Research on the Status of China's Environmental Accounting

Abstract. Despite the worldwide environmental accounting research has been going on for a very long time， but so far， China's research on environmental accounting is still in its infancy， and hasn't not form a complete， scientific， feasible accounting system. This article describes the basic theory of environmental accounting， the current situation and problems of the development of China's environment accounting， analyzes the causes， finally， put forward some suggestions on the development of China's environmental accounting.

Keywords： Environmental accounting， status， Problems， Suggestions

1. Introduction

With the rapid development of economic， a host of resources and environmental issues become increasingly prominent， extreme weather phenomena emerges， environmental protection and ecological construction increasingly face a lot of challenges and people pay more attention to environmental issues. china has also put forward the scientific concept of development， actively promoting and implementing energy conservation， the concept of sustainable development is also widely promoted. At the macro level， the voice of green GDP is increasing； At the micro level， enterprises as a major player in the world economy， its daily production activities have an impact on the environment which is particularly important for environmental protection， stakeholders also begin to pay close attention to the use of environmental resources and the investment， and the resulting impact on the environment and the impact of corporate profits. In this case， the accounting profession combines the concept of environmental protection gradually， forming environmental accounting.

2. Basic theory of environmental accounting

2.1 The definition of environmental accounting

From the early 1990s， domestic and foreign scholars have attempted to define environmental accounting， so far the environmental accounting still has no uniform definition， generally be summed up as： Environmental accounting is a product of sustainable economic development， a new branch in the accounting field， inherits the basic theories， principles and methods of accounting and absorbs environmental science， environmental economics theory， development economics and other disciplines， reflecting and controlling company's environmental activities and economic activities related to the environment.

2.2 The basic assumption of environmental accounting

Accounting assumptions also known as the premise of accounting， refers to making reasonable hypotheses or assumptions， in a particular economic environment， about matters which are not definite in the field of accounting according to previous accounting practice and theory. Because environmental accounting is a branch of accounting， therefore the basic assumption of environmental accounting is based on assumptions of traditional accounting， and according to its own characteristic， to extend the connotation and denotation. Specifically speaking it can be divided into： accounting entity assumption， going concern assumption， accounting period assumption， and multiple metering assumptions.

2.3 Recognition and measurement of environmental accounting elements

2.3.1 Recognition of environmental accounting elements

Accounting elements refer to the basic elements of the financial statements of the enterprise. "Enterprise Accounting Standards" of china divides the accounting elements into six accounting elements： assets， liabilities， equity， revenues， expenses and profits.

2.3.2 Measurement of environmental accounting elements

Accounting measurement includes units of measurement ， attributes of measurement and patterns of measurement these three aspects. Since the scarcity， alternative， utility and non-trading of environmental accounting elements， here we need to use monetary units as the main unit of measurement， combined with the use of physical units.

3. The status quo and problems of China's

accounting environment

3.1 The status quo of China's accounting environment

Chinese research on environmental accounting， began in 1992， Professor Ge jiashu published the paper of "Talk of a new trend of Western accounting theory - green accounting theory." on "Accounting Research". But at first， this did not cause environmental accounting research attention in academia. Until the late 1990s， after the 21st century， with the growing deterioration of the environment， concept of sustainable development has become deeply rooted， and then environmental accounting has gradually become a hot research. Throughout these 20 years of environmental accounting’s development in China， we can find that environmental accounting research in China has experienced a gradual deepening process.

3.2 The problems of China's accounting environment

3.2.1 Laws and regulations of environmental accounting are unsound

3.2.2 Environmental accounting system is imperfect， lack of sound environmental information disclosure system

3.2.3 The study of environmental accounting theory and practical operation are not yet mature

3.2.4 Community supervision is weak

3.3 Reasons of China's environmental accounting problems

Throughout the history of the world， we can find that， we can find that， although compared to our country， developed countries’ environment is relatively good， these countries also faced serious environmental problems when they entered the industrialization era. Environmental issues have become the inevitable problems in the road of industrialization for every country.

It is nearly 70 years from the founding of China to now， and the economy has made great progress， but compared with other countries， this progress is great while time is very short， which makes the contradiction between economy and resources is increasingly sharpened. In addition， due to the vast land， abundant natural resources， so in the early stages of economic development， the Chinese people do not realize that resources are non-renewable and scarce. Extensive economic growth pattern makes rapid economic growth with waste of resources， environmental damage and other issues. They did not begin to pay attention to this problem until it had accumulated to a certain extent， and by this time the environment usually has suffered a large degree of damage. Until recent years， environmental issues get people's attention gradually， the Chinese government put forward "sustainable development" and other concepts， concerns the protection of the environment from a national perspective， which makes environmental accounting began to develop gradually.

