Accounting for Sustainability

The recent work of the Prince of Wales' Accounting for Sustainability charity has now been published by Earthscan. The focus of the book is a number of case studies that examine the development of the  connected/integrated approach to sustainability accounting, upon which it seems the entire future of the discipline, and indeed all of humanity, now appears to rest...!

That seems to be the main selling point of the A4S book, but another important (and dare I suggest somewhat downplayed?) point is the fact that the cases have been researched and written by academics rather than, er, 'consultants'...  [OK, important disclosure - I was involved in one of the case studies featured in the book!]. Authors include Jeffrey Unerman, Brendan O'Dwyer, Ian Thomson and Linda Lewis, all of whom are distinguished academics in the field.

A session I was involved in at the recent GRI conference in Amsterdam featured some of the cases in the book. I'd encourage you to check out the Youtube footage of the session if only to see Ian Thomson's provocative presentation which certainly woke up the 'dark forces' of the corporates in attendance, who by that stage of the conference had seemed to be a bit too pleased with themselves about what a marvellous job they were all doing...