Zheng Yikun, Yu Haishan, Zhang Yuquan
China-UK Low Carbon College, Shanghai Jiao Tong University, 3 Yinlian Rd, Pudong New District, Shanghai, 201306, People's Republic of China.
Environ Sci Pollut Res Int. 2022 Feb;29(7):9393-9407. doi: 10.1007/s11356-021-17600-5. Epub 2021 Dec 1.
A social science perspective to carbon accounting is essential for determining the appropriate allocation of reduction responsibility, and thus contributing to addressing the climate crisis. It is crucial to have a comprehensive review of the literature in this field to better understand how relevant research has evolved, and to identify gaps that future studies need to work on. Based on the bibliographic database from the Web of Science (WOS), we identified 897 publications relevant to carbon accounting in the social sciences published between 1997 and 2020. Bibliometric analysis is applied to analyze the trends and features of carbon accounting research in the social sciences. The results show that international trade has spurred considerable scholarly interest in responsibility allocation from a consumption perspective. IO (input-output) analysis that can be used to derive embodied emissions in trade has therefore become the most popular method in this domain. It is also revealed that few publications have addressed quantification of emissions at organizational level. In consideration of the importance of organizations especially corporations in emission reduction, a shift of priority to this particular area is needed for further research. Carbon label and supply chain have emerged as a subject in keywords analysis, but have not been addressed enough either. To achieve carbon neutrality, solely relying on actions at country and organizational level may not be sufficient. Greener consumption behaviors of the public and individuals could play a remarkable role. Thus, it is important to formulate a consistent framework for labeling carbon embodied in products and investigate the drivers of consumers' low-carbon choices.
从社会科学角度看待碳核算对于确定减排责任的合理分配至关重要，从而有助于应对气候危机。全面回顾该领域的文献对于更好地理解相关研究的发展历程以及找出未来研究需要解决的差距至关重要。基于科学网（WOS）的文献数据库，我们确定了1997年至2020年间发表的897篇与社会科学中的碳核算相关的出版物。运用文献计量分析方法来分析社会科学中碳核算研究的趋势和特征。结果表明，国际贸易引发了从消费角度对责任分配的大量学术关注。因此，可用于推导贸易中隐含排放的投入产出（IO）分析已成为该领域最受欢迎的方法。研究还发现，很少有出版物涉及组织层面的排放量化。鉴于组织尤其是企业在减排中的重要性，进一步研究需要将重点转移到这一特定领域。碳标签和供应链在关键词分析中已成为一个主题，但也未得到充分探讨。要实现碳中和，仅依靠国家和组织层面的行动可能并不够。公众和个人更环保的消费行为可能会发挥显著作用。因此，制定一个统一的产品碳含量标签框架并研究消费者低碳选择的驱动因素非常重要。
