Carbon Business Accounting: The Impact
of Global Warming on the Cost and
Management Accounting Profession
J
ANEKT. D. R
ATNATUNGA*
K
ASHIR. B
ALACHANDRAN**
The concentrations of greenhouse gases in the atmosphere have risen
dramatically, leading to the possibility of costly disruption from rapid
climate change. This calls for greater attention and precautionary
meas-ures to be put in place, both globally and locally. Governments,
busi-ness entities and consumers would be affected by the extent to which
such precautionary measures are incorporated in their decision-making
process.
Business entities need to consider such issues as trading in carbon
allowances (or permits), investing in low–carbon dioxide (CO
2) emission
technologies, counting the costs of carbon regularity compliance, and
passing on the increased cost of carbon regulation to consumers
through higher prices. Such considerations require information for
informed decision making. This paper reports on a qualitative research
study undertaken to consider the impact of the Kyoto Protocol
mecha-nisms on the changing information paradigms of cost and managerial
accounting.
It is demonstrated that the information from strategic cost
manage-ment systems will be particularly useful in this new carbon economy,
especially in evaluating the ‘‘whole-of-life’’ costs of products and
ser-vices in terms of carbon emissions. Similarly, the study discusses how
strategic management accounting information would facilitate decisions
on business policy, human resource management, marketing, supply
chain management, and finance strategies and the resultant evaluation
of performance.
1. The Emerging Paradigm of Carbonomics
The Kyoto Protocol is the original international regulatory response to global
warming, under which more than 150 countries agreed to strive to decrease
*University of South Australia **New York University
carbon dioxide (CO
2) emissions. Whilst alternative social constructions have
been debated for the reduction of carbon emissions, such as that agreed to at the
recent Applied Power and Economics Conference (APEC) in Sydney (Mackey
[2007]),
1the Kyoto Protocol remains the international standard. Under Kyoto, a
country can emit more CO
2than its assigned amount only if it can
simultane-ously sequester the equivalent amount in ‘‘Ôallowable’’ carbon sinks (such as
trees, plankton, soils, and water bodies).
The Kyoto Protocol has developed various alternative social constructions
(or mechanisms) for reducing carbon emissions that would enable industrial
countries with quantified emission limitation and reduction commitments to
acquire greenhouse-gas reduction credits. Among these mechanisms is the
estab-lishment of an International Emission Trading (IET) scheme. Here countries can
trade in the international carbon credit (allowances) market. Countries with
sur-plus credits can sell them to countries with quantified emission limitation and
reduction commitments under the Kyoto Protocol (see Appendix A for a detailed
discussion of the measurement and assurance issues in carbon-emissions trading).
In countries subject to strict CO
2emissions-reduction targets, the existence
of such mechanisms would necessitate a number of lifestyle changes (from
organizations and individuals in that country) to achieve a substantial decrease in
CO
2emissions. Examples of the lifestyle changes that are required by
govern-ments, organizations, and individuals to reduce CO
2emissions were listed in
TIME magazine (2007). A few of the recommended carbon-reduction methods
for business including changing light bulbs to low emission, switching off lights
at quitting time, letting employees work close to home, and buying green power.
Carbon reduction methods for individuals include flying a straight course
between locations, hanging up clothes to line dry, and insulating residential water
heaters.
On an individual level, in recent years, there has been a significant shift
from ‘‘localization’’ to ‘‘globalization,’’ especially with the opening up of China,
India, and the Eastern bloc (Levitt [2006]). However, as more people are
encour-aged to work closer to home, buy produce from the local farmer, and host a
‘‘green wedding’’ (e.g., by buying wine and other items locally) (TIME [2007]),
then a shift back to localization due to carbon-related reasons is possible. We
have termed such a shift in world trade as ‘‘carbalization.’’
1. The United States and Australia signed this Sydney agreement. The other signatories to this APEC agreement, such as China, Japan, Canada, and Indonesia, have already signed the Kyoto Proto-col. Since Australia’s ratification of Kyoto in 2007, the United States is the only major industrial country (among the very small group of countries overall) that is still not a signatory to the Kyoto Protocol. Developing countries, including China, India, and Indonesia, have ratified the protocol but are exempted from reducing CO2 emissions under the present agreement, despite their large
popula-tions and high emissions levels. China ranks behind only the United States in carbon emissions, and in some rankings is the number one emitter (Netherlands Environmental Assessment Agency, see http://www.mnp.nl/en/index.html). Australia, even though it is now a signatory, has not, as yet, agreed to any reduction targets, despite being the largest per capita polluter.
Carbalization is based on the concept of
product-distance (in miles or
kilo-meters)—that is, the distance a product travels to get to its place of final
pur-chase for consumption. Separate studies by the oil giant BP (formerly British
Petroleum) and the German Institute for Physics and Atmosphere released earlier
this year revealed that the world’s shipping could have a more serious impact on
global warming than air travel.
2Although CO
2emissions on a per-kilogram basis
were significantly lower for shipping when compared with air freight, it is
dis-tance that has been targeted as most imports of fast-moving consumer goods
(FMCGs) are imported primarily via shipping lines. An example is given of
imported bottled water from Europe using approximately 80 kg of CO
2emissions
per metric tons of bottles to be shipped to Australia, whereas from Egypt it is
70 kg and from nearby Fiji only 20 kg (Perkins [2007]). The message from such
analyses is similar to the
TIME magazine (2007) recommendations, that is, buy
from sources where the product or service originates as close as possible to point
of purchase.
