Journal of Empirical Research in Accounting & Auditing ISSN (2384-4787) J. Emp. Res. Acc. Aud. 1, No. 1 (Oct-2014) http://journals.uob.edu.bh Should the auditing profession be extended to encapsulate environmental issues? -An article review Gehan A. Mousa %DKUDLQ 8QLYHUVLW\ &ROOHJH RI %XVLQHVV $GPLQLVWUDWLRQ .LQJGRP RI %DKUDLQ 5HFHLYHG  -DQXDU\  5HYLVHG  0D\  $FFHSWHG  -XQH  3XEOLVKHG 2FW  1. Introduction 'CEJ [GCT JWPFTGFU QH ſTOU CTG RTQUGEWVGF for violating environmental laws and hundreds of millions of dollars in penalties are assessed. At the same time, a much larger number of ſTOU GUECRG VJG XCTKQWU EQUVU CUUQEKCVGF YKVJ litigation by adhering to the provisions of the same laws and regulations. Environmental laws are becoming more complex and extensive. If a company chooses not to comply, the GXGPVWCN EQUV KP VGTOU QH NCVGT ENGCP WR ſPGU and penalties could be in the billions of dollars. Business ethics is commonly associated in the media with environmental disasters and ſPCPEKCN UECPFCNU 'VJKECN EQPEGTPU RGTOGCVG every aspect of business activity. Ethical issues arise in connection with core ethical values. There are some interconnections between business and environmental ethics. Business has obligations to protect the environment over and above what is required by environmental law and that it should cooperate and interact with government in establishing environmental legislation. Therefore, business should develop and demonstrate environmental moral leadership. The negative effect of business on the environment is easily observed. Planet Earth suffers from droughts, heat waves and HQTGUV ſTGU TCKUKPI HGCTU QH INQDCN warming due to the build-up of carbon dioxide and other gases in the atmosphere. Moreover, water in rivers, seas … etc. has become polluted by raw sewage, medical wastes, oil spills, chemical materials, toxic materials. In addition, dumping tons of toxic wastes contaminates land. Air is polluted by poisonous gases such as carbon dioxide, EJNQTQƀWQTQECTDQPU HGTKQPU YJKEJ NGF VQ depletion of the ozone layer…etc. All of these negative effects result from companies’ activities. The right of society to place ethical constraints on business stems from three considerations. First, a society has the right (PDLO JDPRXVD#\DKRRFRP Abstract: 'PXKTQPOGPVCN KUUWGU JCXG C UKIPKſECPV KORCEV QP DWUKPGUU CPF VJG CWFKVKPI RTQHGUUKQP 'CEJ [GCT ſTOU CTG RTQUGEWVGF CPF ſPGF HQT XKQNCVKPI GPXKTQPOGPVCN NCYU %QTRQTCVKQPU CTG HCEGF YKVJ KPETGCUKPI RTGUUWTGU from diverse stakeholder groups, including governmental agencies, to address environmental concerns. The implications of environmental issues on business lead to the emergence of a number of arguments concerning the TQNG QH CEEQWPVCPVU CPF ſPCPEKCN CWFKVQTU KP GPXKTQPOGPVCN KUUWGU 6JKU UVWF[ TGXKGYU VJG NKVGTCVWTG VQ EQPVTKDWVG in such arguments. The critical question posed is should auditing profession develop its performance by widening its scope to encapsulate environmental issues? The study concludes that environmental issues have a number of implications on both the auditing profession and business. The auditing profession cannot continue to ignore these implications. It should accept this challenge and widen its scope to encapsulate environmental issues. The impact of environmental issues on the accounting and auditing profession can be noticed in a number of aspects such as corporate environmental reporting; environmental violations and illegal acts; accounting for contingencies; auditing accounting estimates; the going concern assumption; and materiality policy. Keywords: #EEQWPVKPI  #WFKVKPI 2TQHGUUKQP 'PXKTQPOGPVCN +UUWGU #WFKVQTUŏ 4QNG 'PXKTQPOGPVCN 8KQNCVKQPU