerations into corporate financial reporting.

Publisher: Wiley Finance, a leading publisher of finance and accounting textbooks and resources, known for its rigorous editorial process and commitment to accuracy.

Editor: Professor David Miller, FCA, a chartered accountant with over 20 years of experience in auditing and financial reporting, specifically in the extractive industries.


Keywords: accounting for natural resources, natural resource accounting, environmental accounting, depletion accounting, sustainability accounting, natural capital accounting, resource extraction accounting, cost depletion, unit depletion, financial reporting of natural resources, ESG reporting.


Introduction: The Importance of Accounting for Natural Resources



Effective accounting for natural resources is crucial for several reasons. It provides a transparent and accurate picture of a company's environmental impact, allows for informed decision-making regarding resource extraction and utilization, and ensures accountability to stakeholders concerned about sustainability and environmental stewardship. The unique nature of natural resources, their finite supply, and the environmental consequences of their extraction necessitate specialized accounting methodologies. This article explores the various approaches to accounting for natural resources, highlighting their strengths and limitations.


Methodologies for Accounting for Natural Resources



Several methodologies exist for accounting for natural resources, each with its own complexities and implications. The most commonly used methods include:

1. Depletion Accounting: This is the primary method used for accounting for the extraction of exhaustible natural resources like minerals, oil, and gas. Depletion is the allocation of the cost of a natural resource over its useful life. There are two primary approaches within depletion accounting:

Cost Depletion: This method allocates the total cost of acquiring and developing the resource (including exploration, acquisition, and development costs) over the estimated quantity of the resource. The depletion expense is calculated by multiplying the depletion rate (total cost divided by total estimated quantity) by the quantity extracted during the period.

Unit Depletion: Similar to cost depletion, this method uses a unit cost to determine depletion expense. The cost is calculated per unit and then multiplied by the number of units extracted. This method is particularly useful when there are multiple resources extracted from a single site.


2. Successful Efforts Accounting: This method only capitalizes exploration costs that lead to the discovery of commercially viable reserves. Unsuccessful exploration costs are expensed immediately. This approach is commonly used in the oil and gas industry.


3. Full Cost Accounting: This method capitalizes all exploration and development costs, regardless of success or failure. This approach provides a more comprehensive picture of the total cost of acquiring and developing a resource but can lead to higher capital expenditures initially.


4. Sustainability Accounting: This broader approach integrates environmental, social, and governance (ESG) factors into traditional financial reporting. Accounting for natural resources within a sustainability framework involves not only tracking the depletion of resources but also considering the environmental and social impacts of resource extraction. This frequently involves reporting on metrics such as carbon emissions, water usage, and biodiversity impacts.


5. Natural Capital Accounting: This emerging field focuses on measuring the value of natural capital (e.g., forests, water resources, biodiversity) and integrating this into economic and financial decision-making. It is an increasingly important aspect of accounting for natural resources, moving beyond simply recording depletion to assessing the broader ecological and economic value of these assets.


Challenges in Accounting for Natural Resources



Accounting for natural resources presents several unique challenges:

Estimating Reserves: Accurately estimating the quantity of a resource available for extraction is often difficult and uncertain. This uncertainty impacts the accuracy of depletion calculations.

Valuation Challenges: Determining the fair value of natural resources can be complex, especially for resources with fluctuating market prices or those with long-term development horizons.

Environmental Liabilities: The extraction of natural resources often generates environmental liabilities, such as mine reclamation costs or remediation of contaminated sites. Accurately estimating and accounting for these liabilities is crucial.

Data Availability and Reliability: Comprehensive and reliable data on resource extraction and environmental impacts may be scarce, especially in developing countries or for smaller companies.


Conclusion



Effective accounting for natural resources is paramount for ensuring responsible resource management, informed decision-making, and transparent financial reporting. While traditional depletion accounting remains a cornerstone, the integration of sustainability and natural capital accounting frameworks is becoming increasingly important. Addressing the challenges related to reserve estimation, valuation, environmental liabilities, and data availability is crucial for developing more robust and comprehensive accounting methodologies that accurately reflect the economic and environmental implications of natural resource extraction.


FAQs



1. What is the difference between cost depletion and unit depletion? Cost depletion uses the total cost, while unit depletion uses a cost per unit.

2. How are environmental liabilities accounted for in natural resource accounting? They are typically accrued as liabilities and expensed over time or upon remediation.

3. What is the role of sustainability reporting in natural resource accounting? It provides a broader perspective encompassing environmental and social impacts beyond financial metrics.

4. What are the key challenges in estimating natural resource reserves? Geological uncertainty, technological limitations, and economic factors all contribute to uncertainty.

