Carbon Accounting

Current Acitivty

Carbon Accounting in the Creative Industries

ECCI joined forces with Creative Carbon Scotland to bring together key players in the festivals, events and creative industries to discuss the implementation of sustainability initiatives and carbon accounting activity into the sector. Input came from Creative Scotland, Festivals Edinburgh, Filmhouse Edinburgh and EIFF. Look out for more news and activity in this sector over the next few months.

Festivals Edinburgh was also one of the finalists in the ECCI supported SME EnviroApp competition. Read about the winner: http://www.edinburghcentre.org/news/GreenOak and competition: http://www.edinburghcentre.org/SME-enviroapp.html .

Creative Carbon Scotland’s creator Ben Twist talks about his connection to ECCI and the University of Edinburgh: http://www.ed.ac.uk/alumni/services/news/news/bentwist

Watch presentations and discussion from ECCI’s Festivals, Events and Tourism event: http://www.edinburghcentre.org/Sustainable-Festivals.html

Carbon Accounting study

ECCI commissioned SOS and Ecometrica recently to carry out a Carbon Accounting Survey amongst Scottish based members of the four main accountancy bodies, ACCA, CIMA, ICAS and ICAEW. The recently published findings (from a survey of 281 members) show that while many see the benefits, few are currently exploring them. 

In general, accountants have a poor view of carbon accounting’s credibility, which is largely due to their limited knowledge of carbon standards. Encouragingly, however, they identify with key business drivers for carbon accounting and recognise that they have the core skills for the task. Addressing this issue appears to relate to stakeholder engagement and to leadership from accountancy bodies and firms.

Accountants are not only the stewards of financial information, but also its interpreters. Extending these responsibilities to carbon information would embed carbon accounting within businesses; helping management to exploit the business benefits that accountants clearly identified in the survey.

The project also identified areas for further investigation. Contact pauladderley@sos4business.uk.com us for an electronic copy of the report. 
 

Event: New Frontiers in Carbon Accounting

ECCI is joining forces with the University of Edinburgh Business School and ACCA
 to present ‘New Frontiers in Carbon Accounting’.

Carbon accounting means many different things to different groups of people, including scientists, bureaucrats, carbon market practitioners, carbon managers and accountants. This event will showcase some of the carbon accounting activities and expertise in and around Edinburgh, followed by a more in-depth discussion of a few of the new challenges created by the interactions between carbon accounting and conventional management and financial accounting. Introduction by Francisco Ascui to the topic and the Business School`s work on carbon accounting, followed by an overview from Andy Kerr on carbon accounting activities in Edinburgh and Scotland more broadly, and a perspective on future challenges. Jan Bebbington will then discuss carbon accounting in the oil and gas industry, where the need for cross compliance with climate change related emissions constraints will require more information than is currently provided in company accounts (work sponsored by ACCA).