Net zero’s catalyst
By converting net zero transition costs into assets, Rethinking Capital's proposals provide a transformative way to rethink and value climate action.
Meredith Sumpter
CEO, Council for Inclusive Capitalism
Full Quote
Swipe for more
Vlad Kaim
Full Quote
Edward Jung
A balance sheet must represent the diverse sources of value to properly incentivize a modern organization in the world of global diversity, human agency, ESG, and intangibles. Normative accounting is the solution.
Edward Jung
Founder and CTO of Intellectual Ventures and former Chief Architect of Microsoft
Full Quote
Swipe for more
Meredith Sumpter
Full Quote
Dr Dominic Emery
A GAAP for our times. Normative accounting provides a key to unlock investments for the great climate transition. Like with all great ideas, this one is supremely simple and based on centuries of double-entry bookkeeping
Dr Dominic Emery
Energy Transition Advisor and former Chief of Staff at bp
Full Quote
Swipe for more
Edward Jung
Full Quote
Paul Smith
ESG’s paradigm shift… Corporations and investors need to know how to meet their fiduciary duties in a post ESG world. Normative accounting is a substantial part of the answer…if the plan to get it blessed as an interpretation of existing accounting standards in 2023 is followed, that would be game-changing across capital markets.
Paul Smith
Former President and CEO of CFA Institute and Founding Partner at SustainFinance
Full Quote
Swipe for more
Dr Dominic Emery
Full Quote
Aniket Shah
ESG’s evolution into accounting. CIO’s and ESG investors are asking “what’s next?” Normative accounting informs the most material decisions - those made by boards to allocate capital into environmental and social programs… it could be the simple bridge that’s needed - and there’s nothing to stop both groups demanding those decisions to be made and reported.
Aniket Shah
Managing Director and Global Head of ESG and Sustainability Strategy at Jefferies Group LLC
Full Quote
Swipe for more
Paul Smith
Full Quote
Emily Farnworth
It is exciting to see Rethinking Capital’s fresh approach to enabling more transparent accounting that can facilitate improved board-level understanding and stewardship of intangible assets to accelerate the net zero transition.
Emily Farnworth
Director of the Centre for Climate Engagement, Hughes Hall, Cambridge
Full Quote
Swipe for more
Aniket Shah
Full Quote
David de Weerdt
A fair value exchange for Masai stewardship. Normative accounting for intangibles assigns fair value to Masai stewardship of vital East African ecosystems and will reward funders for doing the right thing.
David de Weerdt
Special Advisor, Masai Elders Council of Kenya
Full Quote
Swipe for more
Emily Farnworth
Full Quote
Thomas Scott
Rethinking Capital’s proposals have the potential to significantly improve the information available to management in allocating resources and managing operations. The proposals should also significantly improve the information available to external stakeholders for decisions concerning their investments in and support of a reporting entity.
Thomas Scott
Former Board Member International Accounting Standards Board
Full Quote
Swipe for more
David de Weerdt
Full Quote
David Orban
Accounting's power lies in its ability to shape how we see the world. By accounting for intangibles, (normative accounting) transforms net-zero from cost to asset, redirecting capital flows towards the thriving, regenerative future we wish to see.
David Orban
Managing Advisor Beyond Enterprizes
Full Quote
Swipe for more
Thomas Scott
Full Quote
Vlad Kaim
I was delighted to hear about publishing of the briefing note…on normative accounting for intangibles…the corporate world needs to normalize sticking by their net zero targets as a contributor to goodwill and asset in its own right!
Vlad Kaim
UN Secretary General's Youth Climate Advisor (2020-2023)
Full Quote
Swipe for more
David Orban
Full Quote
Meredith Sumpter
By converting net zero transition costs into assets, Rethinking Capital's proposals provide a transformative way to rethink and value climate action.
Meredith Sumpter
CEO, Council for Inclusive Capitalism
< Edward Jung
David de Weerdt >
A balance sheet must represent the diverse sources of value to properly incentivize a modern organization in the world of global diversity, human agency, ESG, and intangibles. Normative accounting is the solution.
Edward Jung
FOUNDER AND CTO OF INTELLECTUAL VENTURES AND FORMER CHIEF ARCHITECT OF MICROSOFT
< Dr Dominic Emery
Meredith Sumpter >
A fair value exchange for Masai stewardship. Normative accounting for intangibles assigns fair value to Masai stewardship of vital East African ecosystems and will reward funders for doing the right thing.
David de Weerdt
Special Advisor, Masai Elders Council of Kenya
< Meredith Sumpter
Paul Smith >
Meredith Sumpter
Paul Smith
ESG’s paradigm shift… Corporations and investors need to know how to meet their fiduciary duties in a post ESG world. Normative accounting is a substantial part of the answer…if the plan to get it blessed as an interpretation of existing accounting standards in 2023 is followed, that would be game-changing across capital markets.
Paul Smith
former president and CEO of CFA Institute and founding partner at SustainFinance
< David de Weerdt
Aniket Shah >
ESG’s evolution into accounting. CIO’s and ESG investors are asking “what’s next?”  Normative accounting informs the most material decisions – those made by boards to allocate capital into environmental and social programs… it could be the simple bridge that’s needed – and there’s nothing to stop both groups demanding those decisions to be made and reported.
Aniket Shah
Managing Director and Global Head of ESG and Sustainability Strategy at Jefferies Group LLC
< Paul Smith
Thomas Scott >
Rethinking Capital’s proposals have the potential to significantly improve the information available to management in allocating resources and managing operations. The proposals should also significantly improve the information available to external stakeholders for decisions concerning their investments in and support of a reporting entity.
Thomas Scott
former board member International Accounting Standards Board
< Aniket Shah
Emily Farnworth >
It is exciting to see Rethinking Capital’s fresh approach to enabling more transparent accounting that can facilitate improved board-level understanding and stewardship of intangible assets to accelerate the net zero transition.
Emily Farnworth
Director of the Centre for Climate Engagement, Hughes Hall, Cambridge
< Thomas Scott
Dr Dominic Emery >
A GAAP for our times. Normative accounting provides a key to unlock investments for the great climate transition. Like with all great ideas, this one is supremely simple and based on centuries of double-entry bookkeeping.
Dr Dominic Emery
ENERGY TRANSITION ADVISOR AND FORMER CHIEF OF STAFF AT BP
< Emily Farnworth
Edward Jung >
<
>

