Carbon Tagging System: A Conceptual Framework For Enhancing Carbon Accountability And Sustainable Decision-Making

Abstract

The accelerating climate crisis has made transparent and verifiable carbon accountability an urgent global priority. Yet existing mechanisms—such as ESG disclosures, carbon credit systems, and corporate reporting frameworks—remain largely business-centric and inaccessible to consumers. This paper proposes and conceptualizes the Carbon Tagging System (CTS), a patented, technology-enabled framework that assigns measurable and verifiable carbon tags to products, services, and processes across their lifecycle. CTS integrates five interdependent layers—Measurement, Tagging, Disclosure, Incentive, and Governance—to create an end-to-end accountability ecosystem. Grounded in stakeholder theory, institutional theory, and behavioral economics, the framework connects environmental data with consumer decision-making through standardized visual labels, digital verification, and incentive mechanisms. The study contributes to sustainability and ESG literature by introducing a micro-level transparency tool that translates complex carbon accounting into intuitive public communication. It also outlines managerial, policy, and societal implications, highlighting how CTS can strengthen corporate legitimacy, enhance consumer trust, and inform regulatory innovation. The paper concludes by identifying methodological challenges and directions for empirical validation, positioning CTS as both a theoretical advancement and a practical pathway toward democratized carbon governance and conscious consumption.