The vast majority of scientists agree that our climate is undergoing dramatic changes as the result of human activities. Although such alterations have been present since the industrial revolution, the acceleration in energy production, manufacturing, transportation, and agriculture (among others) have been unprecedented in recent decades, causing significant rises in carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gases. The result is increasingly frequent extreme weather events such as hurricanes, floods, winter storms, droughts, heatwaves and wildfires. 

Accountants have an important role to play in tackling this issue, as highlighted in the articles below. Sukhdev (2012) discusses how accounting agencies can crafting measures that account for carbon emissions, environmental sustainability and climate risk. Overpick and Conde (2019) also highlight how we need to co-construct governance systems that incorporate different stakeholders (e.g., the government and at-risk communities). Roulet and Bothello (2020) note how new movements around “degrowth” are reshaping time horizons around consumption, which creates new opportunities for the time value of money.