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Business
and the Environment Project
(2001.6 - 2004.3)
This project is closed
as of 31 March 2004. Thank you for your visiting.
(Contact: kansai@iges.or.jp)
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Outline
The Business and the Environment Project (hereinafter
called the BE project) was started in 2001 as the first phase
research project of the IGES Kansai Research Centre. The purpose
of the project is to develop proper tools for the promotion
of voluntary corporate activities for environmental conservation
and conceptualise a socio-economic system which facilitates
corporate environmental initiatives. In efforts to develop tools
to encourage voluntary corporate activities for environmental
conservation, the BE project conducted research in the following
three fields: Environmental Accounting, Environmental Information
Disclosure, and Environmental Management Evaluation.
Report of
the Second Phase Strategic Research (April 2001 - March 2004) |
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| Activities |
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International
Symposium on Environmental Accounting 2003
Cutting Edge of Environmental Accounting for Business Management
and Environmental Conservation
- Environmental Accounting in Japanese Business Management
and Potential of Material Flow Cost Accounting - |
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| This is the second international conference
on environmental accounting organized by IGES Kansai Research
Center, followed by 'International Workshop on Environmental
Accounting' held in fiscal year 2001. While Japan is highly
recognized as a leading country concerning external environmental
accounting, Western nations are more advanced in relation to
environmental management accounting (EMA). With view of future
global standardization, it is essential to understand global
trend of environmental accounting. For this purpose, this symposium
focused on Material Flow Cost Accounting (MFCA) which has attracted
global attention as a new tool of EMA that aims to realize profit-oriented
business operation and sustainable environmental management
simultaneously through improving eco-efficiency. Lectures on
development and concrete methodology of MFCA were delivered
by international experts. Also, following presentations on MFCA
collaborative project of Japanese companies and IGES Kansai
Research Center, the panel session explored the future agenda.
Over 200 active participants gathered from all over the country,
from corporate management, audit corporations, universities
and so forth. |
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International
Symposium 2002 "Business and the Environment"
Quest for the Market Supporting Sustainable Development -
Partnership and Transformation of Socio-economy - |
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| The 2nd International Symposium on Business
and the Environment organized by IGES Kansai Research Center
was held as a part of Hyogo Environmental Business Week (July
22nd through July 26th) with support from many related organizations.
In this symposium, distinguished speakers and panelists from
national governments, businesses and NGOs, who have also participated
in the Global Linkage Forum in Hyogo and the 2nd Tripartite
Roundtable on Environmental Industry, joined together to hold
discussions on possibilities of partnership between various
social bodies toward realization of ''Sustainable Development''. |
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Environmental Reporting Seminar
- Possible Influence of GRI Guidelines that is in the Revision
Process - |
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| To achieve sustainable development, partnership
efforts by all stakeholders involved are important and the role
of corporations, in particular, is the key to success. The disclosure
of environmental information such as environmental reports is
the focus of attention as a means of encouraging such efforts.
To this end, the Global Reporting Initiative (GRI) was founded
with the participation of various stakeholders, including the
United Nations Environment Programme, and accountancy organizations,
corporations and non-profit organizations in many countries.
The GRI has the objective of formulating de facto global standards
for voluntary sustainability reporting by corporations and other
bodies. Recently, IGES held a seminar to give an outline of
the sustainability reporting guidelines publicized by the GRI
in June 2000 and report on the progress of their revision. The
seminar also sought to estimate the possible influence of the
revised guidelines on actual environmental reports by corporations.
At this seminar, experts gave a lecture about the GRI and the
guidelines, and representatives from corporations which have
compiled environmental reports in accordance with the guidelines
participated in a panel discussion on themes such as the prospects
of formulating global standards and their possible influence
on the future of Japanese corporations. |
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Seminar on Countermeasures against Global
Warming
- COP7 and the Future of Business Activities - |
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| In international efforts to counter global
warming, tough multilateral talks have been going on since the
Kyoto Protocol as the framework for such efforts was agreed
at the COP3 (December 1997). At the COP7 held recently, an agreement
was reached on working rules for the Kyoto Protocol. This agreement
is expected to accelerate the concretization of the so-called
Kyoto Mechanisms - (1) emission trading, (2) CDM, (the clean
development mechanism), and (3) JI, (joint implementation) -
as well as the introduction of environmental taxes and aggressive
promotion of energy conservation practices. At this seminar,
the Kyoto mechanisms, which are scheduled to be implemented
in the near future, were analyzed on the basis of the latest
information on the development of related policies and institutions
at the international and national levels. The actual impact
of these mechanisms on future business activities as well as
measures to cope with the introduction of the mechanisms were
also discussed. |
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Inaugural Project of IGES Kansai Research
Center
International Forum 2001 on "Business and the Environment" |
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IGES established the Kansai Research Center
in June 2001 with the active support from Hyogo Prefecture and
with cooperation from business corporations and organizations
in the Kansai region. In cooperation with Kansai academic institutions
and businesses as well as domestic and international research
institutions starting organizations, surveillance studies, policy
proposals and promotion activities based on the themes of "Business
and the Environment" are scheduled at the Kansai Research
Center where IGES will make a base for the Kansai region. The
first three years will be devoted to the development of the
Business and Environment Project, in which environmental accounting,
and detailed methods of sustainable management such as environmental
information disclosure will be researched.
In commemoration of the opening of the Kansai Research Center,
an international symposium on "Sustainable Management"
and a workshop on "Environmental Accounting" was held
at the International Forum 2001 on "Business and the Environment".
Experts from all regions of the Asia-Pacific joined together
to hold discussions on up-to-date information regarding corporate
efforts towards sustainable development and future management
strategies. |
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International
Symposium on "Sustainable Management"
- Global Trends of Sustainable Management -
Recently, voluntary corporate activities such as the introduction
of the ISO14000 series, environmental reporting, environmental
accounting, and green purchasing are developing worldwide
in western countries, Japan and Asia-Pacific region. With
information and opinions by international panelists, this
symposium aims at holding discussions on the content of
"sustainable management," on the obstacles and the means
to overcome them, by meanwhile revealing socioeconomic background
of these voluntary corporate activities and consequent changes
in business strategies.
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International Workshop
on "Environmental Accounting"
- Inauguration of Environmental Management Accounting Network
- Asia Pacific (EMAN-AP) -
Environmental Management Accounting is considered
as one of the most important tools of "sustainable
management." For the further progress in the method
and discussion in the Asia-Pacific region, experts and researchers
in the region come together to report and exchange information
on current situation in individual countries, research results,
information and opinions on environmental management accounting.
Environmental Management Accounting Network - Asia Pacific
(EMAN-AP) is aiming to establish cooperation in the studies
and information exchanges between experts and researchers
for sustainable development.
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