A report produced by the
Business Roundtable on Climate Change in
Aus-tralia found that early action by companies to reduce CO
2emissions would add
the equivalent of US$1.8 trillion to gross domestic product (GDP) by 2050 and
create more than 250,000 jobs (Weekes [2007]). Nevertheless, the governments
in many industrial countries (that are or will be subject to emissions-reduction
targets) are concluding that mandatory or voluntary carbon costs will eventually
flow on to prices and industry competitiveness. Recently, China (the
second-biggest polluter behind the United States) has stated that economic considerations
come first and thus will consider reducing carbon emissions only as a secondary
issue. Thus, Chinese products will continue to be ‘‘cheaper,’’ not only due to
cheap labor, but also due to the exclusion of carbon costs. Countries that import
such products will not only adversely affect the economic viability of their own
country’s businesses, but also will be the target of the Chinese ‘‘dumping’’
car-bon emissions on them. The only way (other than forcing China to accept their
responsibilities by negotiation) is to place a countervailing tax on such imports
(similar to that placed when companies ‘‘dump’’ products via transfer pricing)
based on a fair allocation of carbon costs to Chinese products.
It is clear that carbonomics and carbalization will produce winners and
los-ers in both the product and allowances markets, as well as in organizations and
countries. In the products and services market, the
winners will be the ‘‘low
car-bon intensity’’ firms and those that can pass on their carcar-bon costs. Some of these
firms could earn windfall profits. The
losers will be ‘‘high carbon intensity’’
firms and those that are unable to pass on their carbon costs. In the allowances
market, the
winners would include those countries that are on track for meeting
2. Annual emissions from shipping made up 5 percent of the global total, while the aviation industry, which is subject to far greater scrutiny, contributes only 2 percent (Vidal [2007]). CO2
emissions from ships do not come under the Kyoto Protocol, and therefore, only a few studies have been undertaken.
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CARBON BUSINESS ACCOUNTING
Kyoto standards. These countries (and companies within them) will have a
higher proportion of required allowances allocated free and could earn windfall
profits from the sale of these allowances. The losers will include countries a long
way from Kyoto compliance, that is, those that will need to purchase a higher
proportion of allowances from the market. In the rest of this paper, we discuss
how the impact of carbonomics, especially the (global) costs of CO
2emissions
can be captured by accounting systems, how they can be built into the cost and
prices of different products and services. We also will discuss ways that
carbono-mics affect the strategic decision information systems of business organizations.
2. Carbon Business Accounting
From the discussion earlier on carbonomics, carbalization, and
carbon-emissions trading, it can be seen that business entities will need to consider new
business practices to take advantage of (or at least not be disadvantaged by) the
mandatory carbon-rationing and trading schemes under the Kyoto Protocol. The
existence of a carbon-rationing and trading market has the potential to affect an
organization’s business strategy, financial performance, and ultimately value.
Thus, accountants and other business information providers need to consider
measurements and strategies outside of conventional paradigms.
This requires a good understanding of a number of elements of cost
manage-ment and managemanage-ment accounting, and also of economics and business finance in
an integrated manner, such as the economic modeling of demand and supply of
carbon credits and allowances, forward and spot pricing, financial analysis, cost
analysis and risk analysis, risk management of reputation, business support, cash
flow and business value, capital allocation, and the (possible) International
Finan-cial Reporting Standards (IFRS) directives for finanFinan-cial reporting of
carbon-emissions management and related transactions. In addition, taxation issues of direct
carbon taxes, value-added taxes (VAT), and goods and services taxes (GST), as well
as transfer pricing implications of carbon trading, need also to be considered.
This paper focuses specifically on strategic cost management (SCM) and
strategic management accounting (SMA), which are referred to collectively as
‘‘business accounting.’’ First, the paper demonstrates that some of the classic
ideas of cost accounting may be central to the study of carbon costs. The costing
scheme proposed in the paper is shown to be a good fit with the traditional
life-cycle analysis of overhead cost allocations, where the overhead in question is the
costs of reducing global warming. It is demonstrated that if the overhead is
allo-cated in a precise fashion over the life of a product or service, goods and
ser-vices that seem to be low cost from a product costing viewpoint become high cost
from a life-cycle viewpoint and perhaps should not be manufactured or provided.
Next, the paper reports on a structured qualitative research study that was
undertaken at thirty-one research symposiums in twelve countries (638
respond-ents) to canvass the views of practitioners regarding the wider implications of
carbon costs (and potential revenues) on SCM and SMA tools, techniques, and
practices. Some key issues, especially those relating to the impact of
carbon-emissions management on lean manufacturing, life-cycle costing, marketing
com-munication, and cost of capital are reported in this paper.
A literature review relating to SCM and SMA and pertaining to
environmen-tal cost accounting is provided in Appendix B. This review elaborates on any
conceptual frameworks that could be developed to help in the coding and
classi-fication of the data for carbon accounting.
2.1 Carbon Strategic Cost Management
Traditional cost management relates to accounting for direct and indirect
costs
3and to the assignment of these costs to such objects as products, services,
customers, and organizational processes. A cost can be attached directly to a cost
object if it is traceable solely to that cost object; and if not, it is allocated (see
Sharma and Ratnatunga [1997] for a comprehensive discussion of costing
sys-tems). Recent discussions in the cost accounting literature have focused mainly
on the allocation of indirect costs; that is, whether using traditional allocation
systems with a single cost driver (such as direct labor) or using activity-based
costing systems (with multiple cost drivers) better describes the cause-effect
rela-tionships found in products, services, customers, and organizational processes
(Cooper and Kaplan [1988]). In product costing, the cost is computed up to the
stage that goods are available for sale. Costs incurred subsequent to the product
being sold are usually not calculated, except in the case in which a product
car-ries a warranty, or some other after-sales service component; then the expected
cost (based on a probability estimate) of that service is incorporated into the cost
(and therefore its price). Some costings may include the cost of money blocked
in accounts receivable, that is, the credit period being treated as an after-sales
service that has a cost associated with it.
Carbon cost management is a subset of the push toward ‘‘environmental cost
accounting’’ (see Mathews [1997]; Adams [2004]) that highlights the cost
impacts beyond those related to a specific cost object, such as a product. Let us
consider a computer printer as an example. The typical environmental costs (both
before and after the sale) are as follows.
