Methodology
This metric is asking for the total environmental protection expenditures and investments of the company in US dollars:
For WikiRate researchers:
Companies who align reports to GRI’s Sustainability Reporting Standards often include a GRI Content Index or Annex where GRI disclosures, with GRI codes, are listed.
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Use G4 codes, G3 codes or keywords to quickly find values, keeping in mind that some companies report on the metric using different terms, e.g. G4-EN31 or EN31, environmental protection expenditures or environmental protection investments
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Global Reporting Initiative compliance guidance for companies:
To calculate the total environmental protection expenditures - G4-EN31:
Identify waste disposal, emissions treatment, and remediation costs based on expenditures which include, as a minimum:
Treatment and disposal of waste
Treatment of emissions (such as expenditures for filters, agents)
Expenditures for the purchase and use of emissions certificates
Expenditure on equipment, maintenance, and operating materials and services, and related personnel costs
Insurance for environmental liability
Clean-up costs, including costs for remediation of spills as reported in G4-EN24
Identify prevention and environmental management costs based on expenditures which include, as a minimum:
Environmental education and training
External services for environmental management
External certification of management systems
Research and development
Extra expenditures to install cleaner technologies (such as additional cost beyond standard technologies)
Extra expenditures on green purchases
Other environmental management costs
The compilation of the expenditures in this Indicator exclude the following categories as defined in the IFAC International Guidance Document on Environmental Management Accounting (21):
Fines for non-compliance with environmental regulation (see G4-EN29)
Reporting on this Indicator should include the following contextual information as a comment to the metric value:
The total environmental protection expenditures by:
Waste disposal, emissions treatment, and remediation costs
Prevention and environmental management costs
About
This metric is based on the Global Reporting Initiative (GRI) G4 Guidelines. It covers one of the requirements of Indicator G4-EN31 - 'Total environmental protection expenditures and investments by type'
Measuring environmental mitigation and protection expenditures allows organizations to assess the efficiency of their environmental initiatives. It also provides valuable input for internal cost-benefit analyses. Data on environmental performance measured against environmental mitigation and protection expenditures offers insights into how effectively the organization uses resources to improve performance. When tracked and analyzed in a comprehensive fashion over time, this expenditures data allows the organization to judge the value of complex organizational or technological investments for improving environmental performance.
It is possible to establish a full environmental management accounting system within an organization that tracks multiple categories of information. This Indicator focuses on waste disposal, emissions treatment, and remediation costs, as well as prevention and environmental management costs.