Estimating scope 3 greenhouse gas emissions through the shareholder network of publicly traded firms

Bibliographic Data

ID12950735
AuthorsCristian Mejía (0000-0002-3465-4761, The University of Tokyo, corresponding author), Yuya Kajikawa (0000-0003-3577-5167, The University of Tokyo)
Year2024
Volume19
Issue4
Pages1409-1425
Publication date2024-02-22
Peer ReviewedYes
Open AccessYes
TypeARTICLE
VenueSustainability Science (JOURNAL)
Journal identifiersISSN: 1862-4057 • E-ISSN: 1862-4065
PublisherSpringer Science+Business Media (PUBLISHER • DE)
DOI10.1007/s11625-023-01460-8
OpenAlexW4392032250
LanguageEN
Citations received2
References cited52

Accounting for scope 3 emissions from investments remains a challenge due to a lack of adequate data and guidelines that do not accommodate the systemic role of firms in the financial chain. Here, we use network analysis to estimate investment-associated scope 3 carbon emissions of public firms. Using shareholder data from publicly traded firms listed on the Tokyo Stock Exchange, we identified the most influential firms by their ownership share values. Environmental responsibility can then be assigned by distributing the carbon footprint in the network to each of these influential firms. The industrial services, including trading and manufacturing, and financial services industries were found to be the largest source of scope 3 emissions in the investment network. In particular, the influential role of financial firms is reflected by having the largest increase in carbon allocation after the adjustment. This research contributes to ongoing efforts to improve carbon disclosure through methods that accommodate complex interactions among firms and to quantitatively reveal the overlooked responsibility of investors in carbon emissions

Biology · Business · Corporate governance · Economics · Environmental economics · Environmental resource management · Greenhouse gas · Landscape ecology · Natural resource economics · Scope (computer science · Shareholder · Sustainable development · Climate Change Policy and Economics · Computer Science · Energy, Environment, Economic Growth · Environmental Science · Environmental Sustainability in Business · Ecology · Finance

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Open DOIOpen Access