2.1.1 Raw Material
The environmental costs are simply the cost of the raw materials, such as
plastics, cartridges, and steel in waste. Much of such raw material is brought into
usable form for manufacturing using significant energy and thus has related CO
2emissions.
4Every time a raw material is used and does not become a product, it
3. These cost categories are based on the nature of the expenditure items, such as the cost of raw materials, human input (labor), and overhead (rent, depreciation etc.).
4. Such as the energy used in mining and processing the materials.
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CARBON BUSINESS ACCOUNTING
becomes waste. Even when such material becomes a saleable product, when it
becomes obsolete, it goes into landfills as waste.
2.1.2 Labor
Labor requires energy to function, such as traveling time to a production
fa-cility and air conditioning at the fafa-cility, and thus significant CO
2emissions are
associated with its use. Before the sale of the product, the typical labor
environ-mental costs would be the labor component of an off-specification product that
becomes waste. After the sale, the labor cost required to recycle the parts is an
environmental-related cost, which also generates CO
2emissions.
2.1.3 Overhead
Utility costs, such as water and energy, are often overlooked in determining
the true cost of waste generation, both before and after a sale. These costs are a
significant item in CO
2emissions management.
2.1.4 Waste Management
The most obvious environmental expenses are the treatment and disposal
costs of waste generated in the production process. Again, these processes
require significant energy and thus have associated CO
2emissions. Other waste
management costs may include the expenses to collect samples, complete paper
work, and pay for permit fees, consulting fees, and (potentially) fines for
viola-tions. The flip side of the hidden costs and impacts of waste generation is the
hidden benefits resulting from actions taken to improve the environmental
per-formance of a particular facility.
2.1.5 Recycling
Recycling is a form of waste management at the obsolescence end of the
product life cycle. This requires a three pronged approach: (1) the opportunity
cost calculation (including the environmental impacts) of recycling components
of existing hardware compared with using new components, (2) locking in
recy-cling cost efficiencies at the design stage of new hardware, and (3) using a
cost-benefit analysis of the first two stages to influence government policy on tax
credits and so on for undertaking such environmentally sustainable programs.
The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has an Environmental
Accounting Project that encourages business to understand the full spectrum of
their environmental costs and integrate these costs into decision making.
5There are often conflicts among the different cost categories. A study by
CNW Marketing Research
6says that the total energy cost used in manufacturing,
driving, and recycling a Hybrid Toyota Prius is higher than that of most
conven-tionally powered vehicles. The two-year study (claimed to have been
independ-ently funded) included factors such as the following:
.
How many years it took to develop the vehicles
.
How the material used was processed and how far these had to travel to
get to manufacturing stage
.
How far auto workers traveled, and whether or not they used public
transportation
.
The energy used in manufacturing
.
The percentage of materials that can be effectively recycled
.
The percentage of labor produced by robots versus humans
.
Variable estimated lifetime of components
.
Cost of fuel used over an estimated lifetime of 100,000 miles
.
Expected parts that would need to be repaired
This study showed that hybrid cars, while clearly using less fossil fuel to
run, are environmentally more expensive to manufacture and to recycle than
con-ventional cars (CNW Marketing [2007]). For example, the ‘‘whole-of-life’’ costs
for a Hummer H3 was $1.94 per mile, while the Toyota Prius Hybrid was $3.25
per mile. One of the least-cost cars in the study was the Jeep Wrangler (placed
number three overall in terms of least cost) with $0.60 per mile and the
highest-cost car was the Mercedes Benz Maybach with a highest-cost of $11.58 per mile (de
Fraga [2007]).
Martin (2007) shows why the Toyota Prius has such a high ‘‘whole-of-life’’
cost associated with it in terms of carbon emissions:
Let us consider, for example, the raw material costs of the special electric
bat-tery required by the hybrid. The nickel for the batbat-tery for the Toyota Prius is
mined in Sudbury, Ontario, and smelted at nearby Nickel Centre, just north
of the province’s massive Georgian Bay. The smelter has a 1,250-foot-tall
smokestack that is claimed to emit large quantities of sulfur dioxide to the
sur-rounding area. Toyota buys about 1,000 tons of nickel from the facility each
year, ships the nickel to Wales for refining, then to China, where it’s
manufac-tured into nickel foam, and then onto Toyota’s battery plant in Japan. That
alone creates a globe-trotting trail of carbon emissions that from start to finish
is estimated to travel more than 10,000 miles—mostly by container ship, but
also by diesel locomotive. At the end of its life, the battery has to go back to
Japan for recycling, again often traveling large distances and burning more
CO
2. (Martin [2007])
6. See http://www.cnwmr.com/nss-folder/automotiveenergy/ (accessed May 6 2007).
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Due to such significant product-distance costs, it is claimed that to date none
of the Prius batteries in Australia have been sent back to Japan for recycling (de
Fraga [2007]). They will most likely go to landfills in Australia. This may be
true of the United States as well.
As expected, Toyota has challenged the CNW study, stating the energy
ratios used in the study pertaining to the manufacture-driving-recycle life cycle
of a car is quite different from other studies conducted by the Argonne National
Laboratory and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. The latter studies
found that while hybrids require more energy to manufacture and recycle, 80 to
85 percent of the energy is used in driving, where the hybrids have a clear
advantage. The CNW study shows these percentages to be reversed (de Fraga
[2007]), hence disadvantaging the hybrids. The problem with studies of this
na-ture is that the complicated set of assumptions can greatly influence the outcome
(as will individual driving patterns).
7When undertaking a life-cycle costing exercise using carbon allowance costs,
the issue of transaction costing versus opportunity costing needs to be
recog-nized. Some studies may take an opportunity cost approach and determine that
the freely allocated allowances are worth the same as purchased allowances.
Other studies may take a more transactional ‘‘environmental compliance
approach’’ and treat as a ‘‘hard cost’’ only the cost of purchased allowances over
the year.
