毕 业 设 计（论文） 外 文 文 献 翻 译
文献、资料中文题目：环境会计
文献、资料英文题目：Environmental Accounting 文献、资料来源：
文献、资料发表（出版）日期： 院 （部）： 国际经济与贸易 专 业： 班 级： 姓 名： 学 号： 指导教师：
翻译日期： 2017.02.14
2013届本科毕业论文（设计）
外文文献及翻译
Environmental Accounting
Environmental Accounting
by Joy E. Hecht
Interest is growing in modifying national income accounting systems to promote understanding of the links between economy and environment.
The field of environmental accounting has made great strides in the past two decades, moving from a rather arcane endeavor to one tested in dozens of countries and well established in a few. But the idea that nations might integrate the economic role of the environment into their income accounts is neither a quick sell nor a quick process; it has been under discussion since the 1960s. Despite the difficulties and controversies described in this article, however, interest is growing in modifying national income accounting systems to promote understanding of the links between economy and environment.
Environmental accounting is underway in several dozen countries, where bureaucrats, statisticians, and other proponents both foreign and domestic have initiated activities over the past few decades. Several countries have made continuous
investments in building routine data systems, which are integrated into existing statistical systems and economic planning activities. Others have made more limited efforts to calculate a few indicators, or analyze a single sector. Some of the earliest research on environmental accounting was done at RFF by Henry Peskin, working on the design of accounts for the United States.
One of the first countries to build environmental accounts is Norway, which began collecting data on energy sources, fisheries, forests, and minerals in the 1970s to address resource scarcity. Over time, the Norwegians have expanded their accounts to include data on air pollutant emissions. Their accounts feed into a model of the national economy, which policymakers use to assess the energy implications of alternate growth strategies. Inclusion of these data also allows them to anticipate the impacts of different growth patterns on compliance with international conventions on pollutant emissions.
More recently, a number of resource-dependent countries have become interested in measuring depreciation of their natural assets and adjusting their GDPs environmentally. One impetus for their interest was the 1989 study “Wasting Assets: Natural Resources in the National Income Accounts,” in which Robert Repetto and his colleagues at the World Resources Institute estimated the depreciation of Indonesia’s forests, petroleum reserves, and soil assets. Once adjusted to account for that depreciation, Indonesia’s GDP and growth rates both sank significantly below conventional figures. While “Wasting Assets” called many to action, it also operated as a brake, leading many economists and statisticians to warn against a focus on green GDP, because it tells decision makers nothing about the causes or solutions for environmental problems.
Since that time, several developing countries have made long-term commitments to broad-based environmental accounting. Namibia began work on resource accounts in 1994, addressing such questions as whether the government has been able to capture rents from the minerals and fisheries sectors, how to allocate scarce water supplies, and how rangeland degradation affects the value of livestock.
The Philippines began work on environmental accounts in 1990. The approach used there is to build all economic inputs and outputs into the accounts, including non marketed goods and services of the environment. Thus Filipinos estimate monetary values for such items as gathered fuel wood and the waste disposal services provided by air, water, and land; they then add in direct consumption of such services as recreation and aesthetic appreciation of the natural world. While their methodology is controversial, these accounts have provided Philippine government agencies and researchers with a rich array of data for policymaking and analysis.
The United States has not been a leader in the environmental accounting arena. At the start of the Clinton administration, the Bureau of Economic Analysis (BEA) made a foray into environmental accounting in the minerals sector, but this preliminary attempt became embroiled in political controversy and faced opposition from the minerals industry. Congress then asked the National Research Council (NRC) to form a blue ribbon panel to consider what the nation should do in the way of environmental accounting. Since then, Congressional appropriations to BEA have been accompanied by an explicit prohibition on environmental accounting work. The
ban may be lifted, however, once the recommendations of the NRC study are made public.
How environmental accounting is being done varies in a number of respects, notably the magnitude of the investment required, the objectivity of the data, the ability to compare different kinds of environmental impacts, and the kinds of policy purposes to which they may be applied. Here are some of the methods currently in use.
Natural Resource Accounts. These include data on stocks of natural resources and changes in them caused by either natural processes or human use. Such accounts typically cover agricultural land, fisheries, forests, minerals and petroleum, and water. In some countries, the accounts also include monetary data on the value of such resources. But attempts at valuation raise significant technical difficulties. It is fairly easy to track the value of resource flows when the goods are sold in markets, as in the case of timber and fish. Valuing changes in the stocks, however, is more difficult because they could be the result either of a physical change in the resource or of a fluctuation in market price.
Green GDP. Developing a gross domestic product that includes the environment is also a matter of controversy. Most people actively involved in building environmental accounts minimize its importance. Because environmental accounting methods are not standardized, a green GDP can have a different meaning in each project that calculates it, so values are not comparable across countries. Moreover, while a green GDP can draw attention to policy problems, it is not useful for figuring out how to resolve them. Nevertheless, most accounting projects that include monetary values do calculate this indicator. Great interest in it exists despite its limitations.
