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Professor of Accounting in the Business School+44 (0) 191 33 45425

Biography

Professor Carol Adams MSc PhD CA FAICD is an internationally recognised researcher in corporate accounting and reporting and its role in the relationships between business, society and the environment. Her research has been published in Accounting Organizations and Society, Accounting Auditing and Accountability Journal, British Accounting Review, European Accounting Review, Accounting and Business Research, Critical Perspectives on Accounting, Abacus, Sustainability Accounting Management and Policy Journal, Financial Accountability and Management, Accounting Forum, Business Strategy and Environment

Carol’s work has accrued approx. 20,000 citations and her Google Scholar H Index is 52. Her 2002 and 2004 sole authored articles are the 8th and 11th most cited articles in the Accounting, Auditing and Accountability Journal where she has four of the top 40 cited papers published in the journal’s 30 year history. She also has the 2nd most cited article in the British Accounting Review; the 4th most cited article in Critical Perspectives in Accounting; the 5th most cited article in Accounting Forum; and, the 5th and 7th most cited articles in the Sustainability Accounting Management and Policy Journal 

Carol has received research funding from the Australian Research Council, ESRC, UNCTAD-ISAR and several international professional accounting bodies. 

Carol is Founding Editor and Editor-in-Chief of the Sustainability Accounting, Management and Policy Journal which she established to promote research that addresses practice and policy issues capable of improving the relationships between accounting, organisations and sustainable development. 

Carol has sought to advance practice and policy with respect to integrating sustainability considerations into organisations through applied research, leadership, standard setting, advisory work and educating the next generation of business leaders for over two decades. She has authored several industry/professional reports, has made submissions to numerous public consultations and writes on her website at https://drcaroladams.net/ 

Policy influencing work

Carol is currently Chair of the Global Reporting Initative's (GRI) Global Sustainability Standards Board, a member of the Australian Accounting Standards Board's Sustainability Reporting Project Advisory Panel. She served as technical expert to the UNDP's SDG Impact Team in 2020 and 2021 contributing to the development of SDG Impact Standards. She is a past Chair of GRI's Stakeholder Council, on which she served from 2013-2019). She is currently Chair of the Institute of Chartered Accountants of Scotland’s (ICAS) Sustainability Panel and member of their Policy Leadership Board. She is also currently a member of the Taxonomy Advisory Group for the Australian Sustainable Finance Initiative. She served on the ACCA's Global Forum on Sustainability (2011-2021) and the Climate Disclosure Standards Board’s Technical Working Group (2015-2021). She was a member of the International Integrated Reporting Council’s Capitals Technical Collaboration Group.

Advisory work

Carol consults to multi-national companies and other organisaitons on corporate reporting and integrating sustainability into business practices. She is currently working with CIPFA to update their public sector sustainablity reporting guidelines. Recent assignments include work with the Royal Bank of Scotland, Cbus Superannuation Fund (Australia) and Baillie Gifford.

Background and Leadership

Carol has a financial audit background with KPMG and qualified as a Chartered Accountant with ICAS. She holds an MSc in Accounting and Finance from the London School of Economics and a PhD in International Corporate Reporting from the University of Glasgow. She has held senior management positions in Universities including as Head of School, Faculty Acting Dean and Pro Vice-Chancellor (Sustainability) and has previously held Professor of Accounting positions at Monash University and the University of Glasgow. She has served on a number of Boards in the finance, education and not-for-profit sectors. She has also served as a member of the Sustainability Advisory Board for Fuji Xerox Australia and Sustainability Leadership Advisor to the Commonwealth Education Trust. She is a Fellow of the Australian Institute of Company Directors (FAICD). She is an Honorary Research Fellow at Leuphana Universität Lüneburg.

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Mini Biography

Professor Carol Adams MSc PhD CA FAICD is an internationally recognised researcher in corporate accounting and reporting and its role in the relationships between business, society and the environment. She is founding editor and Editor-in-Chief of the Sustainability Accounting, Management and Policy Journal.

Research interests

  • Sustainable Development Goals
  • Corporate reporting
  • Integrated reporting
  • Sustainability reporting
  • Integrating sustainability into corporate practices

Esteem Indicators

  • 2023: Chair, Global Sustainability Standards Board, GRI:
  • 2022: Member of the Australian Accounting Standards Board's Sustainability Reporting Advisory Panel:
  • 2021: Chair, Sustainability Panel, Institute of Chartered Accountants of Scotland since 2021 (member since2014):
  • 2021: Member, Policy Leadership Board, Institute of Chartered Accountants of Scotland since 2021:
  • 2020: Member, Public Finance International Advisory Panel, Chartered Institute of Public Finance and Accountancy since 2020:
  • 2020: Technical Expert, UNDP SDG Impact Team 2020-2021:
  • 2019: Chair, Global Reporting Initiative (GRI) Stakeholder Council 2017-2019:
  • 2015: Member, Climate Disclosure Standards Board Technical Working Group 2015-2021:
  • 2015: Fellow, Australian Institute of Company Directors:
  • 2013: Member, Global Reporting Initiative (GRI) Stakeholder Council 2013-2019:
  • 2011: Member, Global Sustainability Forum, ACCA, 2011-2021:
  • 2011: Winner: Best First Time report, ACCA Sustainability Reporting Awards 2011: Led the team that developed the report as PVC (Sustainability) at La Trobe University
  • 2009: Founding Editor, Editor-in-Chief, Sustainability Accounting, Management and Policy Journal:

Publications

Authored book

Chapter in book

Edited book

Journal Article

Monograph

Newspaper/Magazine Article

Other (Print)

Report

Supervision students