As pointed out before in discussing CES accounting and assurance (see
Ap-pendix A), many accreditation approaches in the environmental arena have
dif-ferent measurement metrics. These measurement approaches also have a direct
impact on carbon cost calculations. No study or approach can be considered
de-finitive, but there is clearly a need for accurate carbon cost accounting using
life-cycle costing techniques. This accounting should consider not only costs to
bring a product or service to the point of sale, but also the carbon costs before
and after the manufacture of the product or the performance of the service. Such
costs are elaborated in Table 1.
Australia provides another example of life-cycle carbon cost accounting. The
power company, Origin Energy, began changing its environmental practices
when it audited the life cycle of its products, from production to consumption, to
discover it contributed about 30 million tones of carbon dioxide to the
environ-ment (about 8 percent of Australia’s total emissions). Since undertaking the
audit, Origin has invested $20 million in solar energy, spent an extra $500,000
converting to sustainable power for its own use, and signed up 12 percent of its
customers to a ‘‘green-power’’ alternative. The company’s work is audited by
7. In response to criticisms of its approach, CNW revised its methodological assumptions, espe-cially regarding the average driving miles of a Hummer H3 versus a Prius. This improved the Prius ranking in 2008 ($2.19, ranked 139) compared with the H3 ($2.30, ranked 154), but a host of con-ventional cars, off-roaders, and crossover vehicles still outrank the Prius. The Maybach remains the highest-cost car ($15.96, ranked 284).
TABLE
1
The
Whole-of-Life
Impact
of
Carbon
Emission
Efficiencies
on
Costs
and
Revenues
Areas of Cost Reduction or Revenue Generation via Efficient Carbon Cost Management Presale Environmental Impact Postsale Environmental Impact a Raw Materials Production waste Landfill waste Human Input Wasted time on rejects and recovery Time to separate recyclable components Traditional Overhead Expenses Electricity All of these overhead items have carbon emissions that will affect if the organization is a net-sequester or net-emitter. Techniques utilized to reduce CO 2 emissions via using alternative energy sources etc. will affect the carbon credit cost item shown under the Environmental overhead category.Rental Marketing Transportation Administration Depreciation
of Machinery After-sale Service Costs Environmental Overhead Regulatory Costs Meeting emissions standards Litigation costs of environmental pollution Waste Management Production waste Landfill waste Recycling These costs can be reduced via the proper design of components at preproduction stage. Such design costs should be amortized over life of product, via life-cycle costing. Amortization of Design Costs Carbon Credits This can be a cost or revenue item depending on if the organiza-tion is a net-sequester or net-emitter. Purchase/sale of carbon credits depending on if the organization is a net-sequester or net-emitter. Financing Costs Stock Holding Costs These costs include those of capital, excess handling, obsoles-cence, deterioration, stock administration, and insurance These costs include those relating to warranty returns such as excess handling, deterioration, stock administration, and insurance Debtors Costs None These costs include those of capital and the risk of bad debts Carbon Tax This tax could be an additional cost or revenue item (Tax Credit) depending on if the organization is a net-sequester or net-emitter No te : aT h es e p o st en v iro n me n tal co st s ca n b e in co rp o rat ed in to p ro d u ct co st s u si n g p ro b ab il it y es ti ma tes .
accounting firm Ernst and Young, which uses the International Auditing and
Assurance Standards Board framework, ISAE 3000 (Walters [2006]).
Such examples show that companies that start managing for environmental
efficiency will automatically cut costs and ultimately boost revenue by selling
credits in the emissions trading markets. In fact, a view is developing in some
businesses that a direct measurable correlation can be made between
environ-mental efficiency and economic results. For example, Westpac, one of
Austral-ia’s large banks, no longer sees carbon costing as an add-on but rather as being
central to its operations. They claim that the reduction of emissions at the bank
have significantly boosted its bottom line (Weekes [2007]).
Life-cycle costing analyses, such the Toyota Prius example illustrated above,
fall within the general area of SCM, a term first encountered in Gupta and
Govin-darajan (1984). Since then, there has been numerous articles and books on SCM
(see, Jones [1988]; Shank and Govindarajan [1989, 1992a, 1992b, 1993a, 1993b];
Simons [1990]; Ratnatunga [1983, 1999]; Ewert and Ernst [1999]). Often,
how-ever, the papers focus on only a few SCM techniques, such as lean accounting,
life-cycle costing, target costing, back-flush costing, activity-based management,
and customer profitability analysis. Despite the vast body of work in the area, and
also the global concern that resulted in the Kyoto Protocol, no paper to date
addresses SCM approaches in efficient carbon management. The research study
reported in this paper, therefore, fills a significant and important gap in literature.
To develop a comprehensive conceptual framework for the area of carbon
management including a coding and classification system required for the
quali-tative research study (detailed in Appendix B), the researchers relied on SCM
documents of the Institute of Certified Management Accountants (ICMA) in
Aus-tralia. This document was a primary basis of the respondents (ICMA members)
at the thirty-one research symposiums to study this issue (see Appendix B for
details of the study). A framework for capturing the summarized views resulting
from the discussions at the symposiums is given in Table 2.
2.2 Carbon Strategic Management Accounting
Once product costs are known, the wider issues of strategic business
accounting (comprising management accounting and business finance) need to be
considered. The term SMA has been in the management accounting literature
since Simmonds (1981) coined the term. However, similar terms such as
‘‘mar-keting accounting’’ (Ratnatunga [1983]); ‘‘competitor accounting’’ (Ratnatunga
[1983]; Jones [1988] Guilding [1999];) and ‘‘customer accounting’’ (Simmonds
[1986]; Guilding and McManus [2002]) have been used to describe similar
prac-tices. These terms essentially describe practices that occur at the interface
between accounting and other functional areas of business. All of these practices
are geared essentially toward enhancing the competitive advantage of firms
(Por-ter [1980, 1983]). Over the last twenty-five years, been numerous articles and
books have been published on SMA (see Simmonds [1982]; Bromwich [1990];
TABLE 2
Issues in Carbon Strategic Cost Management
SCM Issue Carbon Management Impact
Management Control Systems
Employee behavior modification to achieve carbon efficiency targets.
