Exploring the perceptions of emissions liability management in corporate carbon accounting

Numerous countries, organizations and entities have pledged to reach net zero goals in carbon and other greenhouse gas emissions by the year 2050. Road to achieving this collective goal passes through a reliable accounting method and a robust system that ensures emissions removed from the atmosphere indefinitely. Emissions Liability Management (ELM) framework, which is proposed by Roston et al. (2023) comprises both requirements. Framework is stating that firms should match their emissions with reverse removal assets and only emit carbon if the firm is adding more value than cost of removing carbon matching the duration of emissions. This study explores Emissions Liability Management (ELM) in corporate strategies through qualitative methods. Given the concept has been proposed in the recent years, there are limited or little if any research in literature on the applicability of ELM. To achieve this purpose, in-depth interviews with industry experts and corporate executives based in Türkiye with notable ESG practices was conducted. The methodological approach is based on Best-Worst method and open-ended interview questions. The results emphasize that corporate executives prioritize the advantage coming from cost and risk reduction while considering integration ELM to strategy. The data obtained from the interviews shows that ELM is considered an applicable concept if several variables come together, integrating would presents a confident stance and gives a positive signal to all stakeholders.