5. How does natural capital accounting differ from traditional depletion accounting? Natural capital accounting considers the broader ecological and economic value of natural resources.

6. What are the implications of inaccurate reserve estimation on financial reporting? It can lead to misstated depletion expense and inaccurate asset valuations.

7. What is the role of the auditor in natural resource accounting? Auditors ensure the accuracy and reliability of the financial statements and compliance with relevant accounting standards.

8. How are successful efforts and full cost accounting different? Successful efforts only capitalizes successful exploration costs, while full cost capitalizes all exploration costs.

9. What are the future trends in accounting for natural resources? Increased focus on natural capital, ESG reporting, and integrated reporting frameworks.


Related Articles:



1. "Depletion Accounting Methods: A Comparative Analysis": This article provides a detailed comparison of different depletion accounting methods, highlighting their strengths, weaknesses, and suitability for various industries.

2. "Environmental Liabilities and their Impact on Natural Resource Companies": This article focuses on the accounting treatment and financial implications of environmental liabilities associated with natural resource extraction.

3. "The Role of Auditing in Ensuring Accuracy in Natural Resource Accounting": This article explores the role of auditors in verifying the accuracy and reliability of financial reporting related to natural resources.

4. "Sustainability Reporting Frameworks for Natural Resource Companies": This article reviews existing sustainability reporting frameworks and their relevance to the natural resource sector.

5. "Natural Capital Accounting: A New Frontier in Resource Management": This article introduces the concepts and methodologies of natural capital accounting and its potential to enhance resource management.

6. "The Valuation of Natural Resources: Challenges and Opportunities": This article explores the complexities of valuing natural resources, especially considering their long-term and environmental aspects.

7. "Integrating ESG Factors into Financial Reporting for Natural Resource Companies": This article discusses how ESG factors are integrated into financial statements in the natural resource sector.

8. "The Impact of Climate Change on Accounting for Natural Resources": This article examines how climate change considerations are affecting accounting practices in this sector.

9. "Accounting for Biodiversity Loss in the Natural Resource Industry": This article specifically addresses the accounting challenges related to quantifying and valuing biodiversity loss linked to resource extraction.