Tackling the root cause of the climate crisis

The Catalysts is a social enterprise founded for the common good to benefit everyone and everything.

It is a spin-out of Rethinking Capital and holds the intellectual property relating to the net zero, nature and other sustainability applications of normative accounting for intangibles and normative governance.

The Catalysts has been founded to test and rapidly drive this IP to adoption. The ambition is to impact net zero and nature decision governance at scale by late 2023 and at a system level in 2024.

It will first explore the financial, mindset and other benefits of its net zero decision governance and reporting framework. This is designed to tackle the root cause of the system’s inability to solve the climate crisis—being upside-down accounting incentives and, by cause and effect, an upside-down transition mindset.

To flip these incentives, the framework applies normative accounting and governance to enable informed decision-making on the intangibles impacted by a net zero transition commitment.

The Catalysts has been founded to rapidly drive this work to adoption at scale—and to benefit everyone and everything.

Our name was chosen because we’re certain that this application of normative accounting for intangibles is net zero’s catalyst—the simple innovation that applied in just the right place and at the right time will enable and speed up building equitable relationships with the environment and nature.

Net zero and sustainability applications

The net zero application properly recognises the impact on intangibles of a transition commitment, for example, bp’s ‘50% reduction in Scopes 1 and 2 by 2030’—including the impact on intangibles derived from innovation and on reputation, stakeholder relationships and the social license.

This uses a rethinking of the simple debits and credits of double-entry bookkeeping, an innovation from the Golden Age of Islam, to create transition incentives. It is also informed by and is an interpretation of existing International Accounting Standards—like an instruction manual for how to use those standards in this context.

This game-changing rethinking of double-entry bookkeeping has been designed to tackle the root cause of the climate crisis, being upside-down incentives and, as an effect, an upside-down transition mindset. Its benefits include improving all key financial metrics and accelerating the net zero transition by giving the best incentives. It also provides the legal logic that should remove the current risk of personal liability of decision-makers.

And the same decision logic has been adapted to give the best incentives to invest in creating equitable relationships with nature, the oceans, society and people as stakeholders.

Our Timeline

Our first innovation taken to market adoption in 2023 is the decision governance and reporting framework that applies normative accounting for intangibles to a net zero transition commitment.

The long road to creating this started in February 2001. Its Eureka! moment came in November 2017 in Copenhagen, and since that point, we have worked hard to root it in double-entry bookkeeping and existing accounting standards. This included going deep into accounting theory on the subjectivity of value and the purpose of accounting—to give value to what’s valuable and use numbers to achieve desired outcomes.

Our community supporting normative accounting is growing steadily, and our thanks go to all of them. A few are named above, describing our work in their own words. Some are now joining our innovation communities that will take this to testing until September 2023.

At that point, we aim to show rigorous case studies and tell stories of what decisions become possible if normative accounting for intangibles becomes the accepted rule.

And, if all goes to plan, we will make a case for the normative accounting of intangibles to provide a playbook to guide the strategy at COP28 and carry over to COPs29 and 30.

At COP28, our aim is this headline on 30th November 2023, day one of the Conference:

‘All stakeholders in the 2023 Conference of the Parties in Dubai are excited, and relieved, to announce two vital breakthroughs in tackling the climate crisis. 
The first is agreement on the root cause of the climate crisis—being upside-down accounting incentives and, as an effect, an upside-down transition mindset. 
The second is agreement that normative accounting for intangibles, a rethink of double-entry bookkeeping, an innovation from the Golden Age of Islam, will flip the incentives. And if adopted widely, should be net zero’s catalyst.'

Join Us

Today our creative community comprises experts in intangibles, law, strategy, governance, risk management and history. At its centre is a group of technical accounting rockstars, including a former IASB board member, a professor in public accounting, and accounting experts in the TCFD, ISSB, UNDP and EFRAG sustainability programs.

We aim to create an open innovation community pooling shared experiences, insights and creativity. Please register your interest here to join our community and receive our important updates directly.

You can download our first publication with the Centre for Climate Engagement at Hughes Hall Cambridge with support from the Council for Inclusive Capitalism, here. Our thanks go to Emily Farnworth, the Hughes Hall team, Meredith Sumpter and the Council’s team for their belief in our ideas.

We look forward to releasing new content over the coming weeks and aim to announce a series of monthly webinars.

Thank you
The Catalysts, a Rethinking Capital company

Thank you! Your submission has been received!
Oops! Something went wrong while submitting the form.
Privacy Policy
Cookie Policy