Environmental Management Accounting Practices and their Diffusion: The Sri Lankan Experience

Abstract

When implementing environmental management strategies it is important to use effective accounting tools to facilitate corporate decision making. In this context, a body of accounting practices, known as Environmental Management Accounting (EMA), has emerged as an interface between management accounting and environmental management. This paper attempts to provide a snapshot of EMA practices in Sri Lanka using the authors’ experience in dealing with several industries. It presents the commonly observed EMA tools and techniques used in Sri Lankan organizations while discussing how they have been diffused through adopters and propagators. Despite the rapid diffusion, the authors do not find a comprehensive and systematic adoption of EMA in Sri Lanka. This situation offers opportunities for Sri Lankan organizations to benefit from the proper adoption of EMA in the future.