Mercedez-Benz Lecture

Counting Carbon

The task of monitoring, measuring, and assigning responsibility for greenhouse gas emissions has assumed considerable urgency given recent efforts to limit global climate change. In this talk, Stuart Kirsch examines the assumptions, practices, and standards of the emerging field of carbon accounting, which is central to efforts to decarbonize the economy and trade carbon credits. Drawing on insights from his ethnographic research on climate-change think-tanks and consulting companies that provide training and carbon-accounting services to private- and public-sector clients, Kirsch offers a powerful glimpse into the complex mathematical calculations that underpin global responses to climate change.