A solution for pollution

Abstract: With consideration to the rising demand for sustainability reporting and transparency in the documentation of environmental progress, this thesis provides an in-depth investigation of the carbon accounting process. To answer how carbon accounting is performed and how the design of the process is influenced by its different areas of use, a qualitative interview-based case study has been performed at a Swedish construction company. The analysis is based on a framework developed through a combination of the ideas by Kazemian et al. (2022) and Bowen and Wittneben (2011), structuring the findings according to the different phases of the process and providing an analysis assessing its functionality. The findings show that the accuracy of results is valued highly internally in the company and among external stakeholders, resulting in a trade-off dilemma between focusing on providing accurate information and focusing on efforts to reduce emissions. Furthermore, the findings show that a challenge that needs consideration is the acquisition of comparable results across firms, an ideal that still needs to be realised.