Opening the black box of accounting for Greenhouse Gas Emissions: The different views of institutional bodies and firms

Abstract This paper highlights the current accounting approaches to greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions. In particular, it explores and critically discusses the treatment of emission rights (ER) under carbon trading schemes from two distinct angles. On the one hand, it reviews the domestic solutions adopted by accounting bodies and, on the other, it examines current practices followed by firms in the European Energy Exchange (EEX). Regarding the former group, there are substantial differences, which would suggest some potential difficulties in finding a common solution for the future. Not surprisingly, there is still a diversity of approaches with regard to how firms report ER. Although the most…