ABSTRACT
Climate change, resource scarcity, consumer awareness, and new regulations trigger practice changes in global supply chains regarding environmental and social aspects. These better practices go along with additional costs, which, based on current accounting schemes, could negatively impact the economic performance of companies. This causes a dilemma for the private sector: while trying to comply with these new requirements, the companies get financially punished as the higher costs for sustainable measures reduce their profits. True Cost Accounting (TCA) can be used to show the benefits of better practices at the company or supply chain levels not only using sustainability language but in tangible financial terms. This chapter presents the experience of different actors from the corporate and financial sectors in applying TCA. The first case study offers a corporate perspective on assessing the True Cost of various regional and global supply chains, the second case study discusses a bank’s experience with TCA, the third case study provides insights into the True Cost considerations from an insurance sector view, and the fourth case study shares the experience of a financial auditor.
