The Nitty Gritty of Carbon Accounting: Enablers, Barriers, Reporting, and Strategies

ABSTRACT Carbon accounting is the monitoring and recording of greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions to mitigate and manage carbon emissions. There are numerous singular studies on carbon accounting across geographies and industries. However, there is a need for a comprehensive study discussing carbon accounting enablers, barriers, policy, and reporting landscape and strategies. This study applies a mixed‐method approach to present insights into its enablers, barriers, policy, and reporting landscape and strategies with the help of two integrated studies in this paper. Study A systematically reviews the contemporary literature to identify the thematic focus of carbon accounting literature. The systematic literature review (SLR) conducted on a sample of 53 shortlisted studies comprehends carbon accounting enablers, barriers, policies, and reporting aspects, along with presenting the carbon accounting strategies to reduce and mitigate carbon emissions. The Study B incorporates an empirical analysis of the qualitative responses gathered through essay‐based questions designed to list potential carbon accounting strategies articulated by industry experts. This study offers theoretical, practical, and policy implications for all the stakeholders: firm‐level managers; city, regional, or national level officers; accounting professionals; investors; sustainable finance providers; and carbon policymakers.