  accounting for natural resources: Wasting Assets Robert C. Repetto, 1989
  accounting for natural resources: Handbook of Accounting for Natural Resources Larry D. Crumbley, 1986-08-01
  accounting for natural resources: Natural Resource Accounting and Economic Development Charles Perrings, Jeffrey R. Vincent, 2003 In this important book some of the world's leading scholars in environmental economics explore the theoretical and empirical problems to be solved if policymakers are to develop accounts to capture the sustainability of economic development. The development indicators that have been used over the last half century and more, GDP and GNP, fail to record the change in the value of a nation's natural or environmental capital. The contributions to this volume consider why this is so, and what is required of genuine sustainability measures. They include both theoretical papers on the identification of sustainability measures in optimising and non-optimising economies, and empirical applications of the theory of green accounting to different sectors in developing countries. The extensive introduction surveys the state-of-the-art on natural resource accounting for economic development. The book makes a substantial contribution to the development of an important field of environmental economics. It should be read by all environment and development economists, and policymakers with a particular interest in natural resource accounting, sustainability and development.
  accounting for natural resources: Handbook of Accounting for Natural Resources D. Larry Crumbley, 1986-01-01
  accounting for natural resources: Accounting for Natural Resources in the Foothills Model Forest Michael Neal Patriquin, William Alexander White, Northern Forestry Centre (Canada), Michelle Margaret Spence, Foothills Model Forest, 2004 Natural resource accounts provide useful information for integrated resource management through the identification of both market & non-market values. This report begins with a review of previous studies investigating the theory & application of natural resource accounting. It then presents a natural resource accounting case study for the Foothills Model Forest region of Alberta that details value estimates for market components (forestry, trapping, agriculture, minerals, visitor-related industries, & the rest of the economy) & non-market components (recreation, subsistence resource use, environmental control services such as carbon sequestration, and biodiversity maintenance). The resulting natural resource account represents a baseline of values that can be used to assess the progress of Weldwood of Canada Ltd. toward specific objectives related to resource management goals.
  accounting for natural resources: Resources Accounting in China Alessandro Lanza, 2012-12-06 Following the presentation ofChina's Agenda XXIin 1994, the Fondazione Eni Enrico Mattei began a fruitful collaboration with the SSTC (State Science and Technology Commission) on Natural Resource Accounting of the People's Republic of China. Among other initiatives, the Fondazione organised a seminar held in Beijing in March 1996, entitled Resources Accounting in China. This volume brings together 11 papers as the result ofthat seminar. Our main attempt was to compare approaches and knowledge of specific issues in this area. As far as the approach is concerned there appear to be some interesting comparisons to be drawn considering the authors' different fields of expenence. Seven papers are written by Chinese participants and four by visiting experts from the West. All the Chinese contributions point out the importance of the environment in economic development and a determination to measure the effects as a means to successful management of natural resources. They concentrate on rather specific issues within the constraints of the prevailing economic conditions where identification and pricing of assets tend to be specified by administrative norms. Although the general framework of the Chinese approach tends to be scientific and administrative, all papers contain interesting and useful statistical information. The papers by visiting experts also stress the importance of taking into account environmental aspects in deriving indicators relating to economic development. In contrast to the Chinese contributions, however, they tend to be more abstract and more clearly based on economic theory.
  accounting for natural resources: Natural Resource Accounting for the National Forests : a Conceptual Framework Zhi Xu, 1994
  accounting for natural resources: Report on Natural Resource Accounting Robert C. Repetto, 1988
  accounting for natural resources: Green National Accounting and Sustainability Karl-Gustaf Löfgren, Chuan-Zhong Li, 2011 Concerns about natural resource scarcity, together with the increased awareness of environmental problems, has led to widespread interest in green accounting, which attempts to extend the standard national accounts to include the yields from natural and environmental resources. For this volume, Professors Lofgren and Li have selected the classic articles in this rapidly growing area, with particular reference to sustainability. They have also written an authoritative new introduction which offers a comprehensive overview of the literature both from a historical and a formal theoretical perspective. This volume will be an invaluable reference source for scholars and practitioners seeking an in-depth understanding of the main issues in this important field.
  accounting for natural resources: Measures of Environmental Performance and Ecosystem Condition National Academy of Engineering, 1999-06-02 When Cleveland's Cuyahoga River caught fire in 1969, no environmental measurements were necessary to know the seriousness of the problem. Incidents like the Cuyahoga fire raise an important question: Can catastrophes-in-the-making be detected early enough to be prevented? For those in industry, such disasters point to the need for measures that can improve the environmental performance of processes, products, business practices, and linked industrial systems. In Measures of Environmental Performance and Ecosystem Condition, experts share their insights on environmental metrics. The volume explores the most productive relationship between measures of environmental performance and measures of ecosystem conditions. It reviews current approaches, evaluates structures for business decisionmaking, and includes a matrix for determining the environmental performance of industrial facilities. Case studies include: Development and application of a water-quality rating scheme for streams and reservoirs in the Tennessee Valley. Three years of successful experience with waste metrics at 3M. The book covers the range of environmental performance and condition metrics, from the use of material flow data to monitor environmental performance at the national level to the use of bioassays to measure the toxicity of industrial effluents. This book offers something for everyone--policymakers, executives, engineers, managers, and advocates--with a stake in the measurement of environmental performance and ecological conditions.