Environmental accounting would receive a substantial boost if an international consensus could be reached on methodology. The UN Statistics Department has coordinated some of the ongoing efforts toward this end since the 1980s. In 1993, the UN published the System for Integrated Economic and Environmental Accounting (SEEA) as an annex to the 1993 revisions of the SNA. SEEA is structured as a series of methodological options, which include most of the different accounting activities described above; users choose the options most appropriate to their needs.
No consensus exists on the various methods that the UN recommended. In fact, SEEA is now undergoing revision by the so-called “London Group,” comprised primarily of national income accountants and statisticians from OECD countries. The group’s work will be an important step toward consensus on accounting methods, but the process will be lengthy: Development of the conventional SNA took some forty years.
A number of steps can be taken now toward the goal of ensuring that environmental accounting is as well established as the SNA. First, information must circulate freely about existing environmental accounts and how they are contributing to economic and environmental policy. Ongoing work needs to be identified and systematically reviewed and analyzed to learn lessons, which may inform the design and implementation of future accounting activities. The Green Accounting Initiative of the World Conservation Union has embarked on this effort, and a number of other organizations are calling for similar activities. Use of the World Wide Web may
facilitate access to unpublished work, although it will require a concerted effort to obtain accounting reports and seek permission to load them on the Internet.
Second, development of a core of internationally standardized methods will contribute to willingness to adopt environmental accounting. Experts in the field—including economists, environmentalists, academics, and others outside of the national statistical offices—should take a proactive role in tracking the work of the London Group and insist that the standard- setting process involve participants representing a spectrum of viewpoints, countries, and interested stakeholders. An opportunity exists for research institutes to take a lead in identifying the financial resources needed to facilitate a broader standard setting process, and to elicit a full range of voices to build a consensus on methodology.
Finally, and perhaps most importantly, the more countries institutionalize construction of environmental accounts, the greater the momentum for more of the same.
Still, building accounts—like developing any time series statistics—will not happen overnight. Their construction will require sustained institutional and financial commitment to ensure that the investment lasts long enough to yield results. But the experiences of Norway, Namibia, and the Philippines show that such a commitment can pay off; it is a commitment that more countries around the world need to make.
