Carbon Accounting: The Potential of a Green a...

Carbon Accounting: The Potential of a Green and Sustainable Environment Depends on Accurate Accounting Research

Author Name : Anubhav Tewari

ABSTRACT

In an effort to give readers a sense of the big picture, this paper will examine how carbon accounting and auditing have evolved over the past two decades. Since the Kyoto Protocol in 1997, there have been four distinct phases in the field's development. International and national policy advances in the subject have emerged in response to the rising requirement to account for and disclose the greenhouse gas-related emissions of industrial organisations, which have occurred in tandem with rising climate change concerns. With its 7% share of global emissions in 2017, India ranks as the world's fourth-highest contributor to climate change. China, the United States, the European Union, India, Russia, Japan, Germany, Iran, Saudi Arabia, and South Korea were the top 10 emitting countries. As predicted by the Global Carbon Project, the top four polluters in 2017 were China (27%), the United States (15%), the European Union (10%), and India (7%). According to the report, the global community as a whole chipped in 41% in 2017. According to the analysis, India's emissions are expected to climb by an average of 6.3% in 2018, with growth across all fuels (coal 7.1%, oil 2.9%, and petrol 6.0%). Organisations and municipalities have an immediate responsibility to aid in combating climate change (IPCC, 2006; Isman et al., 2018; Salon et al., 2010). Measurement, calculation, monitoring, reporting, and auditing of greenhouse gas emissions at the organisational, process, product, or supply chain levels are all included in the broad scope of carbon accounting, a new subfield of business economics. Industrial organisations are encouraged and supported by a number of efforts (including the Greenhouse Gas Protocol and the Carbon Disclosure Project) that encourage accurate accounting for and reporting of environmental impacts. Industrial organisations can estimate their emissions using one of three carbon accounting strategies (bottom-up, top-down, or hybrid), but there are trade-offs to consider. Businesses shouldn't treat carbon accounting as a standalone project. However, if business and environmental policy are to succeed, carbon accounting concerns must be integrated across disciplines. The paper's results should include an overview of the areas where more study is needed, along with recommendations for where that research should go.

Keywords: Key terms: carbon reporting; sustainability budgeting; greenhouse gas inventory; Kyoto agreement; emissions of carbon; mitigation of climate impacts.