  accounting for natural resources: Resource Accounting for Sustainability Assessment Mario Giampietro, Richard J. Aspinall, Jesus Ramos-Martin, Sandra G. F. Bukkens, 2014-05-30 The demands placed on land, water, energy and other natural resources are exacerbated as the world population continues to increase together with the expectations of economic growth. This, combined with concerns over environmental change, presents a set of scientific, policy and management issues that are critical for sustainability. Resource Accounting for Sustainability Assessment: The nexus between energy, food, water and land use offers an approach for multi-scale, integrated assessment of this nexus. It presents a comprehensive and original method of resource accounting for integrated sustainability assessments. The approach is illustrated with three detailed case studies: the islands of Mauritius, the Indian state of Punjab, and the energy economy of South Africa. The relationships between flows of goods, services and materials in these case studies offer valuable insights. The book provides a much needed quality control on the information used in deliberative processes about policy and planning activities. This innovative book will be of interest to researchers, students and practitioners in the fields of sustainability science, international development, industrial ecology, sustainable resource management, geography and ecological economics.
  accounting for natural resources: Nature's Numbers National Research Council, Division of Behavioral and Social Sciences and Education, Commission on Behavioral and Social Sciences and Education, Panel on Integrated Environmental and Economic Accounting, 1999-06-28 In order to really see the forest, what's the best way to count the trees? Understanding how the economy interacts with the environment has important implications for policy, regulatory, and business decisions. How should our national economic accounts recognize the increasing interest in and importance of the environment? Nature's Numbers responds to concerns about how the United States should make these measurements. The book recommends how to incorporate environmental and other non-market measures into the nation's income and product accounts. The panel explores alternative approaches to environmental accounting, including those used in other countries, and addresses thorny issues such as how to measure the stocks of natural resources and how to value non-market activities and assets. Specific applications to subsoil minerals, forests, and clean air show how the general principles can be applied. The analysis and insights provided in this book will be of interest to economists, policymakers, environmental advocates, economics faculty, businesses based on natural resources, and managers concerned with the role of the environment in our economic affairs.
  accounting for natural resources: National Environmental Accounting Joy Hecht, 2012-05-04 This book presents national environmental, or 'green' accounting as it has developed in Europe and other parts of the world. It introduces the most recent methods developed through the United Nations Statistical Department and other international organizations, but bridges the gap between the superficial treatment of environmental accounting in economics textbooks and environmental literature, on the one hand, and the highly technical manuals of international organizations, on the other. Joy Hecht begins with a history and introduction to national income accounting. The first part of her book explains how the environmental accounts build on the structure of the 1993 System of National Accounts. She then shows the UN approach to accounting applied to pollution, recycling, and the management of natural resources such as forests, minerals, and fisheries. The third section discusses how the accounts approach green GDP and other macroeconomic indicators. The book concludes by going beyond the UN structures to discuss other adjusted macroeconomic measures and how accounting data can be used to build them. National Environmental Accounting is a non-technical introduction to an increasingly important field. It is a must-read for anyone interested in how environmental accounts can help society move towards greater sustainability.
  accounting for natural resources: Natural Resource Accounting Marthin G. Nanere, 1998
  accounting for natural resources: Natural resource accounting , 2005
  accounting for natural resources: Natural Resource Accounting (NRA). , 1990
  accounting for natural resources: Systems Research for Agriculture Laurie E. Drinkwater, 2016-06-01
  accounting for natural resources: Assigning Economic Value to Natural Resources National Research Council, Division on Earth and Life Studies, Commission on Geosciences, Environment and Resources, Commission on Geosciences, Environment, and Resources, 1994-02-01 There has been a lot of discussion among policymakers, particularly within the Clinton Administration, about how to make U.S. economic indicators, such as GNP, more accurately reflect the state of the environment. This book explores the major issues and controversies involved in incorporating natural resources and the environment into economic accounts. The first section of the volume, based largely on a three-day workshop of experts in the field, explains the possibilities and pitfalls in so-called green accounting. This is followed by a selection of nine individually authored papers, including one by Nobel prize winner Robert Solow, that probe scientific aspects of this issues in greater depth.
  accounting for natural resources: Green National Accounting and Sustainability , 2011
  accounting for natural resources: Accounting for Carbon Valentin Bellassen, Nicolas Stephan, 2015-03-19 An authoritative overview of the requirements and costs of monitoring, reporting and verifying emissions from industry to regional and national levels.
  accounting for natural resources: CSR and Management Accounting Challenges in a Time of Global Crises Oncioiu, Ionica, 2021-06-25 Modern companies are subject to increasing pressures to conduct their business in an environmentally responsible manner due to social and environmental problems. Management of sustainable performance is one of the phenomena faced by the current business environment and, in particular, management corporations. The focus of management on profitability remains the main objective of any company, but it must also take into account the sustainability of social, economic, and environmental aspects. Under these circumstances, managerial decisions need to be adjusted and strongly substantiated, considering the information required by internal and external stakeholders, including financial reporting. The information requirements of customers and other stakeholders are steadily increasing, and some companies face certain problems in implementing the concept of sustainability and environmental reporting. CSR and Management Accounting Challenges in a Time of Global Crises is a comprehensive reference source that explores various theoretical and practical approaches of management accounting and its impact in the 21st century and investigates new accounting and financial approaches where economic and social aspects become mutually supportive to enhance their impact on community development. Covering topics such as CSR reporting, sustainability, and greenwashing, this book is an essential resource for academicians, specialty organizations, chief financial officers (CFOs), financial controllers, business analysts, financial planning and analysis (FP&A) analysts, budgeting managers, students, researchers, and business environment managers and specialists.
