Clean Energy 101: Carbon Accounting

The document defines carbon accounting as the practice of quantifying and reporting greenhouse gas emissions to set reduction targets. It traces the evolution of environmental reporting from the 1987 Montreal Protocol and the 1997 Kyoto Protocol to the establishment of the Greenhouse Gas Protocol. The text distinguishes between attributional accounting, which identifies where emissions occur, and consequential accounting, which measures system-wide changes resulting from specific actions. It argues that while attributional accounting is standard, organizations must adopt both methods in tandem and move toward near real-time assessments to effectively implement climate commitments and legislation like the US Inflation Reduction Act.

• The Greenhouse Gas Protocol categorizes emissions into three scopes: Scope 1 covers direct emissions from owned or controlled sources; Scope 2 covers indirect emissions from purchased energy; and Scope 3 covers all other indirect emissions in a company's value chain. Scope 3 is noted as the most difficult to measure and is estimated by the CDP to represent approximately 75 percent of all emissions.
• There are two primary methods of carbon accounting: attributional accounting, which quantifies total emissions within a defined scope of responsibility, and consequential accounting, which measures the system-wide change in emissions resulting from a specific decision or action.
• The document argues that static inventories and attributional accounting alone are insufficient for the current climate crisis. Organizations need to use both attributional and consequential accounting in tandem and move toward near real-time assessments to guide decision-making and meet targets, such as those set by the US Inflation Reduction Act or private sector pledges for 2030.

APA

RMI (2023). Clean Energy 101: Carbon Accounting. https://rmi.org/resources/clean-energy-101-carbon-accounting/

Chicago

RMI. Clean Energy 101: Carbon Accounting. 2023. https://rmi.org/resources/clean-energy-101-carbon-accounting/.

Wikipedia

{{cite report |author=RMI |title=Clean Energy 101: Carbon Accounting |date=9 February 2023 |url=https://rmi.org/resources/clean-energy-101-carbon-accounting/ |access-date=23 October 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@techreport{rmi2023clean, author = {{RMI}}, title = {{Clean Energy 101: Carbon Accounting}}, institution = {RMI}, year = {2023}, month = feb, url = {https://rmi.org/resources/clean-energy-101-carbon-accounting/}, urldate = {2026-10-23}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }