Much of the literature on corporate social, environmental and sustainability accounting currently either represents philosophical debates or conceptual proposals which have been developed independently of current practice, or by single case studies of innovations in corporate practice in developed countries which are often of an experimental nature. Although valuable as a source of ideas and inspiration, these provide only limited insight to better understand the purposes companies assign to environmental management accounting in an experimenting or introduction stage, the patterns of applied tools once EMA has become operational and the development paths over time. Based on case studies in South East Asia this paper explores the motivations of managers, the purposes they assign to EMA when introducing it, the patterns of applied methods and paths of development.