  accounting for natural resources: Environmental and Natural Resource Economics Jonathan M. Harris, Brian Roach, 2016-05-05 Harris and Roach present a compact and accessible presentation of the core environmental and resource topics and more, with analytical rigor as well as engaging examples and policy discussions. They take a broad approach to theoretical analysis, using both standard economic and ecological analyses, and developing these both from theoretical and practical points of view. It assumes a background in basic economics, but offers brief review sections on important micro and macroeconomic concepts, as well as appendices with more advanced and technical material. Extensive instructor and student support materials, including PowerPoint slides, data updates, and student exercises are provided.
  accounting for natural resources: Resource Accounting for Sustainability Assessment Mario Giampietro, Richard J. Aspinall, Jesus Ramos-Martin, Sandra G. F. Bukkens, 2014-05-30 The demands placed on land, water, energy and other natural resources are exacerbated as the world population continues to increase together with the expectations of economic growth. This, combined with concerns over environmental change, presents a set of scientific, policy and management issues that are critical for sustainability. Resource Accounting for Sustainability Assessment: The nexus between energy, food, water and land use offers an approach for multi-scale, integrated assessment of this nexus. It presents a comprehensive and original method of resource accounting for integrated sustainability assessments. The approach is illustrated with three detailed case studies: the islands of Mauritius, the Indian state of Punjab, and the energy economy of South Africa. The relationships between flows of goods, services and materials in these case studies offer valuable insights. The book provides a much needed quality control on the information used in deliberative processes about policy and planning activities. This innovative book will be of interest to researchers, students and practitioners in the fields of sustainability science, international development, industrial ecology, sustainable resource management, geography and ecological economics.
  accounting for natural resources: Environmental Accounting in Theory and Practice K. Uno, Peter Bartelmus, 1998-01-31 Policy failures in environment and development have been blamed on frag mented and eclectic policies and strategies. The 1992 United Nations Con ference on Environment and Development, the 'Earth Summit' in Rio de Janeiro, called therefore for an integrated approach in planning and policy making to achieve long-term sustainable growth and development. The Con ference also recognized in its action plan, the Agenda 21, that integrated poli cies need to be supported by integrated information, notably requiring the implementation of integrated environmental and economic accounting by its member States. During the preparations for the Rio Summit, scientists and practitioners of national accounting met in a Special Conference on Environmental Account ing, organized by the International Association for Research in Income and Wealth (IARIW) in Baden, Austria. Their aim was to explore the need for and methodologies of adjusting national accounts for environmental reasons. National accountants had faced mounting criticism that conventional accounting neglected new scarcities in natural capital, as well as the social cost of environmental degradation. The result of their deliberations was a draft manual, later issued by the United Nations Statistics Division (UNSD) as a handbook of Integrated Environmental and Economic Accounting.
  accounting for natural resources: Natural Resource Accounting Janice C. Wright, 1989
  accounting for natural resources: National Accounts and the Environment I. Musu, D. Siniscalco, 2012-12-06 In recent years, analysts, researchers and environmental policy makers have been faced with a serious shortage of empirical data on environmental phenomena. In fact, the information gathered by various organisations has not yet been systematically classified into a consistent system of accounts. This book presents the results of a joint research effort by the Fondazione Eni Enrico Mattei and Italy's Central Statistical Office (ISTAT) to design a system of accounts for natural and environmental resources. The resulting environmental accounts can be integrated with the existing system of national accounts, in order to estimate the so-called `green GDP' or `net national product' (NNP).
  accounting for natural resources: The Political Economy of Natural Resources and Development Paul A. Haslam, Pablo Heidrich, 2016-02-05 The Political Economy of Resources and Development offers a unique and multidisciplinary perspective on how the commodity boom of the mid-2000s reshaped the model of development throughout Latin America and elsewhere in the developing world. Governments increased taxes and royalties on the resource sector, the nationalization of foreign firms returned to the mainstream economic policy agenda, and public spending on social and developmental goals surged. These trends, often described as resource nationalism, have developed into a strategy for economic development, generated a re-imagining of the state and its institutional possibilities, and created a new but very significant political risk for extractive enterprises. However, these innovations, which constitute the most dramatic change in development policy in Latin America since the advent of neoliberalism, have so far received little attention from either academic or policy-oriented publications. This book explores the reasons behind these policies, and their effects on states, firms, and development trajectories. This text brings together renowned thematic experts to examine the political-economic causes of resource nationalism, as well as its manifestation in six Latin American countries. The causal variables considered by the contributors to this collection include a range of political-economic determinants of policy including commodity prices; the influence of ideology and national politics; ideas about industrial policy; relations between host governments and investors; and how countries respond to opportunities provided by regional initiatives and the new geography of the global economy. This volume is essential reading in development economics, political economy, and Latin American studies, as well as for those who want to understand what economic development means after neoliberalism.
  accounting for natural resources: Environmental Accounting in Theory and Practice K. Uno, Peter Bartelmus, 2013-06-29 Policy failures in environment and development have been blamed on frag mented and eclectic policies and strategies. The 1992 United Nations Con ference on Environment and Development, the 'Earth Summit' in Rio de Janeiro, called therefore for an integrated approach in planning and policy making to achieve long-term sustainable growth and development. The Con ference also recognized in its action plan, the Agenda 21, that integrated poli cies need to be supported by integrated information, notably requiring the implementation of integrated environmental and economic accounting by its member States. During the preparations for the Rio Summit, scientists and practitioners of national accounting met in a Special Conference on Environmental Account ing, organized by the International Association for Research in Income and Wealth (IARIW) in Baden, Austria. Their aim was to explore the need for and methodologies of adjusting national accounts for environmental reasons. National accountants had faced mounting criticism that conventional accounting neglected new scarcities in natural capital, as well as the social cost of environmental degradation. The result of their deliberations was a draft manual, later issued by the United Nations Statistics Division (UNSD) as a handbook of Integrated Environmental and Economic Accounting.
  accounting for natural resources: The Curse of Natural Resources Sevil Acar, 2017-02-20 This book examines the paradox that resource-rich countries often struggle to manage their resources in a way that will help their economies thrive. It looks at how a country's political regime and quality of governance can determine the degree to which it benefits - or suffers - from having natural resources, shifting away from the traditional focus on economic growth data to study the complex implications of these resources for human well-being and sustainable development. To this end, Acar examines a panel of countries in terms of the effects of their natural resources on human development and genuine saving, which is a sustainability indicator that takes into account the welfare of future generations by incorporating the changes in different kinds of capital. Acar finds that the exportation of agricultural raw materials is associated with significant deterioration in human development, while extractive resource exports, such as energy and minerals, have negative implications for genuine savings. Next, the book compares the development path of Norway before and after discovering oil, contrasting it with Sweden's development. The two countries, which followed almost identical paths until the 1970s, diverged significantly in terms of per capita income after Norway found oil.
  accounting for natural resources: Nature's Numbers National Research Council, Division of Behavioral and Social Sciences and Education, Commission on Behavioral and Social Sciences and Education, Panel on Integrated Environmental and Economic Accounting, 1999-07-28 In order to really see the forest, what's the best way to count the trees? Understanding how the economy interacts with the environment has important implications for policy, regulatory, and business decisions. How should our national economic accounts recognize the increasing interest in and importance of the environment? Nature's Numbers responds to concerns about how the United States should make these measurements. The book recommends how to incorporate environmental and other non-market measures into the nation's income and product accounts. The panel explores alternative approaches to environmental accounting, including those used in other countries, and addresses thorny issues such as how to measure the stocks of natural resources and how to value non-market activities and assets. Specific applications to subsoil minerals, forests, and clean air show how the general principles can be applied. The analysis and insights provided in this book will be of interest to economists, policymakers, environmental advocates, economics faculty, businesses based on natural resources, and managers concerned with the role of the environment in our economic affairs.
  accounting for natural resources: System of Environmental-economic Accounting 2012 , 2013
  accounting for natural resources: Natural Resources Judith Rees, 2017-10-19 In this book, first published in 1990, Judith Rees considers the spatial distribution of resource availability, development and consumption, and the distribution of resource-generated wealth and welfare. Showing that there are no simple answers, she analyses the complex interactions between economic forces, administrative structures and political institutions. This well-structured text is essential reading for upper-level students in geography, environmental planning, economics and resource management.
  accounting for natural resources: Assessing and Restoring Natural Resources in Post-conflict Peacebuilding David Jensen, Stephen Colnon Lonergan, 2012 Violent conflict invariably disrupts people's livelihoods, the natural environment, social and political institutions, and the economy at all levels. Restoring peace and rebuilding society can be arduous, but immediate action at the cessation of conflict is essential. This book examines how conflicts degrade natural resources and addresses the consequences for human health, livelihoods, and security. This book provides a concise theoretical and practical framework for policymakers, researchers, practitioners, and students.
  accounting for natural resources: Environmental Social Accounting Matrices Pablo Martínez de Anguita, John E. Wagner, 2010 In this book Professors Pablo Martínez de Anguita and John E. Wagner put two disciplines together, regional and ecological economics, presenting a way to understand ecological economic concerns from a regional perspective, and providing a mathematical tool to measure their interrelationships. This book offers different regional economic models that explicitly include the role of the natural resources and pollutants in economic regions through the use of Social Accounting Matrixes and Input-output models. The main objective of this book is to explore Input-output and Social Accounting Matrix (SAM) models by expanding the accounts to include natural resources and the environment. The proposed models in this book incorporate the forest and other natural resources and pollutants as a component in a larger model of how the economy and environment of larger areas interact. This book will be of interests to postgraduates, researchers and scientists in the fields of regional, resource, environmental, or ecological economics.
  accounting for natural resources: Natural Resource Accounting and Analysis Knut H. Alfsen, Lorents Lorentsen, Torstein Bye, 1987
