Title: Measurement and reporting of carbon footprints: a step towards sustainability

Authors: Sanjay Kumar Patel; Poonam Kumari

Addresses: Department of Commerce, School of Commerce and Management, Central University of Rajasthan, Rajasthan, India ' Department of Commerce, School of Commerce and Management, Central University of Rajasthan, Rajasthan, India

Abstract: Industrialisation seemed to be the key to a better wealthy life, although it contributes to climate change. Resulting in the stakeholders' behaviour drastically tends towards the reduction of carbon emissions released by corporations. Carbon accounting is one of the methods that have been identified to combat the serious issue of environmental externalities. Although various methods exist for the measurement of carbon footprints, till now there is no consensus on its accurate measurement and harmonised reporting in financial statements to identify the noticeable behaviour of the corporates towards the environment. The present study explored the theoretical perspective on carbon accounting and it's reporting in financial statements by examining the carbon emissions sources, the procedure for measurement and disclosure as per the stewardship theory for a sustainable future. The findings have practical implications for corporations, accounting standard setters and policymakers for setting the effective structure of carbon measurement and reporting standards and accountability of corporates regarding noticeable behaviour.

Keywords: carbon accounting; environmental externalities; sustainability; climate change; stewardship theory; measurement; reporting; accounting standards; carbon footprints; global warming.

DOI: 10.1504/WREMSD.2021.118654

World Review of Entrepreneurship, Management and Sustainable Development, 2021 Vol.17 No.6, pp.851 - 863

Received: 07 Dec 2019
Accepted: 01 Nov 2020
Published online: 30 Oct 2021 *

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