Developing tools to support organisations with Net Zero goals

Overview

Public and private organisations are now under intense pressure from different stakeholder groups to take more responsibility in reducing the negative impact of climate change and achieving the United Nation’s sustainable development goals (UN SDGs). One of the urgent goals is “climate action” (Goal 13) by “Taking urgent action to combat climate change and its impacts”.

Under this pressure, organisations have set ambitious Net Zero targets to track their carbon footprint by calculating identifying ways to reduce their emissions.

This research project aims to develop a combined accounting and simulation tool to support organisations in their decision-making to reduce their carbon footprint. The tool will serve two functions:

· Calculate the carbon footprint of organisations’ operations using accounting principles

· Forecast carbon emissions into the future and run scenarios to identify the impact of emission reduction strategies i.e. carbon offset, carbon capture, circular economy, etc.

The PhD will undertake a mixed methods approach, including

· Qualitative research methods i.e. interviews to understand current practices in organisations of the chosen sector

· Quantitative research methods i.e. questionnaire surveys to collect data on carbon emission of organizations

· Develop a combined simulation-accounting tool that can support organisations with their decision-making.

The student will undertake the following activities:

· Literature research to understand the current state of the art on carbon footprint calculation for their chosen sector

· Empirical research (qualitative and quantitative) to understand current practices within organisations

· Tool development for organizations to capture carbon footprint and forecast future carbon emissions.

There is flexibility in the choice of sector or type of organisation based on the applicant’s preference. Candidates are welcome to propose a sector or organisation they are familiar or interested to work with.

This project intends to contribute not only to academic knowledge but also to the practical implementation of sustainability and Net Zero by businesses and organizations.

Members of the supervisory team have a strong track record and have lead a number of projects in NetZero, sustainability and circular economy, hence the candidates will be working with an internationally renown team of academics in their research fields (operations research and accounting).