Production Management Lean production techniques. More attention to the use of energy in machinery, less materials and time wastage. Just-in-time philosophy.
Employee Safety Ensuring that low energy work environments do not cause hazardous working conditions.
Wages and Trade Union Demands
May demand more if comfort levels fall. More demands for the sharing of high carbon windfall profits.
Total Quality Management Carbon efficiency seen as part of quality equation.
Purchasing Management Production resources (components, labor, and overhead) sourced locally.
Cost Control Lean accounting. Significant attention paid to reduce carbon-emission costs. More use on back-flush costing methods.
Make or Buy Decisions Consideration given to carbon emissions when considering alternatives.
Cost Classification Carbon costs classified into direct, indirect, fixed, and variable costs. Allocating Indirect Costs Variation of ABC by having consideration of ‘‘carbon cost drivers’’
to link emission indirect overhead to products and services. Life-Cycle Costing Amortization of design costs to make products more carbon friendly
and worker training costs to reduce carbon emissions.
Target Costing Redesigning products and services to meet carbon-emission targets. Benchmarking Comparing the KPIs of world-class performers in carbon efficiency. Customer Profitability
Analysis
Segmenting customers by profitability per carbon usage.
Process Control and Activity-Based Management
Evaluating the performance of organizational processes, including white-collar departments in terms of achieving carbon efficiency KPIs.
Efficiency or Productivity Consideration given not only to economic efficiency but also to carbon usage efficiency.
Price Relationship or Re-covery
Reductions in purchase prices considered via the sale of carbon efficiency credits.
Overall Effectiveness The profitability of the bottom-line figure given in terms of both economic and environmental effectiveness.
Value-Adding/Non-Value-Adding Work
All reworks, recoveries, errors, etc. considered to be avoidable carbon-emitting activities.
Executive Information Sys-tems (EIS)
The drill-down facilities to be extended to financial and nonfinancial carbon-emitting measures.
Corporate Governance Accountability and transparency issues extended reporting on carbon management initiatives.
Enforcement and Compliance
Voluntary and mandatory enforcement of carbon-emission targets.
The Strategic Audit Extended to cover the expected future carbon footprint of the organization due to its production, marketing, logistics, capital investment, and human resource management (HRM) practices. Corporate Reputation
Audit
The evaluation of the organization’s image and brand with regards to being a responsible carbon citizen of the world.
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Wilson [1991]; Palmer [1992]; Ward [1992]; Morgan [1993]; Ratnatunga, Miller,
Mudalige, and Sohal [1993]; Lord [1996]; Tomkins and Carr [1996]; Ratnatunga
[1999]; Guilding, Cravens, and Tayles [2000]; Cravens and Guilding [2001]; Hoque
[2002]; Roslender and Hart [2003]). Despite this consistent stream of literature in the
area presenting different approaches to SMA, knowledge remains fragmented. Often,
the papers focus on a few SMA techniques, such as supply-chain management,
strate-gic pricing, and competitive position monitoring; and the extent of the use of such
techniques in practice. In spite of the vast body of work in SMA and SCM, no paper
to date addresses approaches to efficient carbon management despite the significant
global concern regarding global warming. The research study reported in this paper,
therefore, fills a significant and important gap in literature.
Table 3 summarizes the impact of SMA on carbon-emissions management
information systems resulting from the thirty-one research symposiums with
ICMA members.
The details provided in Table 3 show that carbon-emissions management cuts
across a wide spectrum of strategic issues, ranging from overall objectives to
mar-keting, new product development, pricing, international business, promotion,
sup-ply chain management, finance, and risk management. Clearly an integrative
approach, such as that suggested by Kaplan and Norton (2000), is required, with
‘‘carbon thinking’’ being an important part of the strategy focus of an organization.
This carbon-focused thinking will require new tools and management practices if
the accounting profession is to remain at the forefront of providing relevant
infor-mation for decision making in this new economic paradigm of carbonomics.
3. Conclusion
The concentrations of greenhouse gases in the atmosphere have risen
dra-matically leading to an out-of-balance greenhouse effect that most scientists
believe will continue to cause a rapid warming of the world’s climate. The
possi-bility of costly disruption from rapid climate change, either globally or locally,
calls for greater attention and precautionary measures to be put in place.
Govern-ments, business entities, and consumers would be affected by the extent to which
such precautionary measures are incorporated in their decision-making processes.
Business entities especially need to consider issues such as trading in carbon
allowances (or permits), investment in low-CO
2emission technologies, counting
the costs of carbon regularity compliance, and passing on the increased cost of
carbon regulation to consumers through higher prices. Consumers need to
con-sider whether, given the choice, they are willing to pay a higher price for CO
2-neutral products and services to play their part in reducing CO
2emissions.
These decisions and their consequences will affect the accounting profession
significantly, especially the business accounting areas of strategic cost
manage-ment and strategic managemanage-ment accounting. Information from the strategic cost
and management accounting systems will be particularly useful in this new
TABLE 3
Issues in Strategic Management Accounting
SMA Issue Carbon Management Impact
Business Policy
Primary Objective Sustainable value creation.
Competitive Advantage Carbon efficiency seen as a marketing mix variable in product differentiation. An Efficient Carbon Management (ECM) focus is also taken in cost leadership strategies.
Line of Business ECM seen as a potential line of business. Competition and Industry
Structures
Adding a sixth force to Porter’s Five Forces Model: the impact on the Industry of Carbon regulation (Porter [1980, 1983]). Gap Analysis Strategies considered to close the gap between current emission
levels and future emission targets.
Environmental Externalities Considered ‘‘internalities’’ in product-market decision making and human resource management (HRM).
