The development of green accounting in China is inseparable from the development of international green accounting. Analyzing the current situation of international green accounting is helpful to clarify the problems existing in the development of green accounting in China and find out the gap.
A large number of data and figures show that although there is no special green accounting standard in the world at present, the development of green accounting in many countries has developed from theoretical research to practical operation, and the environmental situation is also reflected in accounting information. For example, Norway requires the company's board of directors to disclose the impact of enterprises on the environment and the measures taken by enterprises in the annual report; The US Securities and Exchange Commission requires companies that publicly issue shares to disclose all their environmental liabilities; In Brazil, investment in environmental protection must be reported in the report of the board of directors. If an enterprise cannot solve environmental problems and its sustainable operation is affected, it should be listed as contingent liabilities to be revealed; In the Netherlands, all expenses related to environmental protection measures can be deducted from taxable income. In recent years, the United States, Canada and the Nordic countries in Western Europe have also carried out research on environmental accounting information disclosure and gradually applied it to practice.
Compared with foreign countries, the research of green accounting has developed vertically to environmental accounting standards and systems, while the research of green accounting in China is still in the exploratory stage and has not yet formed a complete theoretical system and stereotyped practice mode.
The research on green accounting in China began in the 1980s, and was originally put forward as a part of social responsibility accounting, but it was not paid attention to in the accounting field at that time. Until the 1990s, with the increasing attention of our government to environmental issues and the further awakening of public awareness of environmental protection, the research on green accounting became increasingly active. However, the establishment and improvement of China's environmental accounting is not a temporary achievement, but also needs a long development process. China's green accounting is in its infancy both in practice and in theory, and there are still many problems in the development of China's green accounting.
Through consulting and studying a large number of materials, I think the problems existing in the development of green accounting in China mainly include the following points:
First of all, the laws and regulations of green accounting are not perfect.
From the institutional point of view, there is still a lack of operational green accounting standards. Although China has promulgated some laws and regulations on environmental protection, such as the Environmental Protection Law, the Water Pollution Prevention Law, the Air Pollution Prevention Law, the Solid Waste Pollution Prevention Law and the Administrative Measures for the Recognition of Comprehensive Utilization of Resources Encouraged by the State, there is still a big gap with the legislative level of advanced countries in the world, and the lax enforcement in China sometimes makes the original effective laws weak. Moreover, China's punishment for enterprises that damage the environment is too light, and the profits obtained by enterprises at the expense of the environment are more than enough to make up for the punishment suffered by enterprises, which is also the reason why environmental damage is repeatedly prohibited. At present, some enterprises in China have realized the importance of green accounting and have the motivation to disclose environmental information, but there is no mandatory requirement for enterprises to disclose environmental information in China, which makes most enterprises not voluntarily disclose green accounting information, let alone disclose environmental information that is unfavorable to them. Unfortunately, the research on green accounting still stays on the research of scholars, and no operational accounting standards have been formed, which can not meet the requirements of enterprise practice.
Second, the theory and practice of green accounting are still far from perfect.
From the research point of view, a scientific, reasonable, systematic and complete green accounting theory and method system in line with China's national conditions has not yet been established. China's current laws and regulations guiding enterprise accounting and reporting practices are mainly formulated by the Ministry of Finance and the China Securities Regulatory Commission, including accounting standards, general financial rules, industry accounting systems and financial systems issued by the Ministry of Finance and information disclosure rules and standards issued by the China Securities Regulatory Commission. Generally speaking, these laws, regulations and corresponding corporate accounting and reporting practices basically do not involve environmental issues. However, in practice, most enterprises are confused in the confirmation and measurement of green accounting, and their attitude towards the publication of environmental information is not high, comprehensive and incomparable.
China didn't come into contact with green accounting until 1990s, so there is a certain gap between China and foreign countries in the depth of research. At the same time, China lacks systematic research on green accounting, so after years of development, it has not yet formed a system, and most of them are still learning from the advanced achievements of foreign research.
Third, the research content is not systematic, and the research results have no practical guiding significance.
The establishment of green accounting is a systematic project. As a complete system, green accounting theory needs to consider the relationship and influence of various factors. Judging from the existing achievements, most papers only pay attention to one aspect of green accounting theory, and there are few achievements in studying green accounting theory as a system and whole. A considerable number of scholars in the study of green accounting, after writing one or two articles, do not discuss, can not conduct in-depth research or systematic research on a certain issue, in terms of research methods, there are more normative research articles and less empirical research articles.
