ENVIRONMENTAL ACCOUNTING AS A TOOL FOR SUSTAINABLE MANAGEMENT IN COMPANIES: PRACTICAL EVIDENCE

The present work, which presents partial results of an ongoing scientific initiation project (PIBIC), aims to analyze how environmental accounting can be used to integrate sustainability into business strategies. The research, with a qualitative approach, was based on a bibliographic review carried out between April and September 2025 in databases such as CAPES and Google Scholar, using the keywords 'accounting', 'environmental accounting' and 'sustainability'. The results indicate that environmental accounting has great potential to promote business practices aligned with sustainability, especially when supported by standards such as ISO 14001 and the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). However, its adoption faces challenges such as cultural resistance, lack of technical training and lack of standardization. The study shows that, despite these barriers, environmental accounting can add value to companies by strengthening transparency, eco-efficiency, and reputation in the market. It is concluded that overcoming structural and cultural barriers is fundamental for the practice to be consolidated as an effective instrument of sustainable management.