Accounting

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Accounting decision making for carbon

• Jan Bebbington
• (Prof. of Accountancy and Sustainable
  Development, University of St Andrews
  Vice-Chair Scotland, Sustainable Development
  Commission)

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Outline of talk

• Top down versus bottom up
• From modelling impacts to making decisions
• Questions/observations/discussion

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Three generic decision making approaches

• Indicators
• List of things of relevance
• Indicators with an evaluation framework
• List with some rule about summing these aspects
  together/relative weight attached to each aspect
• Monetized models
• Aspects converted into money and mapped together

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Indicators

• Eg Scottish Government national indicators and
  targets (within performance framework)
• Can be systematic/organised
• Drivers, pressures, states, impacts, responses
• Provides glimpses easy but not
  sophisticated (assumes everything matters equally
  or does not specify relative weights)

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Indicators with rules
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TRANSPORT MODEL SCORING SYSTEM Access to/around region Commuting time savings Quality of travelling experience Work freight travel time savings Development of social infrastructure Air quality outcomes Project efficiency Regional economic growth Community identity and belonging Noise outcomes Vehicle operating cost savings Water quality outcomes Visual and landscape outcomes Sense of safety Transport safety Awareness of conservation STORMWATER MODEL SCORING SYSTEM Water quality outcomes Public health consequences of water based recreation Regional economic growth Visual and landscape outcomes Community identity and belonging Awareness of conservation Opportunities for water based recreation Opportunities for land based recreation Project efficiency Sense of safety Weighting 9.8 9.8 9.2 7.8 7.0 6.6 6.2 6.2 5.8 5.3 5.1 4.5 4.4 4.4 4.2 3.6 50 8 6 6 6 6 6 4 4 4
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A monetized model
ve
All figures are in monetary units
-ve
capitals
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Summary

• Approaches
• Relative strengths weaknesses
• Not mutually exclusive
• Modelling versus assessment
• Here is a range of impacts versus this is carbon
  responsible/sustainable development decision
  making (or not)

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Questions, observations, conversation?