The Three Dimensions of a Sustainable Management Accounting System

Since Rio de Janeiro 1992 Earth Summit, sustainability began to be widely discussed by politicians, business leaders and NGOs, and became more relevant in the day-to-day business debate (Dyllick and Hockerts, 2002). Interestingly, during the last fifteen years several firms worldwide have been moving beyond the compliance of new environmental and social regulations because they have realized the potential benefits of incorporating sustainability issues into their corporate strategies due to the eventual competitive advantages and economic benefits linked to sustainability (DeSimone and Popoff, 1997; King and Lenox, 2001). Different Canadian reports, such as those published by Stratos and The Conference Board of Canada, recognize that sustainability is becoming a factor in Canadian business. As an example of that, in 2001 only 35% of the companies listed on the Toronto Stock Exchange (TSX) included some sustainability information in their annual reports or in a stand-alone report, but in 2005 this increased to 70% of the companies listed on the TSX Composite Index.