环境成本外文翻译.docx
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环境成本外文翻译.docx
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环境成本外文翻译
外文文献翻译译文
原文:
EnvironmentalCosts
Today,theimportanceoftheenvironmentiswidelyrecognizedbycompanies.Withanincreaseinenvironmentallegislation,corporationsrealizethattheyhavetofactortheenvironmentintotheireverydaymanagementdecisions.However,becausesomecorporationsaretoofocusedonearningsandfinancialcosts,theimpactoftheiroperationsontheenvironmentcanonlybetakenintoaccountifitisquantifiedindollarterms—thisissignificantsinceenvironmentalcostsareoftengrosslyunderestimated.Accordingtoa2006StatisticCanadastudy,Canadianfirmsareestimatedtohavespentatotalof$8.6billiononenvironmentalprotection,including44percentforcapitalexpendituresand56percentforoperatingexpenditures.Thisunderestimationisduetowidespread“hidden”costs.Inastudypublishedin2001,U.S.researcherrevealedthatforeverydollarofenvironmentalcostsidentifiedassuchbycompanies,therewerehiddenenvironmentalcostsof$10.Companiescan’tmanagewhattheycan’tmeasure;therefore,theyneedtomeasuretheirenvironmentalcostsinordertomanageandreducethem;orperhaps,turnenvironmentalmanagementintoastrategicadvantage.
Whattoincludeinenvironmentalcosts
Thefirstchallengeishowtodefineenvironmentalcosts.OnesolutionistouseaclassificationdevelopedbytheUnitedStatesEnvironmentalProtectionAgencyin1995.Thisclassificationmakesadistinctionbetweeninternalcosts(bornebyacompany)andexternalcosts(assumedbysocietyasawhole,butgeneratedbythecompany’soperations).Internalcostsincludeconventionalcosts(e.g.,directandindirectmaterials,energy,etc.),potentiallyhiddencosts(e.g.,siteinvestigationandpreparation,audit,disclosureofinformation,follow-upofdata,etc.),potentialcosts(e.g.,penalties,fines,legalfees,etc.)andcostsrelatedtocorporateimageandrelationships(e.g.,reputation,campaigntoinfluenceperceptions,etc.).Moreover,externalcostsrefertoenvironmentaldegradationandtoadverseimpactsforhumanbeings,theirpropertyandtheirwelfare.Thereisadebateaboutwhetherornotexternalcostsshouldbepartofcorporacostmanagement.However,morestringentregulationsintermsofenvironmentalliabilityareincreasinglyinternalizingcoststhathaveheretoforebeenconsideredexternal.Thisdistinctionbetweeninternalandexternalcostsiscrucialtomeasuringenvironmentalcosts.
Life-cyclecosting,environmentalbalance,full-costaccounting,total-costaccountingandactivity-basedcostingarecostingmethodsusedbycompanies.Thesemethodsarenotmutuallyexclusiveandanumberofparametersarecommontoseveralmethods.
Life-cyclecosting
Life-cyclecostingisbasedonamoreglobalapproachoflife-cycleanalysis.Therearetwomajormethodsbasedonaproduct’slifecycle,e.g.fromresearchanddevelopmenttodisposal(the“cradletograve”approach)oritsreuse/recyclingbytheproducer(the“cradletocradle”orC2Capproach),takingintoaccountfactorssuchastransportation.Life-cycleanalysis,amethodrecognizedbyISO14000standards,consistsinanalyzingeachandeveryflowofinputandoutputmaterialsforeachproduct.Morespecifically,inenvironmentalterms,thisapproachanalyzestheactualandpotentialimpactsoftheseflowsontheenvironment.Assuch,itincludesthreestages:
(i)aninventoryofallflowsrelatedtoenergy,water,rawmaterials,airandemissions;(ii)afollow-upofthequalitativeorquantitativemeasureoftheinducedenvironmentalimpact;and(iii)aninterpretationoftheresultsandanassessmentofopportunitiesforreducingenvironmentalimpacts.Thisapproachonlymakesitpossibletoincludeenvironmentalimpacts,andnotenvironmentalcosts.
Life-cyclecostingrecognizestheenvironmentalcostsgeneratedbyacompanythroughoutaproduct’slifecycle,usingtwotypesofanalysisjointly(onaweightedorunweightedbasis)orindividually:
(i)thefinanciallife-cyclecostthatdiscountsmonetaryimpactsfromtheenvironmenttothefirm,and(ii)theenvironmentallife-cyclecostthatmonetizesallenvironmentalimpactsthatwereidentifiedduringthelife-cycleanalysis,e.g.,impairedresources.Life-cyclecostingdemonstratesthatcostscanbeseveraltimeshigherthaninvestmentsoveraproduct’slifecycle.Thismakeslife-cyclecostingespeciallyrelevantforproductswithalonglifespanorwithrelativelyhighoperatingcosts,suchasrealestateandhighways.Inaddition,thediscountingofcosts,e.g.therecognitionoftime,makesitpossibletocomparethecostsoftwoproducts.However,thisadvantagemayalsobethemaindrawbackofthismethod,asitraisestheproblemofcorrectlyplanningforfuturecostsandselectinganappropriatediscountrate.Infact,discountingspecificenvironmentalcostsiscontroversial,sinceenvironmentalimpactsincreaseovertime.Itisthereforenotunusualforcoststobeniltoday,butexceedinglyhighafewyearsfromnow,whichiscontrarytotheveryprincipleofdiscounting.Accordingly,discountingenvironmentalcostscouldleadtominimizingfinancialinterestforprojectsthatreducefutureenvironmentalcosts.
