Environmental Liabilities: A Reflection for Accounting: Environmental Assets, Liabilities and Costs

Environmental management is starting to become part of companies' daily lives, as they realize the impacts on the environment resulting from production, which end up generating environmental costs. Environmental accounting involves the interaction between the company and the environment, which reflects on the entity's financial and economic situation. The purpose of this study was to present relevant environmental accounting issues that give rise to expenditure and to present the measures taken by organizations in relation to their environmental assets and liabilities. In order to achieve the research objectives, the financial statements of the publicly traded companies that won the 2015 ANEFAC/FIPECAFI/SERASA Transparency Award were analyzed. This study is justified in academic and professional circles, because according to Zilber et al. (2008) companies have difficulties in separating and valuing environmental facts, given that this information should be available to all those involved in the business.