My interest in sustainability reporting comes from being witness to the many detrimental effects of human activity on the natural world. When I was growing up in the 1950s and 1960s on the island of Okinawa, Japan, I spent a lot of time with my family on some of the most beautiful and pristine beaches in the world. Plastic bottles and bags did not exist on the beaches of Okinawa; that has changed. In 2008, on two of Okinawa’s southern beaches, over 150,000 pieces of trash (plastic bottles, bags, and polystyrene) were counted on a little more than half a mile of beach.1 This is like running into 45 pieces of trash on every foot of beach. There is more. A mass of plastic debris about the size of the state of Texas is floating currently in the Pacific Ocean. This is what can be seen on the surface of the ocean. What cannot be seen are the chemicals from the plastic trash that are leaching into the water and damaging marine ecosystems. As plastic trash, sewage, and agricultural chemicals get washed into the oceans, damage to sea life is beginning to accumulate. Healthy coral reefs that are essential for sustaining fish are endangered around the world. Sea mammals are contaminated with pesticides, polychlorinated biphenyl (PCB), and flame-retardants. Killer whales are now considered to be the most toxic creature in the Arctic. What is all of this doing to humans?
The destructive effects that I have seen in my lifetime are quite disturbing. It is urgent that the causes of these effects be addressed so that current and future generations can prosper on Earth. The way business has been conducted in the last century has been a major contributor to the problems facing life on the planet. It is important for people to understand the problems caused by human activity, but it is equally important to understand what can be done to address these problems. As an accounting educator I have had the opportunity to explain the connection between business practices and their impacts on people, profits, and the planet and to explain ways to improve how business is conducted. I wrote this book to help explain how sustainability reporting can be useful in helping organizations achieve a more sustainable approach to their operations and the natural environment.
I would like to thank Michael and Alicia White for all their encouragement. I would also like to thank Ken Merchant for his insightful comments in editing this book.