This proposal takes an accounting perspective on a key sustainability issue: climate change and global carbon emissions. It seems evident that any sustainability transition to a low-carbon future in societies is dependent on getting the business world involved. Financial and non-financial accounting information are key drivers of organizational behaviour. We maintain that the capability of organisations, financial markets and eventually societies more broadly to transition towards a sustainable low-carbon future is dependent on the quality of information they have at their disposal. A key challenge in this quest lies with how the use of carbon and subsequent carbon emissions are quantified and made subject to the financial calculations on which private firms and other organisations base their decision-making. Accordingly, this project uses case study research and aims at producing new knowledge on how carbon accounting can be incorporated into organisational decision-making processes.

2021

2025