  accounting for natural resources: Environmental Accounting Howard T. Odum, 1996 In this important new work, Howard T. Odum, widely acknowledged as the father of systems ecology, lucidly explains his concept of emergy, a measure of real wealth that provides a rational, science-based method of evaluating commodities, services, and environmental goods. Using specific real-world examples, Dr. Odum clearly demonstrates the revolutionary role of emergy in environmental management and policy making. Environmental Accounting: Emergy and Environmental Decision Making offers environmental professionals—policymakers, managers, ecologists, planners, developers, and activists—a systematic approach to environmental and economic valuation that will eliminate much of the rancor and adversarial decision making that often plagues environmental issues. Specifically, this book: Describes the theoretical basis, calculation procedures, and applications of emergy Introduces the concept of transformity, the ratio of emergy (work put into a product) and energy (value received from the product) Provides formulas for emergy calculations, procedures for making an emergy evaluation table, and parameters for updating evaluations Demonstrates the use of emergy to evaluate environments, minerals, waters, primary energy sources, economic developments, and international trade Compares the emergy approach to environmental evaluation with others Environmental Accounting: Emergy and Environmental Decision Making will help environmental decision makers and the society they serve maximize economic vitality with less trial and error, innovate with fewer failures, and adapt to change more rapidly. It provides the tools they need to arrive at the best policies in resource management, economics, and the environment. Balancing the economy and the environment— from the father of systems ecology Increasing economic dependence on diminishing natural resources has sparked a highly charged debate over the use and fate of the world environment. Environmental Accounting: Emergy and Environmental Decision Making presents a unique method of environmental management based on maximizing real wealth, the whole economy, and the public benefit. Renowned ecologist Howard T. Odum introduces the concept of emergy to provide a rational alternative to the tug-of-war over the world's most vital assets. Emergy measures the energy put into making a product and is the cornerstone of Odum's revolutionary text. This timely and important book offers key insights into: Determining the real value of a product or service Transformity, or the relationship between emergy (input) and energy (output) Stored wealth, available energy, and the final product Balancing economic and environmental needs Environmental Accounting: Emergy and Environmental Decision Making will help economists, ecologists, policymakers, and planners make more responsible, informed decisions to sustain economic and environmental development.
  accounting for natural resources: Sustainable Development and Natural Resource Accounting Jukka Muukkonen, 1990
  accounting for natural resources: Shaping the Future Through Standardization Jakobs, Kai, 2019-12-27 Quality assurance is an essential aspect for ensuring the success of corporations worldwide. Consistent quality requirements across organizations of similar types ensure that these requirements can be accurately and easily evaluated. Shaping the Future Through Standardization is an essential scholarly book that examines quality and standardization within diverse organizations globally with a special focus on future perspectives, including how standards and standardization may shape the future. Featuring a wide range of topics such as economics, pedagogy, and management, this book is ideal for academicians, researchers, decision makers, policymakers, managers, corporate professionals, and students.
  accounting for natural resources: Approaches to Environmental Accounting Alfred Franz, Carsten Stahmer, 2012-12-06 It is really no longer necessary to stress the importance of availing of sound statistical information on the environment. Originally .limited to circles of insiders and experts this message has now fully reached political decision makers and the general public at large. In this procedure macro-economics has - sumed a particular role, e.g. when evaluating related financial implications but also when propagating alarming overall figures on the harm this generation is doing to our environment. Accordingly, the need is o!>vious to further promote the development of international standards and - operation in the field of environment statistics in general and environmental economic accounts in p- ticular. Therefore, the AiJstrian Statistical Society (ASS) together with the Austrian Central Statistical Office (ACSO) with pleasure hosted the IARIW Special Conference on Environmental Economic Accounts, in May 1991. These institutions are similarly pleased that now this publication on the proceedings of this Conference can be presented. They connect this with grateful thanks to all those who contributed to the successful completion of this work, in particular the authors and the editors. The impression seems warranted that the outcome of this coordinated overall endeavour was more than just better mutual understanding, viz. something like an increasing consciousness of the common - nominator tending to expand.
  accounting for natural resources: Oligopoly, the Environment and Natural Resources Luca Lambertini, 2013-08-21 Industrial production and consumption patterns rely heavily on the intensive use of both renewable and non-renewable resources and the consequences for the environment can be serious. Following a long period of time where the profit incentives of firms have prevailed over preservation of the environment and the world’s natural resources, a new consensus has emerged concerning the need to regulate firm behaviour, aimed at ensuring the sustainability of the economic system in the long run. This book offers an exhaustive overview of current economic debate about these topics, taking modern oligopoly theory as a benchmark. The first part of the book covers static models dealing with incentives for green research and development, Pigovian taxation, cartels, environmental quality and international trade, as well as the role of corporate social responsibility, public firms and consumer environmental awareness as endogenous regulatory instruments. Then, the author moves on to examine the role of time while drawing from optimal control and differential game theory. This opens the way to the discussion of fair discount rates to ensure the welfare of future generations, as well as the long run sustainability of production and consumption patterns.
Accounting for Natural Resources | Definition and Example
Mar 22, 2023 · How do you account for natural resources? The accounting treatment of the costs associated with the extraction and production of natural resources depends on whether these …