Risk Management Consideration of the impact on cash flows and reputation of the company as a result of the carbon strategy positioning of the company. Risk vs. Reward outcomes (e.g., cash flow at risk) should be considered. Human Resource Management
Corporate Culture A carbon lifestyle culture from grassroots level upward. Low carbon footprint activities encouraged. Excellence sought in seeking continuous improvement in ECM.
Empowerment Employees given resources and responsibility to participate in ECM in lowering the organization’s carbon footprint.
Marketing Strategy
Products and Markets Carbon impact considerations considered systematically in all product-market strategies.
Marketing Research Undertaken to determine the needs of customers in terms of participating in reducing carbon emissions and the incremental price they are willing to pay for this (carbon consciousness). Market Segmentation Separating customers geographically, demographically, and
psychographically in terms of their carbon consciousness. Positioning Strategy Consideration of taking an ‘‘active’’ or ‘‘passive’’ positioning in
terms of ECM as a source of competitive advantage.
The Product Life Cycle (PLC) Consideration of the carbon footprint left by product throughout its life cycle, especially in the decline and obsolescence stages. Market Penetration Strategies Using carbon efficiency of existing products as an attribute to sell
more to existing carbon conscious customers.
Market Development Strategies Using carbon efficiency of existing products as an attribute to sell new carbon conscious customers in new segments.
Product Development Strategies
Incorporating carbon efficiency as an attribute in new product designs to keep existing carbon conscious customers loyal to the brand. Diversification Strategies Leaving industries that have products and markets seen as high
carbon emitting to new industries with better long-term carbon-sustainable prospects (includes investments in Joint Implementation [JI] and Clean Development Mechanisms [CDMs] under Kyoto). Experience Curves Organizations with high experience in ECM products and services
should have lower costs. Budgeting for Marketing
Activities
Budgets will incorporate ECM activities as potential revenues and cost savings. Carbon trading activities could be considered a separate line of business.
(continued )
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Product Marketing Strategies The Product Portfolio (BCG)
Matrix
Star products will have high market share and high market growth opportunities in industries with better long-term carbon sustainable prospects.
New Product Development (NPD)
Designing products and services to meet carbon-emission targets and marketing them as such.
Product Abandonment Approaches
Product review teams to consider carbon footprint in addition to profitability targets.
Inflation The passing on of mandatory carbon costs and taxes as higher prices to consumers will cause inflation.
Packaging Consideration given to carbon footprint of packaging, in terms of functionalism, convenience, recyclability, and also image. After Sales Service The carbon emission in terms of materials, labor, and overhead of
undertaking work due to meeting warranties and other after-sales services should be costed into the product.
Pricing Strategy
Pricing Analysis Carbon costs, carbon-related competitor activity, and the value of low-carbon-footprint products to carbon conscious customers should be considered in such analyses.
Elasticity of Demand The impact on demand due to changes in prices if carbon costs are incorporated.
Skimming Selling to high carbon conscious customers willing to pay a price well above costs.
Penetration Absorbing carbon costs of products and services sold to low carbon conscious customers to develop brand awareness. Productivity improvements can only be obtained either by lowering costs via ECM or changing customer carbon consciousness levels. International Business Strategy
Exporting vs. International Operations
Carbon costs can be reduced via JI and CDM investments as per the Kyoto protocol.
Price Differentials and Carbon Dumping
Competing with countries that do not have carbon costs. Influencing government policy to impose countervailing carbon taxes. Hedging Policies Ensuring that carbon credits in the overseas country is not devalued
in terms of the parent country carbon credit pricing.
Promotional Strategy Promotional ‘‘Pull’’ Strategy
(via Advertising etc.)
An Integrated Marketing Communication (IMC) approach should be taken to promote how the product or service is reducing carbon footprint, for example, via purchasing carbon offsets.
Promotional ‘‘Push’’ Strategy (via Sales Force)
Sales force budgets, targets, and incentive schemes geared toward extolling the attributes and pushing low carbon impact products. Traveling times on sales calls minimized to reduce carbon emissions. Biofuel cars used as sales vehicles.
Sales Response Functions Response of sales volume to carbon-related promotions tracked. Media Selection Strategies Electronic media given higher priority to print media to reduce paper
usage. Supply Chain Strategies
Product Distance Carbon emission measurements in terms of Product Distance. The longer the distance and the more players in the channels of distribution the higher is the carbon costs.
The Level of Service The Service-Cost Trade-off required to ensure that the right product gets to the right place at the right time should consider the carbon emissions required to provide this level of service.
Distribution Cost Accounting Computation of carbon-related costs in order processing, warehous-ing, transportation, credit control, and inventory control. Transportation and Simplex
Models
The use of these models to reduce transportation time and resulting reduction in carbon emissions.
Channel Control Consideration of the motivation, relationships, and conflict issues that arise when channels are asked to on-sell products and services using ECM approaches themselves.
Channel Adaptability Consideration of the adaptability of channels to changes in product-market combinations as a result of reducing carbon footprint. Distribution Cost Control Using ratio analysis to ensure that, in addition to economic analysis,
ECM in supply chain activities is also evaluated. Performance Evaluation
Strategic Financial Structures (Gearing)
Consideration if carbon-related investments should be financed via debt or equity. Ability to obtain shareholder and debt holder fund-ing at favorable rates due to the use of such financfund-ing in ECM activities.
Weighted Average Cost of Capital (WACC)
If financing of carbon-related investments can be isolated, then calcu-lating an organization’s carbon-related Cost of Equity and Debt to calculate its overall Carbon-WACC. The equity and debt market may value discount carbon intensive businesses (causing high financing costs) and place a value-premium on low carbon emitting businesses (causing low financing costs). Corporate Performance
Perspectives
Return on Income (ROI) and Residual Income (EVA) used to evaluate not only economic performance but ECM performance. If carbon-related revenues and costs can be isolated as a separate line of business, this will enhance the evaluation.
Strategic Value Analysis Calculation of value enhancement (or diminution) due to strategies relating to carbon-related investments and operations.
