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Recently, a number of environmental laws and regulations have been enacted to hold organizations more accountable for their environmental responsibilities. The International Standards Organization (ISO), issued ISO 14000 environmental standards to assist entities worldwide in managing their environmental requirements and to ensure that their environmental policies and practices conform to their missions and goals. ISO 14000 environmental standards are divided into six categories: (1) environmental management systems; (2) environmental auditing; (3) environmental performance evaluation; (4) environmental labeling; (5) life‐cycle assessment; and (6) environmental aspects in product standards. These standards assist entities in preparing step‐by‐step implementation plans to adopt an adequate and effective environmental management system, conduct proper environmental audits, and successfully become registered to ISO 14001. This article presents a 15‐step process which accountantsshould suggest to their organizations to achieve ISO 14001 certification.

The purpose of this paper is to investigate the compliance of foreign investment projects with local environmental standards in Ethiopia. It examines the cause and impact of the environmental problems created by such projects as well as the necessary policy response, especially by examining the role of the applicable bilateral investment treaties (BITs) in enforcing local standards.

The research approach is fundamentally an empirical study with some doctrinal analysis. The empirical data (qualitative) was collected through interviews, focus group discussions and observation tools.

The investment projects selected for the case studies were not complying with the local environmental standards, which resulted in several environmental problems. The major cause for the overall environmental problems was not a legal gap in the local standards, but the failure of enforcing such standards by the government bodies and foreign investors. The applicable BITs also played no role in environmental protection as they do not impose environmental obligations along with enforcement mechanisms. Non-compliance with local standards can be mitigated if the applicable BITs impose environmental obligations along with workable enforcement mechanisms – as a treaty obligation has more binding force. The author argues that, in general, foreign investments are not environmental-friendly unless otherwise strictly regulated by combining local environmental standards and a BIT that imposes environmental obligations (along with enforcement mechanisms) on the foreign investors, host state and home state.

The existing literature does not deal with the environmental problems, the enforcement constraints and the role of the applicable BITs together in a single publication. They separately address these issues, which do not give a comprehensive understanding of the cause-and-effect relationship. This paper fills this gap by presenting comprehensive findings that combine the environmental problems and the associated enforcement constraints as well as the role of the applicable BITs in this regard. It also contributes to the ongoing debate concerning whether foreign direct investment is good or bad for the environment by producing empirical evidence from Ethiopia, the African continent.

The study examined the influence of environmental standards set by the SME agro-based processing firms and farmers' environmental empowerment on farmers' adoption of environmentally friendly agricultural practices; and the mediating role of empowerment on the relationship between SME agro-based processing firm environmental standards and farmers' adoption of environmentally friendly agricultural practices.

Data was collected from purchasing managers of the agro-based processing firms. The SPSS software, SMART PLS and CB-SEM software were used to obtain results on the influence of environmental standards set by the SME agro-based processing firms on adoption of environmentally friendly agricultural practices; the influence of farmers' environmental empowerment on adoption of environmentally friendly agricultural practices and the mediating role of farmers' environmental empowerment on the relationship between SME agro-based processing firm environmental standards and farmers' adoption of environmentally friendly agricultural practices.

Findings indicated that SME agro-processing environmental standards have an influence on farmers' adoption of environmentally friendly agricultural practices. Empowering farmers in environmental issues influenced their adoption of environmentally friendly agricultural practices. A partial mediation effect was observed on testing the mediating role of farmers' environmental empowerment on the relationship between SME agro-based processing firm environmental standards and farmers' adoption of environmentally friendly practices.

The study mainly focused on the upstream part of agricultural supply chains. The research has implications to decision-makers in government concerned with enhancing environmentally friendly practices among farmers in general.

The influence of SME agro-based processing firm environmental standards on farmers' adoption of environmentally friendly agricultural practices; the influence of farmers' environmental empowerment on farmers' adoption of environmentally friendly practices; and the mediating role of farmers' environmental empowerment on the relationship between SME agro-based processing firm environmental standards and farmers' adoption of environmentally friendly agricultural practices are aspects that have not been given significant attention.

ISO 14000 is based on the concept that better environmental performance can be achieved when environmental aspects are systematically identified and managed. Despite the growing interest in voluntary environmental management standards, little empirical information exists and only a few survey studies have been made. This paper contains an evaluation of results from a survey on ISO 14000 and ISO 9000 companies. The study presents experiences from the standards implementation processes in Sweden. It focuses on motives for implementation, perceived benefits and key implementation factors. Further, comparisons are made between ISO 14000 and ISO 9000 systems. Swedish companies mainly use the standard to demonstrate their commitment to environmental protection. Most benefits are also perceived in the improved relations with stakeholders and in marketing advantages. Since the standard requires companies to set their environmental policy and objectives themselves, the identification of environmental aspects was stated as most important and also as the factor requiring most effort. Organizations require their suppliers to implement ISO 9000 to a greater extent than ISO 14000.

Considers the series of environmental standards known as ISO 14000. Presents an overview of the organization‐processes group of these standards, and a comparison with the existing quality standards ‐ ISO 9000 and the Malcolm Baldrige National Quality Award. ISO 14000 is concerned with establishing guidelines and principles for the management of environmental matters by organizations, through the establishment and operation of an environmental management system (EMS). Finds there is synergy between a quality management system (QMS) and an EMS; that like a QMS, an EMS must be an integral part of an organization’s overall management system; and that like a QMS, the design of an EMS is an ongoing process of continuous improvement. Concludes with several proposed research questions.

