An accounting professor at the University of Colorado at Boulder Leeds School of Business will travel to China next week to advise Chinese business faculty on environmental education issues.
Naomi Soderstrom will attend the World Resources Institute's China Business/Environment Learning and Leadership (China BELL) conference in Beijing April 22-24. She will advise professors from Chinese business schools on conducting courses and developing curricula that includes environmental and sustainable management topics.
Rapid growth in China and the use of material- and energy-intensive production processes have caused concern about the country's natural resource depletion and environmental pollution.Ìý
Through the China BELL project, academic programs are developed to teach China's future business leaders how to make environmentally friendly decisions while maintaining profits.
"With the explosive growth that China is experiencing and the huge potential impact on the environment of business activities, it is crucial that Chinese business leaders become aware of these issues," said Soderstrom. "I am honored to be included with the elite group of people who are helping to shape the future of China's economy and business practices."
Soderstrom was one of the first educators to teach environmental accounting in the United States. Traditional accounting systems often fail to include hidden costs associated with environmentally sound business, such as waste disposal and potential future liabilities.
This absence of environmental costs then results in underestimation of costs. Use of environmental accounting prompts companies to include all of the costs, thereby improving the bottom line and the environment, while fostering better management decision-making.
The Leeds School of Business is committed to training students to be knowledgeable of the best business practices and to understand the relationship between business and society.
Soderstrom earned her doctoral degree from Northwestern University.