Extent of Application of Environmental Management Accounting Practices for Environmental Protection by Manufacturing Firms in Abia State, Nigeria

Abstract

The need to ensure environmental protection necessitated this study to determine the extent of application of environmental management accounting practices for environmental protection by manufacturing firms in Abia State, Nigeria. Two specific purposes and two research questions guided the study and two null hypotheses were tested. Survey research design was used.  Population of the study comprises 227 (179 male an 48 female) managers from the 64 registered manufacturing firms in Abia State. Sample was not drawn as the population size was manageable. The instrument for data collection was a 30-items structured questionnaire which was duly validated by three experts and its reliability tested using Cronbach Alpha which yielded 0.93 coefficients. Data were analyzed using the arithmetic mean and standard deviation while ANOVA was used to test the null hypotheses at 0.05 level of significance. Findings reveal that managers of manufacturing firms in Abia State applied environmental impact management and prevention practices for environmental protection to a moderate extent and environmental management cost allocation practices to a high extent. It was found also that qualification significantly affect the managers of manufacturing firms responses on environmental impact management and prevention practices while, they do not significantly affect the environmental management accounting cost allocation practices. Therefore, the study concludes that the environmental management accounting practices have not been fully applied for environmental protection by manufacturing firms in Abia State. Based on the findings and conclusion of the study, it was recommended among others that manufacturing firms should prioritize investment in ecological development, including the adoption of new technologies as a strategic measure for reducing the environmental impacts of their activities. Manufacturing firms should also apply environmental impact management and prevention practices, prior to production as a crucial means of minimizing environmental impact and promoting environmental sustainability and protection.