4. Suggestions on the development of China’s environmental accounting

4.1 Reference to foreign experience in environmental accounting

Throughout the situation of environmental accounting in North America， Europe and other Asian countries， we can find the development of environmental accounting in these countries are inseparable from the support of related government departments. For the study of environmental accounting， governments and relevant departments have full play to their respective functions， and actively encourage research on environmental accounting， and issued a series of laws and regulations， specifically the requirements of environmental protection. Once find the existence of corporate behavior in violation of laws and regulations on environmental protection， and then strict punitive measures would be taken. This makes companies faced with potential risk which can threaten their own continuing operations， forcing them to face up to environmental protection， to take measures to improve the environment. We can say that the relevant government departments of respective countries have played an irreplaceable role in the development of national environmental accounting.

In addition， each accounting professional group has also contributed a lot of power to the study of environmental accounting.

4.2 Strengthen the awareness of environmental protection in all sectors of society

To develop environmental accounting requires the participation of the community， first of all， we should strengthen the awareness of environmental protection in all sectors of society.

For government departments， they should put an end to the phenomenon that government officials' wrong achievements view that blindly emphasized economic development while ignoring environment. Government officials must conscientiously implement the "scientific concept of development" concept， not only to realize the importance of environmental protection， but also to support environmental protection in practice.

Enterprises as the main body of environmental accounting practices， also need to realize that carry out environmental protection actively can benefit themselves a lot， not only can make enterprises avoid fines and other expenses caused by environmental pollution， but also beneficial to the long-term development of enterprises.

Although there are many environmental non-governmental organizations， but the concept of environmental protection is not popular. Therefore， we must build public awareness of environmental protection， to strengthen the popularity and depth of the concept of environmental protection， using the pressure of public opinion， force enterprises to face their own environmental issues and resolved them properly and actively.

4.3 Establish and improve relevant laws and regulations for environmental protection

Slow development of China's environmental accounting has a great relationship with the slow construction of laws and regulations relating to environmental protection in China. Until now， China has issued a series of laws and regulations on environmental protection， having the overall general requirements and the corresponding penalties in environmental protection. But with regard to many detail aspects， the requirements are not very clear， there are often ambiguous place. This makes some companies use vague law places to get its own interests more easily， it is not favorable to environmental protection work. In addition， the punitive enforcement is usually not enough when the enterprises harm the environment， laws and regulations for environmental protection do not play their due effects fully. It also makes enterprises do not clearly feel the pressure caused by environmental issues， encouraging more enterprises to ignore environmental protection and the collection and disclosure of environmental information. Enterprises are the key to the development of environmental accounting， if the enterprises are lack of motivation， the research on environmental accounting will be greatly affected. Therefore， we should actively improve relevant laws and regulations on environmental protection， strengthen law enforcement authorities.

4.4 Supplement and improve the "Accounting Law"， "Enterprise Accounting Standards"

Although some of our companies have begun to try to apply environmental accounting， but there are still a number of controversial issues about the basic theory of environmental accounting， environmental accounting cost and the disclosure mode of environmental accounting information etc.， and there is no uniform standard， not to mention environment accounting is written into law， in such an legal norm. Then in the actual establishment of environmental accounting system， the enterprises have no law to refer to. Enterprises can do whatever they want for their own interests. Therefore， China should learn from foreign accounting profession existing laws and guidelines related to environmental accounting， combined with China's actual situation， refer to the existing "Accounting Law"， "Enterprise Accounting Standards"， to establish environmental accounting methods and environmental accounting information disclosure mode which are in line with China's national conditions， to supplement and improve the existing "Accounting Law"， "enterprise Accounting Standards"， clearly defined the methods of recognition and measurement of environmental accounting elements and the disclosure mode of environmental accounting information， leading enterprises’ environmental accounting operations more standardized and more unified， proving the quality of environmental information disclosed by enterprises， making the information is comparable， then it will be more convenient for the public and investors to supervise these enterprises.

4.5 Establish the auditing system of environmental accounting

The development of accounting is inseparable from auditing， so the development of environmental accounting is equally inseparable from auditing. Auditing as a third party overseer， can ensure the authenticity of environmental accounting information and the quality of environmental information disclosed. We can establish an environmental audit system， national auditing as the guide， social auditing as a backbone and internal audit as an important safeguard. To audit the environmental accounting information disclosed by enterprises， and to ensure the disclosure of enterprises' environmental accounting information is true， complete， comprehensive， reasonable and legitimate， to ensure the quality of environmental information.

5. Conclusion

In recent years， environmental issues have become a hot topic， environmental protection has become one of the main works of many national governments， which requires long-term planning as well as the various departments participate actively in various fields. Accounting as the core of work of the company， by permeating environmental protection and sustainable development concept， can make the enterprise to make some contribution to environmental protection. Thus， environmental protection issues and accounting discipline combined with an emerging generation - Environmental Accounting. From the point of view of the world， research on environment accounting in many countries have formed a certain system， and start the application in practice， while China is still stuck in the primary phase of the study. Therefore， China can learn the experience from foreigners， selective use their experience of study on environmental accounting into China's environmental accounting.

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