Valuing Strategic Investments Valuation premium given to investments in ECM, such as invest-ments in alternative energy assets and abatement activities. Exam-ples are wind, biomass, solar, geothermal, nuclear, and clean coal. Valuing Strategic Operations These include operational adjustments to incumbent assets, changes
to energy prices, efficiencies in waste management, purchasing, and sale of carbon credits and carbon-related taxation.
Free Cash Flows Net cash flows generated by carbon-related activities less investments in carbon-related noncurrent and current assets
The Business Value The Net Present Value of expected future cash flows generated by strategic investments and operations in carbon-related business. The Balanced Scorecard Corporate Report Card to incorporate financial and nonfinancial KPIs
with carbon focus. This could be in addition to, or incorporated with the customer, innovation, internal business processes, and financial focus.
Economic Value Added (EVA) A charge against revenue is made for the cost of investments in carbon-efficient assets. A separate carbon-EVA can be calculated if carbon-related net-income, investments, and cost of capital can be isolated.
TABLE 3 (Continued )
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CARBON BUSINESS ACCOUNTING
economy, termed carbonomics, brought on by global warming. New costing
tech-niques need to be considered to evaluate the whole-of-life costs in terms of
car-bon emissions relating to products and services. Similarly, new thinking will be
required to provide strategic management accounting information for business
policy, human resource management, marketing, new product development,
pro-motional, pricing, international business, supply chain management strategies,
and the resultant evaluation of performance evaluation.
The new paradigm of carbonomics, and the return to localization due to
place-distance carbon-emission costs (termed carbalization) will produce winners
and losers in both the product and allowances markets, as well as in
organiza-tions and countries. The cost management accounting profession must also
reen-gineer itself to be a winner in this new economic paradigm.
APPENDIX A
Measurement and Assurance Issues in Carbon Emissions Trading
One of the mechanisms of the Kyoto Protocol requires an emissions trading (known
also as
a cap-and-trade) scheme to be established in a country. It would work like this:
companies are told how much CO
2they can emit (the cap). If they produce less than the
cap, they have surplus credits for sale.
8If they emit more than their cap, they can buy
credits from other businesses that come in under their cap (the trade). Trade takes place
in an over-the-counter market, or via a carbon credit exchange trading market.
One of the earliest such trading schemes is the
European Union Emission Trading
Scheme (EU ETS), which is the world’s largest multicountry cap-and-trade system. The
EU has established a cap that limits emissions for its member states, each of which has
been given a specific number of credits. The total amount of credits cannot exceed the
cap, limiting total emissions to that level.
For a cap-and-trade scheme to work, there must be an agreed mechanism for
calcu-lating the quantum of CO
2either emitted by a source or sequestered in a biomass sink
(see Ratnatunga [2007]).
9The CES accounting mechanism must be sufficiently robust that
the carbon trading market has confidence that the amount of carbon sequestered can be
measured and considered to be equivalent in its impact on global warming potential to the
CO
2released to the atmosphere from activities producing greenhouse gases. Confidence
in the CES accounting system is fundamental to building confidence in use of CO
2sequestration in a carbon trading market, thereby underpinning growth and investment in
new carbon sequestration activity (Tandukar [2007]).
10As can be appreciated, the detailed requirements for a CES accounting system are
continually being developed by organizations such as the Intergovernmental Panel on
Cli-mate Change (IPCC [2007]) under the United Nations Framework Convention on CliCli-mate
8. Called Renewable Energy Credits (RECs).
9. These measures are referred to as ‘‘carbon emission and sequestration’’ (CES) accounting. 10. Tandukar (2007) states that forestry projects are the largest source of carbon offsets in Aus-tralia because Kyoto-compliant land (cleared before 1990) is plentiful, the science is available, and photographs of trees are good for publicity.
Change (UNFCCC). Any CES accounting standard developed by a country or
nongovern-mental organization will need to be consistent with the IPCC principles before carbon
credits generated from carbon sinks can be used in an emissions-trading regime under the
Kyoto Protocol.
In addition to the numbers generated from CES accounting, there is the issue of
assurance of the calculated numbers. Currently, similar to the situation regarding
numer-ous CES accounting methodologies and approaches, the auditing and ranking of
environ-mentally sustainable initiatives is in chaos with dozens of organizations offering assurance
services, but none are being committed to a standardized methodology for auditing or
reporting corporate effort in the carbon-emissions management area (see Walters [2006];
Ratnatunga [2007]). This paper looks beyond these CES accounting and assurance issues
and concerns, and considers the cost and managerial accounting issues that arise if and
when an
efficient carbon trading market is established in a country.
APPENDIX B
Accounting for Carbon Trading: A Qualitative Research Study
In the period from mid-2003 to early 2007, thirty-one research symposiums (one-day
each) were undertaken in Australia (eight), Canada (four), India (one), China (one), Lebanon
(two), the Philippines (one), Papua New Guinea (two), Indonesia (four), Sri Lanka (four),
Malaysia (two), Singapore (one), and United Arab Emirates (one). Countries were chosen
based on the location of an established branch of the Institute of Certified Management
Accountants (ICMA). The participants were self-selecting—the symposiums were advertised
only to members of the ICMA, and participants had to pay a fee for attending. In all, 638
respondents at the levels of cost accountant, management accountant, business analyst, chief
financial officer, and chief executive officer (or similar) participated in the study.
11The literature review undertaken before the commencement of this research study,
the coding and classification of the data, the data collection, and the discussion at the
symposiums will now be addressed.
