This study examines (i) how companies perceive climate change impacts in terms of
opportunities or threats and the reasons for these perceptions, and (ii) use of management
accounting practices to manage carbon emissions and the relationship between climate
change perceptions and accounting use. The sample consists of Australian companies
that participated in the Carbon Disclosure Project (CDP) 2009 survey. We fnd that how
climate change impacts are framed (as threat or opportunity) influences the use of planning
and target setting, performance measurement and incentivisation in managing emissions.
However, in general, use of accounting practices in managing carbon emissions is limited