Contabilidade ambiental: estudo sobre o conhecimento dos estudantes e profissionais de contabilidade da cidade de Santana do Ipanema - AL

Abstract

The main objective of this research is to analyze the level of knowledge about specific concepts of Environmental Accounting by students and accounting professionals in the city of Santana do Ipanema, located in the State of Alagoas, Brazil. First we seek to discuss the emergence of Environmental Accounting like a new thematic area in the field of accounting studies; then we present the specific concepts of this new thematic field and the environmental regulatory standards in Brazil; At last we analyze the level of knowledge about Environmental Accounting, environmental regulatory norms and environmental management in three different groups: students (from the Accounting Sciences course of the Federal University of Alagoas, Campus do Sertão), professors (linked to the same institution) and accounting office professionals of the same city. To answer the proposed objectives we use a qualitative methodology based on a bibliographical research, application of questionnaires and structured interviews. Finally we verified an incipient level of knowledge about Environmental Accounting by the groups studied. We argue that the contact of the three groups analyzed with the discipline of Environmental Accounting and also with the events and publications that deal with this new area of study is limited.