The manifold history of eco-auditing and the case of municipal eco-auditing in Norway

The purpose of this article is to discuss the historic and conceptual background for the concept of eco-auditing. Drawing the line back to the Roman Empire, we can identify three scientific approaches to eco-auditing: an ecological approach describing the state of and human impact on the environment; a technological approach describing resource streams and analysing opportunities of reducing the consumption of resources, emissions and wastes within defined systems and a management approach evaluating to what extent the organization complies with internal and/or external standards and goals. Copyright © 1999 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd and ERP Environment.