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Scientists are constructing knowledge about global warming by adapting evidence-based disciplines to reflect the Precautionary Principle. It is equally important to communicate the complexities and uncertainties underpinning global warming because inappropriate vehicles for giving accounts could result in defensive decisions that perpetuate the business-as-usual mindset: the method of communication affects how the risk associated with global warming is socialised. Appropriately constructed accounts should facilitate reflective communicative action. Here Beck's theorisation of risk society, Luhmann's sociological theory of risk and Gandhi's vehicle of communicative action (or satyagraha) are used to construct a risk-based accountability mechanism, whilst providing insight into Schumacher's concept of total accountability. These accountability constructs will be illustrated through the lived experiences of South Australian citrus horticulturists in the context of a richly layered narrative of competing discourses about global warming. The reiterative process of theory informing practice is used to construct a couple of dialogical vehicles of accountability.

This paper explores through Schumacher's perspective on ‘the proper use of land’: the reasons for, and the means and consequences of, monitoring soil condition in managing agricultural landscapes sustainably. This particular perspective illustrates its argument with soil monitoring initiatives operating at various scales within the global agricultural context. Schumacher's land management goals are health, beauty and permanence, yet productivity is the goal most land managers focus on. The chosen indicators for soil monitoring need to reflect these goals. Hence, the indicators of choice for monitoring soil condition are attributes that can be: easily measured, improve soil productivity or protect the soil. Often attributes that have intrinsic ‘beauty’ (value), maintain ‘health’ (function) in ecosystems and are difficult to measure are ignored as soil condition indicators. The usefulness of information gained through monitoring soil condition is to make decisions that will be relevant for varied audiences and at different points in the decision-making process.

The Pacific Alliance (PA) arose from a project for economic integration and strategic cooperation between the four member countries – Mexico, Chile, Peru, and Colombia – with the hope of driving competitiveness in the region through specialized production and exportation of assets, and to an extent consolidating them, which would have a strong impact on the process of regional integration within Latin America. Considering this, the purpose of this chapter is to review the current economic scene for regional integration that promotes competition in the countries of the PA. A documentary and statistical investigation are carried out and presented to show the primary advances of the PA in different economic and strategic areas that propel competition among its member countries. The primary findings show that there are economic and commercial indicators that encourage the achievement of a unified perspective and stability between these member countries, which allows for more competitiveness with regard to economic and commercial development in other blocks or alliances. Today, the PA shows itself as an innovative process that seeks and promises to change the economic relations of both the countries involved in it and the region in general, which is the reason for the dynamism shown in decision making and the interest in the international community. It is concluded that the PA responds to the shared interests of the four member countries while being more competitive to take advantage of any opportunities that appear from the opening and incursion of new international markets.

Schumacher recognized that we separate the economic system from natural and social systems at our peril. Following Schumacher's alternative “economics,” my purpose is to understand economics differently by engaging alternative ways of perceiving and knowing. Can we conceive of an economics that embodies the requisite social and environmental values, and can the associated accountings hold the responsible actors justly accountable? I compare the premises and characteristics of Schumacher's Buddhist economics with the prevailing neoclassical formulations, illustrating the narrowness of the current perspective and highlighting the critical issues. I consider the Social and Environmental Accounting project and the extent to which it has been, and potentially will be, able to move accounting, business, and society toward a more holistic conceptualization of accounting and accountability. Assimilating the two economic perspectives in developing a more holistic and integrated accounting is offered as a path to consider on our journey toward an accounting “as if people mattered.”

Based on the poll’s results, the financial services sector is now on the edge of a digital revolution. Financial institutions are undergoing a period of radical change due to technological advancements in the digital sphere. The widespread use of cutting-edge digital technologies in the real world has accelerated the shift from the conventional economy to the digital economy. Total operational risk as a percentage of total bank capital was 0.65%, which is below the minimum permitted figure. This metric allows for the diversification of company risks. This chapter proposes a novel, future-oriented strategy for studying financial crises, expanding the digital transformation research agenda across disciplines. Accordingly, the authors simulated the study object’s operational risk using an optimal approach to measurements (AMA) in accordance with Basel II (Santander Bank). The study’s findings enabled the authors to determine whether or not the value was necessary for Santander Bank to bear in the next years by calculating the overall value of operational risks and evaluating the indicator’s acceptability relative to the bank’s capital.