Ethical Considerations of Environmental Disclosures:A Case Study of Kemira Oyj, Finland

Accounting is frequently described and recognized as the language of business because theexternal financial reporting function is extensively used as a principal means of communicatingresults of corporate economic activity to interested external parties. However, deficiencies withrespect to the usefulness of the traditional accounting-type information have been increasinglynoted and commented on. A possible explanation for this is that generally accepted accountingprinciples and the conceptual frameworks for the external financial reporting function that havebeen developed so far in various accounting jurisdictions have promoted the dominance ofinvestor/creditor interest groups. The operational models subsequently developed from theseframeworks focus on often narrowly defined, easily quantifiable financial-type impacts, veryoften ignoring potentially important economic events that are not directly and immediatelyquantifiable in monetary terms. This case study of a Finnish chemical company, Kemira Oyj,critically examines one company’s recent attempts to address this problem via the medium ofenvironmental reporting in response to the increasing demand for disclosures on the impact ofcorporate operations on the environment.[...]