Judging from the current research content of environmental accounting, most scholars pay more attention to the theoretical research of green accounting theory, such as the objectives, objects and basic assumptions of environmental accounting, while it is rare to apply the technical methods of other disciplines to the operational problems of green accounting practice. In addition, the research on the rules of green accounting system is also very weak, which makes the practice of environmental accounting irregular and hinders the development of green accounting.
Fourth, stakeholders have few requirements and the disclosure is not standardized.
From the physical point of view, enterprises have not established a complete environmental accounting information system, and the information disclosure of enterprise environmental reports is seriously insufficient, lacking comparability and reliability. There are few green accounting subjects set by enterprises, and the valuation of environmental liabilities is low. The accounting response of enterprises to environmental expenditure and environmental benefits is obviously insufficient. Taking temporary or sudden environmental protection expenditure as an example, the actual occurrence rate is about 75%, but the actual independent accounting rate of enterprises is only 18%. Enterprises are lucky about the contingencies that constitute environmental liabilities, so undervalued environmental liabilities will greatly increase the financial risks of enterprises.
The information that green accounting should disclose mainly includes: environmental costs, environmental liabilities and specific accounting policies related to environmental costs and liabilities. At present, the confirmation and measurement of environmental factors in China is still in the stage of further discussion, which is equivalent to not laying a good foundation for Chinese enterprises to really implement green accounting.
Five, the staff level is limited, lack of relevant knowledge.
Although China is already a world economic power, the professional level and quality of accountants are not comparable to the speed of economic development, and the proportion of high-quality and highly educated accountants is low. Due to the influence of traditional accounting and traditional education, the knowledge structure of most accounting practitioners is unbalanced, and the accumulation and renewal of knowledge can't keep up with the development and changes of economic environment. Although there are some differences between professional accountants, green accounting, as a new branch of accounting, is mainly studied by professional scholars. There is no systematic and perfect theory for accountants to learn, and there are no laws and regulations to follow, which leads to few talents who know green accounting in enterprises, which has become an obstacle for China enterprises to implement green accounting.
Sixth, society and enterprises pay insufficient attention to it.
Compared with foreign countries, China pays far less attention to the environment. Take Australia as an example, there are many energy-saving measures in China: hotel bathrooms are divided into semi-flushing and full-flushing, and the water tank structure is slightly modified to save a lot of water; Street trees are covered with sawdust, and water accumulates after the rain, but there is no wind and no sand. Residents will consciously implement the environmental protection laws and regulations formulated by the state. The main reason for the gap is that China's environmental awareness has not yet formed, and the general neglect of society has given enterprises the opportunity to speculate.
At present, the social environment for implementing green accounting in China has not yet formed, and the environmental legislation is not perfect. The current situation in China is that there is still a lack of relatively perfect environmental supervision measures, and the society generally ignores environmental protection and only pays attention to the economic interests of enterprises. Conceptually, the moral concept of corporate environmental responsibility has not really formed, and there is a lack of understanding of the important role of green accounting in establishing and perfecting China's environmental information disclosure system. Even some enterprises, driven by interests, wantonly consume resources and destroy the ecological environment. In actual production, there are conflicts between local development and overall environmental protection, and the requirements of all sectors of society for enterprises to disclose environmental information are not urgent enough, which leads enterprises to urgently demand the implementation of green accounting.
Suggestions for improvement:
First, establish green accounting standards and improve relevant legal systems.
Green accounting mainly takes enterprises as the accounting subject, accounting for the social responsibility of enterprises to social resources and environment. Enterprises cannot fully and truly reveal their own interests. Therefore, relevant government departments and social intermediary agencies should review and identify the rationality, legality, comprehensiveness and authenticity of green accounting information of enterprises according to the relevant national laws and regulations on environmental protection and the relevant accounting laws and regulations, and supervise enterprises in administrative management and special environmental audit, so as to urge enterprises to strengthen environmental awareness, make environmental protection a positive behavior of enterprises and strengthen environmental accounting information disclosure. Strengthen the supervision of green accounting through specialized agencies, win the trust of the people, and strengthen national macro-control.
(A) improve the "Accounting Law"
Accounting law is the highest criterion of accounting work. Writing green accounting and supervision into accounting law undoubtedly determines its position and function in legal form, and it is also the most powerful means to put accounting theory into practice.
The natural environment is an important resource of the national economy. Both natural persons and legal persons have the right to use the environment and the obligation to protect it. If the law stipulates that enterprises must give corresponding compensation to the infringed, then compensation will inevitably lead to the outflow of economic interests of enterprises. In this way, the consequences of corporate environmental behavior should be incorporated into the accounting system, and the legitimacy, authenticity and fairness of corporate environmental matters should be truly reflected through financial reports. Therefore, we should further improve the accounting law and environmental laws and regulations, so that the content of green accounting in enterprises can be incorporated into the accounting law, which is the fundamental legal guarantee for the implementation of green accounting.
