The Role of Accounting in the Sustainability Transition

Abstract

　This paper examines the role of accounting in sustainability transitions. First, an overview of sustainability transition research focusing on the shift from a large-scale centralized to a smallscale decentralized electricity system in Japan is provided. It is shown that even the massive shock of the nuclear accident to the landscape did not result in a bottom-up transition from niches. Then, the existence of accounting rules that favor regime actors is introduced as one of the factors behind this failure of transition. This case study reveals that the transition to a sustainable future involves value-based issues, such as what kind of society is considered sustainable and how to allocate the impact of the transition to each actor. Therefore, based on the concept of “public accounting” and the proposal “from accountability to business ethics,” this paper concludes by acknowledging that accounting depends on accountants’“ values about the state of society.” While this conclusion may be a commonplace one, it confirms the importance of forming and maintaining accountants’ ethics through practice in specific social contexts.