Internalization of environmental externalities: Development of a method for elaborating the statement of economic and environmental results

Abstract Internalization of environmental externalities by the economic results of organizations becomes relevant as managers perceive the impacts and risks that degradation of nature exerts on their business. Advances in the evaluation of environmental performance have been made in recent years. However, methods for internalization of externalities by income statements are still scarce. This study presents a Method for the Elaborating of the Statement of Economic and Environmental Results (MESEER). The proposed method is applied to a real petrochemical company. The application of the proposed method allows us to identify that, for the period evaluated, environmental externalities represented a cost equivalent to 12.5% of the consolidated net income of the whole company. The method developed focuses on productive systems, providing managers with a holistic view of their business and broadening the understanding of sustainability in industrial operations.