Encyclopedia of Corporate Social Responsibility

2013 Edition
| Editors: Samuel O. Idowu, Nicholas Capaldi, Liangrong Zu, Ananda Das Gupta

Carbon Footprint

Reference work entry
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-642-28036-8_38
How to cite

Synonyms

Carbon cost; Carbon dioxide emissions; Carbon emissions; Greenhouse gas footprint

Definition

Carbon footprint is widely defined as the amount of carbon (usually in tons) that is emitted during a process or by an organization or entity. It is a popular metric that appeared in media, conferences, and government and environmental institute’s reports as pressure from the public concerning pollution and its impact on human health mounted. It is generally used as a measure of atmospheric pollution due to anthropogenic activities.

Introduction

The concern of the public about the climate change and the future of our environment led public bodies and governments to develop metrics for measuring such impact. Footprint frameworks are ideal for such measurements as they enable us to address the problem in a comprehensive way that does not simply shift the burden from one natural system to another. A case for such framework that preexisted the carbon footprint is the ecological footprint....

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References and Readings

  1. European Union Emissions Trading Scheme. http://ec.europa.eu/clima/policies/ets/index_en.htm. Accessed on Nov 2011.
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  7. Wiedmann, T., & Minx, J. (2008). A definition of ‘carbon footprint.’ In Pertsova, C. C. (Ed.), Ecological economics research trends (Vol. 1, chap. 1, pp. 1–11). Hauppauge: Nova Science.Google Scholar
  8. Wiedmann, T., Minx, J., Barrett, J., & Wackernagel, M. (2006). Allocating ecological footprints to final consumption categories with input-output analysis. Ecological Economics, 56(1), 28–48.Google Scholar

Copyright information

© Springer-Verlag Berlin Heidelberg 2013

Authors and Affiliations

  1. 1.Business, Health and TechnologyHigher Colleges of TechnologyAbu DhabiUnited Arab Emirates