Abstract

Environmental accounting is full of models that may emanate from conceptualizations that are sometimes widely opposed, as the ‘outside-in’ models and ‘inside-out’ models (Richard, 2012; Burritt and Schaltegger, 2010). The former are often associated with environmental communication, while the latter involve the integration of the environment into the managers’ decision-making process. What is problematic beyond these distinctions is the motivation of the organizations to commit to such an approach, anticipating the impact of disclosure of their actions on stakeholders’ expectations, on regulation and on the benefits they can derive from (Gray and Laughlin, 2012). Models of environmental accounting (communication and management) can thus be distinguished by the commitment opportunities they offer to businesses.