(B) improve accounting standards
Accounting standards are binding norms for accounting work, and incorporating environmental content into accounting elements will become the content that must be disclosed, which will effectively prevent the evasive behavior of relevant departments and units. The contents that enterprises are required to disclose: first, the environmental protection measures and plans of enterprises with environmental problems; Second, the environmental emission targets set by enterprises and how enterprises treat these targets; Third, the extent to which environmental protection measures taken according to government laws and regulations are realized according to government requirements, the impact of environmental protection measures on the current capital expenditure and profit and loss of enterprises and the impact on the future; Fourth, the figures, capitalization figures and amortization of environmental recurrent expenditure.
(C) the establishment of a green accounting system
The green accounting system is designed according to the relevant environmental principles stipulated in accounting standards, which makes green accounting operable and easy for accountants to master.
Two, the establishment of specialized agencies to develop green accounting, strengthen theoretical research.
To start the preparatory work of implementing green accounting, we must establish institutions, study theories and determine standards. China Green Accounting Research Association will be composed of many experts in this field to strengthen the theoretical research and implementation of green accounting, narrow the gap between China and the world, and change the passive position of China's economic development. It is suggested that the Ministry of Finance should take the lead, and the Chinese Accounting Society and the China Association of Chief Financial Officers should be responsible for setting up a professional research institution integrating economy, environment, resources and accounting management as soon as possible, connecting with similar international research, forming a unified green measurement standard, studying and discussing green accounting theory, natural resource cost, environmental impact cost, product market rules and legal system changes, intensifying theoretical research and implementation, and strengthening the research on green accounting system to create green accounting research in China.
Third, establish the concept of green accounting in enterprises.
The ultimate goal of green accounting is to achieve a comprehensive harvest of economic, environmental and social benefits of enterprises. Improve the environmental awareness of enterprises, make environmental protection a conscious behavior of enterprises, and create a good subjective and objective environment for the implementation of green accounting. Only when enterprises pursue the maximization of their own interests, rationally develop and utilize natural resources, and strengthen the effective protection of the environment can they truly realize the ultimate goal of green accounting and make enterprises pursue the harmonious and sustainable development of economic benefits and social needs.
Fourth, improve the quality of accountants and train professional accountants?
Green accounting is an interdisciplinary applied discipline including accounting, environmental science, ecological economics and sustainable development science. It requires users not only to have the basic theories and methods of green accounting, but also to have knowledge of related disciplines that intersect with it. As far as the quality of most domestic accountants is concerned, it is obviously not enough. First of all, starting with the most basic green education and concept training, we should change students' curriculum structure and school teaching methods, add green accounting and auditing courses in colleges and universities, and promote and teach green accounting as a professional course in order to improve accounting students' green accounting concept and practical operation ability. Secondly, we should constantly improve the quality of enterprise accountants. On the one hand, it is necessary for enterprise accountants to fully understand the basic theories and methods of green accounting and related knowledge of interdisciplinary subjects, so as to strictly implement the relevant national environmental policies and correctly carry out green accounting practice. On the other hand, we should give full play to the subjective initiative of accountants, encourage them to find and solve problems in practice, modify or expand the objectives of green accounting, and further improve the theory of green accounting in China.
Five, expand the publicity and education of green accounting.
The establishment and implementation of green accounting is not only an accounting problem, but also a complex environmental and social problem, which is of great significance to the sustainable development of society. We can neither pursue economic benefits at the expense of the environment, nor give up economic development in order to protect the environment. Therefore, it must be highly valued by the state administrative department and the whole society. Through social propaganda, the implementation of green accounting is regarded as a systematic social project, the education of basic knowledge of environmental protection in schools is strengthened, environmental knowledge courses are added in primary and secondary schools, and relevant publications are established. Enhance the environmental awareness of the whole people. In addition to publicizing the environmental significance to the whole people, it is also necessary to educate and train the decision makers, managers and engineers of existing enterprises in the basic knowledge of green accounting.
In addition, combined with China's national conditions, we can carry out pilot work in mature areas, select typical enterprises or departments in a parallel way, based on the original account that does not count environmental resources losses, supplemented by the green account that records resources and environmental losses. Under the contrast of the two kinds of accounting, enterprises and decision makers can realize the importance of green accounting, constantly improve the green accounting system in practice, and then gradually expand the scope of operation.