Environmental management accounting practices : major control issues

Abstract

The use of environmental management accounting (EMA) remains debated in South Africa and the literature reveals that EMA is still at an infancy stage in the emerging economies, including South Africa. Currently, there is limited existing research on environmental management accounting practices available for use by the hotel sector in South Africa. The overall aim of this study was to investigate and describe the use of the environmental management accounting tools by the hotel sector in the 3-5 star categories in KwaZulu-Natal. The research was an exploratory study and qualitative in nature using a single case study with embedded units approach. It is envisaged that study will bridge the gap that exists in South Africa as far as environmental management accounting is concerned and it will also make the provision of meaningful results for policy decision making by the relevant stakeholders in the hotel industry. Moreover, it established factors that drive and/or hinder the implementation of EMA tools that would control and manage environmental costs and their root causes.