Accounting research and the energy transition agenda; a literature review

Abdulai Enusah

Sustainability Accounting, Management and Policy Journal, 2025, vol. 16, issue 6, 1749-1778

Abstract: PurposeThis study aims to review the accounting literature on renewable energy and offers guidance to enhance accounting research’s contribution to the energy transition agenda.Design/methodology/approachThis study applies bibliometric and systematic review techniques to 225 peer-reviewed papers downloaded from the Web of Science and Scopus databases. A thematic analysis is applied to generate suitable themes for discussions.FindingsThe analysis reveals that current accounting research on renewable energy is dominated by country-level investigations on environmentally related taxes and fiscal incentives, as well as the governance and accountability implications of energy transition. The analysis also reveals that current governance and accountability systems cannot adequately advance the “just transition agenda”.Research limitations/implicationsWhile comprehensive, this literature review makes no claim to include all relevant papers except those most pertinent to the research focus.Practical implicationsThis study highlights the need for more targeted accounting research on sustainable development goal 7 (SDG 7), emphasising a shift from general environmental, social and governance studies to SDG-specific accounting research.Social implicationsThis paper shows how accounting can inform and influence the public debate and awareness on renewable energy and its role in addressing global challenges. It also highlights the need for more accounting research on the social and ethical aspects of renewable energy, such as the distributional effects, human rights, justice issues and social and behavioural factors. This paper suggests that accounting can contribute to the social transformation of energy systems by providing critical insights, evidence and recommendations.Originality/valueTo the best of the author’s knowledge, this study presents the first systematic literature review, specifically examining the accounting implications of energy transition and its relation to SDG 7.

Keywords: Renewable energy; SDG 7; Accounting research; Literature review (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2025
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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:eme:sampjp:sampj-07-2023-0491

DOI: 10.1108/SAMPJ-07-2023-0491

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