B.1 Literature Review
There is now a significant body of literature in the academic journals in the area of
corporate social responsibility (CSR) (see Lantos [2001]; Matten and Crane [2005];
Shank, Manulland, and Hill [2005]; Ratnatunga, Vincent, and Duvall [2005]; PJCCFS
[2006]);
sustainability reporting (see European Commission [2001]; Global Reporters
[2004]; Amalric and Hauser [2005]; De Bakker, Groenewegen, and Den Hond [2005];
KPMG [2005]; Ratnatunga, Vincent, and Duvall [2005]; Salzmann, Ionescu-Somers, Steger
[2005]; GRI [2007]; DEH [2005]; CPA Australia [2005]; FEE [2006]; NIVRA [2007];
Mock, Strohm, and Swartz [2007]);
environmental accounting (Mathews [1997]; Adams
[2004]); and links between
CSR, environmental reporting, and financial performance
11. Members of the ICMA (Australia) must have a degree in accounting, specialist training in management accounting, and at least five-years relevant experience. A majority of members also have a masters in accounting or a masters of business administration.
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(Preston and O’Bannon [1997]; Waddock and Graves [1997]; Orlitzky [2001, 2005];
Orlitzky, Schmidt, and Rynes [2003]; Hopkins [2005]; Ratnatunga et al. [2005]; Shank,
Manulland, and Hill. [2005]). Surprisingly, however, very little academic literature dealt
specifically with the new information requirements in business organizations brought about
by the Kyoto Protocol.
Some reports from
governmental (COAG [2006]; Stern [2006]; DPMC [2007];
DEFRA [2007]; EC [2007]; IPCC [2007]; NSW Greenhouse Office [2007]) and
nongo-vernmental organizations (NGOs) (such as IETA [2002]; IGCC [2006]; ISO [2006]; CCE
[2007]; RGGI [2007]; World Business Council for Sustainable Development [2007]) deal
with issues of carbon trading in general terms, but again, no academic research is
refer-enced in these reports.
Early academic work specifically on the impact of the Kyoto Protocol on accounting
information and reporting systems was undertaken by Freedman and Jaggi (2005) in
studying the accounting disclosures of the largest global public firms from polluting
industries. A year later, Kundu (2006) looked at the financial aspects of carbon trading in
a professional journal article. Since then little research had been published in academic or
professional accounting journals until Callon (2008) discussed the many controversies
regarding carbon trading schemes and related measurement schemes. Much of the limited
recent academic literature, however, considered mainly the problems caused by
environ-mental accounting issues on conventional accounting reporting (see also Cook [2008];
Lohmanna [2008]). No literature available in the academic journals deals specifically with
the impact of carbon trading on
cost management and managerial accounting theory and
practice, that is, on leading rather than lagging indicators.
Undertaking an empirical-descriptive study of practices in the field is futile, because
the area is so new and there are little (if any) practices to report. What is required,
there-fore, is Ôtheory buildingÕ research of a normative or prescriptive nature. Such theory
build-ing research is just startbuild-ing in financial accountbuild-ing. This study looked instead at the cost
management and management accounting area (referred to collectively as ÔBusiness
AccountingÕ) by undertaking structured Ôqualitative research studyÕ and canvassing the
views of practitioners in the area. The literature pertaining to the areas of SCM and SMA
are covered in the main text.
B.2 Coding and Classification of Data
Whilst quantitative studies emphasize the measurement and analysis of causal
rela-tionships between variables, the word ÔqualitativeÕ implies an emphasis on process and
meanings that are not rigorously examined or measured in terms of quantity, amount,
in-tensity, or frequency. Inquiry is purported to be within a value-free framework (see
Den-zin and Lincoln [1994]). The relationships being looked for are not statistical, but
descriptive. This requires one to view the data set from an experiential perspective from
the beginning.
The biggest obstacle in qualitative research is the coding and classification of data.
As opposed to quantitative research, qualitative hypotheses and theories often emerge
from the data set while the data collection is in progress and after data analysis started
(Morse and Field [1995]).
After the collection of the data, researchers usually have what is termed a ‘‘scissor
party’’ to cut out the individual data bits and then begin the laborious task of ‘‘scanning
the data for categories of phenomena and for relationships among the categories’’ (see
Goetz and LeCompte [1981]; Carney, Joiner, and Tragou [1997]). Strauss and Corbin
(1998) also emphasize that theoretical categories are elaborated on during open and axial
coding procedures. Many qualitative researchers have, therefore, to continually examine
the collected data (which, in the case of this study, consisted of transcriptions of
inter-views), for descriptions, patterns, and relationships between categories, and tack backward
and forward between literature and data, which then leads to the development of a number
of theoretical categories (Spiggle [1994]). In this process, the researchers involved with
the study, independently develop categories, and then collectively look at each other’s
individual category sets for some agreed order in the classification.
This research study avoided this tacking back and forth aspect of the coding and
classi-fication process by approaching the data collection in a very structured manner. This was
done by using the classification framework provided in the syllabuses (theory) of the two
Institute of Certified Management Accountants (ICMA) subjects covering the syllabuses of
ÔStrategic Cost Management (SCM)Õ and ÔStrategic Management Accounting (SMA)Õ. The
reason for using this theoretical framework for coding and classification purposes (rather
than allow the classifications to emerge from the data) is elaborated in the main text.
B.3 Data Collection and Discussion at the Symposiums
The tools and techniques of SCM and SMA as well as issues of global warming and
carbon trading and the impact of these on the business accounting profession was the
focus of discussion at the symposiums. The theory of SCM and SMA were first discussed
in the seminars, and then the carbon-related issues were addressed and participant views
canvassed. Although the discussion of issues was free flowing, the researchers guided the
discussion to the carbon-emissions area. In the seminars there were always at least two
researchers who were involved in the project present, and the main consensus of the
dis-cussion was agreed by the researchers and the seminar participants and then summarized
and captured and classified electronically at the seminar. The key points extracted from
the symposiums are presented in Tables 2 and 3. Whilst not all issues listed in the Tables
were discussed at every seminar, every issue was discussed in at a minimum of three of
the thirty-one seminars conducted. Some key issues—especially those relating to the
impact of carbon-emissions management on lean manufacturing, life-cycle costing,
mar-keting communication, and cost of capital—were discussed in almost all seminars.
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