Carbon Measures Global Accounting Group to Form Independent Panel

Carbon Measures will create an independent panel that will guide the work of this global carbon accounting initiative, according to its CEO.

The group, which was founded a week earlier by ExxonMobil and other members such as BASF, Banco Santander and BASF, is aiming to develop a system of accounting to eliminate double counting and reward those who become more sustainable.

Amy Brachio, CEO of Carbon Measures, said that other supporters include Abu Dhabi National Oil Company, Bayer, Linde, EQT, and Mitsubishi Heavy Industries.

There are other carbon accounting guidelines, like the Greenhouse Gas Protocol. However, comparing companies is difficult. Carbon Measures wants to develop a ledger system for countries within the next two-years.

Brachio was formerly the global vice-chair of sustainability for EY.

She added, "If industries and markets must move together as a unit, there is a level playing ground that encourages investment in innovation."

Carbon Measures will, with the International Chamber of Commerce's (ICC) help, appoint academics, accountants, business leaders, and civil society representatives to the independent panel that will help design a global accounting system.

The activities of the group will include assessing current approaches, addressing challenges and developing roadmaps for product implementation and policy implementation.

Andrew Wilson, deputy-secretary-general of ICC, stated that 10 years after the Paris Agreement was signed, companies need a standardised accounting method to accelerate their actions. The initiative has the potential to "be a game changer".

Brachio, a professor of public policy at the University of Oxford and director of its Transformational Leadership Fellowship, will co-chair a panel of independent experts alongside Karthik Ramanna.

Ramanna said that the initiative was similar to efforts made 90 years ago when the Generally Accepted Accounting Principles were established.

Ramanna concluded that "if done correctly, these principles could bring the full power and potential of capitalism to bear to accelerate decarbonisation as well as drive energy abundance." (Reporting and editing by Susan Fenton, Alexander Smith, and Simon Jessop)

(source: Reuters)