环境会计
by Joy E. Hecht
由利益增长改变国民收入核算制度以促进了解经济和环境之间的联系。 在过去的二十年间..环境会计领域取得了很大的进步.它从一个比较冷僻领域努力到现在已经是一个经几十个国家测试和多方面的完善的领域。 但是.国家有可能把环境的经济作用结合到国民收入账户中..这种既不是快速的卖空.也不是种快速的过程。自从20世纪60年代以来..这种想法已经被讨论。 尽管在这篇文章中面临重重困难和争议.但是.与日剧增的在国民收入核算制度中所产生的利益促进了我们对经济和环境直接关系的了解。
环境会计正在几十个国家中进行着.无论是国内还是国外的政府.统计人员和其他支持者已经在过去的数十年中开展了一些活动。有几个国家成功地在常规数据系统的建立上持续投资.并且合并到现有的统计制度和经济规划活动中。有的甚至用有限的能力来计算几个指标.或分析一个单一的部门。一些最早的研究环境会计工作是由亨利.帕斯金完成.他是为美国研究账户设计的。
挪威是第一批建立环境账户的国家.它从在20 世纪70 年代开始收集能源.渔业.森林和矿产的数据.来用说明资源的匮乏。长期以来.挪威已经扩大了其账户.把对空气污染物的排放量纳入其中。其账户以国民经济为模型.决策者可以用来评估对于能量交替增长决策的涵义。列入这些数据也使得他们可以预见不同的经济增长模型对遵守国际公约会对污染物的排放量的影响。
最近.一些资源依赖型国家对衡量他们的自然资产折旧产生了兴趣.并开始
调整他们环境的国内生产总值。1989年的研究报告\"消耗性资产.自然资源在国民收入账户\"是其中一个推动力。这份报告中.罗伯特雷佩托和他在世界资源研究所的同事们对印度尼西亚的森林.石油储量和土壤的资产进行折旧评估。一旦账户中的折旧量被校正好.印度尼西亚的国内生产总值和增长速度都将低于常规的数据。然而所谓许多行动中的“消耗性资产”.它起者一个闸的作用.导致许多经济学家和统计学家对于过分重视绿色国内生产总值发出警告.因为它没有告诉决策者任何关于环境问题的起因或者是解决方法。
那时以来.一些发展中国家已对基础广泛的环境会计作出了长期承诺。纳米比亚从1994年着手开始资源账户的工作.解决政府是否已经能够从矿产和渔业部门得到租金.如何分配稀少的食水供应.以及草场退化影响牲畜的价值等这种问题。
菲律宾在1990 年起开始致力于环境账户。所采用的办法是建立一切经济投入和产出账户.包括非市场商品和服务的环境。因而菲律宾人对收集的薪材和废物处臵.由空气.水.土地所提供的服务进行货币价值的估计.然后直接加入到服务消费行列中.因为它们是作为自然界的娱乐和审美的增值。然而.他们的思维方式是具争议性的.这些账户为供菲律宾政府机构和研究人员提供决策和分析所需的各种各样的数据。
但是在环境会计舞台.美国没有发挥着领导者的作用。在克林顿政府时期.经济分析局对矿产部门发起了环境会计的进军.但是这个初步的尝试卷入政治争议.同时面临着矿物制品制造业的反对。然后.国会要求国家研究委员会形成一个蓝丝带小组来考虑国家应该用什么方式来做环境会计.自那时起.美国国会拨款给经济分析局.但在次之前.他们一直明确禁止经济分析局进行环境会计工作。现在这项禁令可能被取消.不过.这些对国家研究委员会的建议是要向公众公布。
在考虑不同的方面时.环境会计有着不同的计算方法.特别是需要得到巨额的投资.客观的数据能力来比较不同种环境的影响以及各种政策的目的时它们可以适用。这里有些目前正在使用的方法。
自然资源账户.它包括自然资源存储数据和由自然或人为使用造成的变化的数据。这种账户通常覆盖农业用地.渔业.森林.矿产.石油和水。在一些国家.该账户还包括这些资源的金融价值数据.但是在尝试计算中遇到了重大的技术难题。当货物在市场中出售.这是相当容易去追踪价值的资源流动.同样地.木材和鱼类也适用。但是.计算库存地变化是比较困难地.因为它们可能是由一方资源的自然变化或者是波动的市场价格造成的。
绿色国内生产总值.发展包括环境的国内生产总值是一个备受争议的事情。大多数人都积极参与建设环境账户使它的重要性减到最小。因为环境核算方法不规范.一个绿色国内生产总值在每个项目计算上可以有不同的意义.因此价值观在国家之间是不具有可比性。此外.虽然一个绿色国内生产总值可以提请大家注意政策问题.但是它对于如何解决这些问题没有很大用处。然而大多数的会计项目包括货币价值用这一指标来做计算.尽管它存在局限性.但是还是存在着极大的利益。
如果国际上能协商一致.环境会计将得到强有力的帮助。联合国统计署已自20世纪80年代已在为此做出的努力并取得一定成果。在1993年..联合国公布将综合经济与环境会计.SEEA.作为附件对国民核算体系进行修订。SEEA的结构安排了一系列的备选方法.其中包括大部分在上述提到过的会计活动;使用者可选择最适合他们需要的一种。
在联合国所建议的各种方法不存在公众舆论。事实上.SEEA现在正在进行由所谓的\"伦敦小组\"提出的修改.主要是由来自经济合作与发展组织国家的国民收
入的会计和统计人员组成的。该小组的工作一个重要步骤将是对会计处理方法的达成一定的共识.但这一进程将是漫长..发展传统的国民核算体系用了四十年。
对于朝着确保环境核算以及国民核算体系被确立为目标的努力.现在若干步骤可以被采取。首先.对现有环境账户和它们是如何促进经济和环境政策的相关信息必须自由流通。为了吸取经验教训.对于现在正在进行的工作需要加以确认和系统地回顾分析.这可为设计和执行未来的审计活动提供信息。世界自然保护联盟已着手关于绿色会计的倡议这方面努力.它和其他一些组织都呼吁类似的活动。利用万维网上可方便获取未发表的工作.虽然这将需要协调一致的努力.以取得会计报告.并寻求批准把他们装载在因特网上。
第二.发展的一个以国际标准化为核心的方法将有助于大家采用环境会计的意愿。该领域的专家包括经济学家.环保人士.学者和其他人的国家统计办公室等.应采取积极主动的作用.在追踪伦敦小组的工作时坚持标准制定过程中涉及参与的国家和利害攸关者代表的一系列观点。它为科研院所以率先采取行动找出所需要的财政资源以促进更广泛的标准制定过程.并争取全方位的声音.以就方法论建立共识。
最后.可能也是最重要的是.更多的国家将建设的环境账户制度化.以更大的动力达成更多相同观点。还有.建立账户不是一朝一夕的事。其建立将需要持久的体制和财政承诺以确保投资持续时间长而足以显出成效。但有丰富经验的挪威.纳米比亚.菲律宾表明.这种承诺可以实现.它也是需要更多的国家在世界做出的承诺。
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