An examination of environmental accounting and reporting Practices of large-scale mining companies in Ghana

Abstract

The study involved a benchmark analysis and examination of the state of sustainability accounting and reporting of four gold mining companies in Ghana from 2009 to 2015 comparing and contrasting the sustainability accounting processes and the sustainability indicators being adopted by the these companies as far as sustainability reporting initiatives are concerned. Further, the purpose examines the accounting convention, traditional or otherwise, used to recognize, measure and disclose transactions relating to the environment of four large-scale gold mining companies in Ghana. The study draws extensively on publicly available official documents and interview data. Based on the responses from the interview respondents and information from the publicly available official documents, it develops a case report based on the key questions and other themes that emerge from the literature and the empirical material. The study reveals that environmental accounting and reporting are now critical strategies that environmentally sensitive industries like gold mining companies are seriously tackling. The findings show that although the conventional accounting system was used in the recognition and measurement of environmental transactions, the nature of environmental accounts, presentation and disclosure varies across the companies. Some reports were stand-alone while others were integrated in the main annual reports. The main significance of the study is that the findings, thus, reinforce the proposition that the need for decoupling environmental accounting and reporting within the broader sustainability reporting framework is due. There is also the need to develop a positive rather than a normative environmental accounting and reporting framework.