The purpose of this paper is to discuss the relation between the ISO 14001 standard and sustainable development, and to present a case study of the energy sector in Poland in order to provide an example of the influence of the environmental management system according to ISO 14001 on environmental quality and sustainable development.

The relation between sustainable development and the environmental management system related to the ISO 14000 series is discussed by comparing these series with the ICC Business Charter for Sustainable Development. The case study is based on the analysis of the fulfilment of environmental goals and tasks, which are part of the environmental management system, introduced in the company under research.

The case study provides arguments that the ISO 14001 standard may support sustainable development, in particular when standard legal enforcement mechanisms are weak.

The introduction of standards for business may be a tool for achieving sustainable development.

The paper shows an example of opportunity for business to contribute to sustainable development.

The purpose of this paper is to examine why firms governed by the same environmental management standards within an industry exhibit contrasting responses, with some adhering to the letter and others achieving the spirit behind the standards.

Using Arena et al. (2010) as an analytical schema to examine the institutional dynamics behind such contrasting responses, the paper analyses archival and interview data relating to firm strategy, control technology and human expertise in two contrasting Australian forestry firms.

The embedding and decoupling of environmental standards with a firm’s environmental management practices is influenced, first, by the extent to which founder directors and senior management integrate environmental responsibility with the underlying business motives and, second, by the use of organisational beliefs and values systems to institutionalise the integrated strategic rationality throughout the firm. Finally, informed by the institutionalised strategic rationality, the participation and expertise of actors across the organisational hierarchy determine the level to which the design and execution of the eco-control technologies move beyond merely monitoring compliance, and act to facilitate continuous improvement, knowledge integration and organisational learning at the operational level.

This paper responds to institutional theorists’ call for a holistic explanation that considers the interactions among several intra-organisational factors to explain the dynamics behind why some firms decouple while others do not, even though the firms exist in the same social and regulatory context.

Environmental costs and obligations are significantly growing and will continue to grow as our society becomes more environmentally conscious and environmental regulations increase. Examines the significance of environmental outlays, discusses existing governmental regulations and accounting standards pertaining to environmental concerns, investigates the current accounting practices of environmental costs and obligations, and makes recommendations for proper measurement, recognition and disclosure of environmental outlays. Examines annual reports of the studied companies and reveals inconsistencies in accounting practices for measurement, recognition and disclosures of environmental outlays. Suggests these inconsistencies are primarily due to lack of sufficient and uniform authoritative accounting standards and ever‐changing public policy and regulatory standards. Indicates that society will benefit from uniform and specified accounting standards for environmental reporting in protecting organizations′ financial health.

The purpose of this paper is to examine the motives for implementing the ISO 14001 standard, the difficulties in meeting the standard's requirements and the benefits derived, and to determine the most significant latent constructs (unobserved variables) of these.

A research project was carried out in 53 ISO 14001‐certified Greek companies. Exploratory Factor Analyses were applied in order to refine the latent constructs of the ISO 14001 motives, difficulties and benefits.

Obtaining a competitive advantage, the social requirement and the environmentally‐friendly policy were the extracted latent constructs of the ISO 14001 motives. The decision of the companies to be ISO 14001‐certified was mostly influenced by internal motives. The ISO 14001 requirements and the determination of environmental performance issues were the extracted latent constructs of the difficulties faced during the implementation of the standard. However, according to the findings, the level of these difficulties was not high. The improvement of a company's position in the market, the transition from conventional to sustainable practices, the improved relationship with society due to better environmental performance and the improvement of waste processing were the extracted latent constructs of the benefits derived. Even though they were not extremely high, the internal were more significant than the external benefits.

The subjective character of the data collected, the small size of the sample of the participating companies and their diversity with respect to their sector and size, are the main limitations of the present study. Future studies can use these limitations as suggestions for further research.

The latent constructs extracted through the analysis of the ISO 14001 motives, difficulties and benefits may encourage non‐certified companies to implement an Environmental Management System (EMS) according to ISO 14001. The ISO 14001 certified companies can focus on specific factors in order to strengthen their motivation, avoid difficulties, maximise benefits and consequently to improve their environmental management and performance.

This paper describes the underlying structure of the ISO 14001 motives, difficulties and benefits and determines the respective latent constructs.

To determine whether to entrust the European Union (EU) to create a new nonfinancial reporting framework or endorse the extant reporting framework developed by the Global Reporting Initiative (GRI), this study aims to explore whether the mandatory implementation of the EU Directive positively impacted the GRI-based environmental disclosure.

The authors compared the pre- and post-EU Directive environmental disclosure of 16 Italian environmentally sensitive companies. The authors used an extended coding scheme and developed a unique scoring system to compare the quantitative and qualitative changes in environmental disclosure.

The analysis showed that the quantity of environmental disclosure increased after the mandatory EU Directive adoption. The most significant change was observed regarding the disclosure topics explicitly required by the Italian legislature. Additionally, disclosure of soft information continued to prevail over that of hard information in the post-Directive period. While the Directive boosted the level of adherence to GRI standards, Italian companies disclosed information that could be easily mimicked (soft) instead of objective measures that could be verified (hard). In light of this evidence, the endorsement of extant GRI standards could be a valuable option for enhancing the comparability and transparency of environmental disclosure.

This study used an original extended coding system and proposed related environmental disclosure indexes that allow monitoring changes in environmental disclosure over time. To the authors’ best knowledge, this study is one of the few that justifies the significant impact of regulation (here the EU Directive) on the increase in environmental disclosure and that uses hard and soft information typology to examine the quality of environmental disclosure.