Carbon accounting

This pages is a progressive pedagogical process to understand and unpack the notion of carbon accounting, from its technical underpinnings to developing a critical distance.

Step 1 – Accounting for impact

See the « Which grocery bag? » case study

Step 2 – The E-liability framework

  • Read Kaplan & Ramanna (2021)
  • Summarize its critique of existing carbon accounting initiative and the framework it offers
  • Use the examples from the article to design a mini-case study for the audience

Step 3 – The Giti case study

Final integration

  • What are the challenges posed by carbon accounting? Clarify the notions of (ac)counting, commensurability and commodification and explain why they are relevant to carbon accounting.
  • Using Kaplan & Ramanna (2021) and the « Which grocery bag? » case study to illustrate the double-edge nature of carbon accounting: it provides a solution and causes problems.
  • Sources: Hopwood (2009), MacKenzie (2009) and Ascui & Lovell (2011)