CARBON ACCOUNTING IN THE PUBLIC SECTOR – CHALLENGES, APPROACHES AND PERSPECTIVES FOR MUNICIPALITIES

Abstract

Nowadays, combating climate change and its effects due to the anthropogenic greenhouse effect is one of the central challenges for society and politics in order to prevent  further increase of greenhouse gases in the atmosphere and thus become climate neutral. An indispensable prerequisite for the selection, implementation and monitoring of the effectiveness of measures to reduce greenhouse gas emissions is the measurement and accounting of emissions through the implementation of a carbon accounting system. Compared to companies, the topic of carbon accounting at the municipality level has so far received less public attention. Therefore, this paper deals with the specific challenges, the approaches and the perspectives of municipal carbon accounting.