Conclusion

This free course, Financial methods in environmental decisions has introduced some of the tools that can be used to assess the benefits of investment decisions. The business case for any environmental expenditure has always to be justified using a range of financial assessments. At the organisation level, tools such as payback periods and discounted cash flow allow the short-term and long-term financial implications of a measure to be assessed.

Externalities is a way of evaluating the costs to society as a whole by placing monetary values on environmental impacts. This tool is used by governments in the formulation of regulations and in setting  environmental taxes and subsidies.

This OpenLearn course is an adapted extract from the Open University course T867 Managing for sustainability [Tip: hold Ctrl and click a link to open it in a new tab. (Hide tip)] .