ABSTRACT
There is an increasing public and scientific debate about the potential for True Cost Accounting (TCA) and the need for TCA to play an important role in the policies and decisions of all agri-food system stakeholders, including those of governments, businesses, communities, and every citizen. In recent decades, the recognition of the need for a new and encompassing accounting system that takes into account the hidden environmental costs of production has started to change the economic thinking far beyond conservation circles. The appreciation of the negative (and sometimes positive) impacts of production on the environment has become common, together with the recognition that economic reporting does not adequately consider the impacts of activities on the natural resource base, or on social wellbeing and human health. However, there is a wide gap between the multitude of colorful Corporate Social Responsibilities reports and actual company impacts on natural, human, and social resources, precisely because the mainstream international standards of economic accounting and reporting exclude externalities. With the current awareness of the true (or full) costs of economic activities, it is time to go beyond discussion and design of TCA approaches and move towards implementation. A range of opportunities is explored in this chapter, as well as likely challenges.
From a theory of change perspective, much is being done by the TCA community of practice, but less attention is paid to who needs to do what differently for TCA to succeed. Scientific and methodological breakthroughs will keep emerging and offering new opportunities to improve TCA measurements. However, tangible effects on policy and decision-making are essentially related to socio-political processes. It is only through social processes that lead to a consensus on an agreed set of processes and overall framework that trust will be built for making choices that establish sustainable food systems. Thus, it is the mobilization of governments and multi-stakeholder community networks that will be crucial to the effective realization of TCA’s potential.