Accounting for Natural Resources - HOCK international
Natural resources are assets that are consumed as they are used, and they do not physically exist after they are used. The accounting for natural resources is similar to the accounting for fixed …

Natural Resources - principlesofaccounting.com
Oil and gas reserves, mineral deposits, thermal energy sources, and standing timber are just a few examples of natural resource assets that a firm may own. There are many industry-specific …

WK10 - Natural resources accounting Flashcards - Quizlet
Study with Quizlet and memorize flashcards containing terms like Components of an accounting system, Income account, Natural resource accounting (NRA) and more.

Accounting for Natural Resources in Income and Productivity ...
In this paper we explore two methods for incorporating natural resources into conventional economic performance indicators. The first, natural resource accounting (NRA), is, simply put, a …

Introduction to Natural Resource Accounting - Maharaja Bir …
Natural resource accounting is the compilation of data on natural resources within an accounting framework. The term also covers the interpretation of data and reporting. Natural resource …

Natural Resource Accounting: Toward a balance sheet for the …
May 10, 2019 · Fully incorporating the nation’s resources on America’s balance sheet enables the Federal government, industry, and the public to clearly understand and better appreciate how …

Accounting for the value of natural resources
May 20, 2016 · Natural capital accounting (NCA) is a method used to account for income and costs (including the impact on natural resource stocks) associated with natural resource use, based on …

Natural Resource Accounting (NRA) - दृष्टि आईएएस
Aug 1, 2022 · What is Natural Resource Accounting (NRA)? Natural Resource Accounting is a process of estimating the value of natural resource depletion and environment degradation due …

VALUATION AND ACCOUNTING FOR ENVIRONMENTAL …
accounting methods, accounting for natural resources was not given a priority. It was perhaps by the United Nations Conference on Environment and Development (UNCED) in 1992 which, …

Accounting for Natural Resources | Definition and Example
Mar 22, 2023 · How do you account for natural resources? The accounting treatment of the costs associated with the extraction and production of natural resources depends on whether these …

Accounting for Natural Resources - HOCK international
Natural resources are assets that are consumed as they are used, and they do not physically exist after they are used. The accounting for natural resources is similar to the accounting for fixed …

Natural Resources - principlesofaccounting.com
Oil and gas reserves, mineral deposits, thermal energy sources, and standing timber are just a few examples of natural resource assets that a firm may own. There are many industry …

WK10 - Natural resources accounting Flashcards - Quizlet
Study with Quizlet and memorize flashcards containing terms like Components of an accounting system, Income account, Natural resource accounting (NRA) and more.

Accounting for Natural Resources in Income and Productivity ...
In this paper we explore two methods for incorporating natural resources into conventional economic performance indicators. The first, natural resource accounting (NRA), is, simply put, …

Introduction to Natural Resource Accounting - Maharaja Bir …
Natural resource accounting is the compilation of data on natural resources within an accounting framework. The term also covers the interpretation of data and reporting. Natural resource …

Natural Resource Accounting: Toward a balance sheet for the …
May 10, 2019 · Fully incorporating the nation’s resources on America’s balance sheet enables the Federal government, industry, and the public to clearly understand and better appreciate how …

Accounting for the value of natural resources
May 20, 2016 · Natural capital accounting (NCA) is a method used to account for income and costs (including the impact on natural resource stocks) associated with natural resource use, …

Natural Resource Accounting (NRA) - दृष्टि आईएएस
Aug 1, 2022 · What is Natural Resource Accounting (NRA)? Natural Resource Accounting is a process of estimating the value of natural resource depletion and environment degradation …

VALUATION AND ACCOUNTING FOR ENVIRONMENTAL …
accounting methods, accounting for natural resources was not given a priority. It was perhaps by the United Nations Conference on Environment and Development (UNCED) in 1992 which, …