Moreover,thesetwomethodsraisethesameproblemofuncertaintyastofuturerepercussions.Itmaybeagoodideatousesensitivityanalyses,scenarios,andrangestoallowfortheprobabilitythatcertaincontingencieswilloccur.Amoremeaningfulrestrictionrelatestothefactthatthesemethodsexcludeconsiderationofalltypesofcosts.Intangiblecosts,includingthosedrivenbyrelationswithstakeholders,arenotconsidered,norarecontingentcosts,sinceitisnoteasytorelatesuchcoststoaspecificphaseinthelife-cycleofaproduct,makingithighlyimprobablethattheywillbeincludedinlifecyclemethods.
Environmentalbalance
Theenvironmentalbalancemethodconsistsinidentifying,andthenmeasuring,theflowsofinputsandoutputsofafirm,aservice,aprocessoraproductintermsofenergy,water,materials,wasteoremissions.Itcanthereforebeusedattheinventorystageofthelife-cycleanalysisorasaninitialstepofmanyothermethods.Theunderlyingassumptionofthismethodisbasedonthelawofconservationofthermodynamicmasses—totalinputsarebydefinitionequaltototaloutputsplusthenetaccumulationofmaterialsinthesystem.Allinputsbecomeoutputs,hencetheterm“balance.”Thepartofaflowthatactuallygoesintotheproductionofgoodscanbeusedtoindicatethepercentagelossofmaterialsand,accordingly,theopportunitiestoimprovetheproductionprocess.Similarly,alargenumberofenvironmentalperformanceindicatorscanbedeterminedfromthedataproducedbyanenvironmentalbalance.Traditionally,anenvironmentalbalanceisperformedinphysical,non-monetaryterms(kilograms,kilowatts,etc.).Moreover,asub-categoryofenvironmentalbalance,calledmaterialflowanalysis(MFA),allowsacompanytoincludeanallocationstageofflowstoeachofitsvariousproducts.
Twomajorcriticismshavebeenlevelledattheenvironmentalbalancemethod.First,itsinput/outputanalysesfailtomeasureenvironmentalimpacts,astheyrelatestrictlytoacompany’suseofnaturalresourceswithoutregardtotheirvaluefortheenvironment.Thesecondmajorcriticismisthatthismethodfailstoprovidemonetaryinformation.However,thevalueofflowscouldbeestimatedinmonetarytermsifrequired.Inaddition,theenvironmentalbalanceisgenerallyusedonlyasaprerequisitetotheuseofothermethods.
Full-costaccounting
Thefullcostrepresentsanallocationofallcoststoaproduct(materials,labour,overhead,etc.)includingpotentialandactualenvironmentalcosts.Withthisapproach,itispossibletoobtainenhancedoperationalknowledgeandtoselectproductswithalowercost(whetheritbeenvironmentalornot).However,inenvironmentalterms,fullcostoftenreferstoaconsiderationofthemonetaryvalueofexternalcosts.Thisraisestheproblemofhowcomplexitistomonetizethecostofexternalities.
Total-costassessment
Thetotal-costassessmentmethod,developedbytheTellusInstitute,issimilartofull-costaccounting.Whereasthelatterapproachisgenerallyusedtomeasurethecostofproducts,total-costassessmentisoftencarriedouttomeasurethecostofcapitalinvestments.Additionally,theclassificationofcostsusedforatotal-costassessmentrequirestheidentificationofcoststhatarespecificallyrelatedtotheenvironment.Thefull-costaccountingmethoddealswithallofthecostsrelatedtoaproduct,anddoesnotrequirethatenvironmentalcostsbeidentified.
Themajoradvantageoftotal-costassessmentisthatitincludesmoreofthecostsrelatingtoacapitalinvestmentoraproductthanlife-cyclecosting,e.g.intangibleandcontingentcosts,whilestilltakingtheentirelifecycleintoaccount.Thus,itmeasuresdirectandindirectcosts,contingentandintangiblecostswithdueconsiderationforrisksand,accordingly,therelatedprobabilitiesthattheywilloccur.Inaddition,externalcostscanbeincludedinatotal-costassessment,andthismethodcanbeappliedsimplybyusingsoftwarecontainingadatabasetoassessexternalcostsrelatedtopollutantsandcomputethemaccordingtotheprobabilitythattheywilloccur.
Activity-basedcosting
Oneoftheprimaryproblemswithmeasuringandmanagingenvironmentalcostsisrelatedtotheallocationofsuchcoststotheactivitiesorproductsthatgeneratedthem.Infact,manycompaniestreatenvironmentalcostsasoverheadanddon’tidentifythemasrelatedtotheenvironment,whichcontributesheavilytotheunderestimationofenvironmentalcosts.Activity-basedcostingcanthereforeenableafirmto
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