Measuring the Unmeasurable: Challenges and Pathways in Biodiversity Accounting

This qualitative conference paper addresses the pressing issue of biodiversity loss and its intersection with accounting, exploring whether and how biodiversity can be effectively measured and reported in corporate contexts. Despite advancements in sustainability frameworks such as the EU’s Corporate Sustainability Reporting Directive and the Taskforce on Nature-Related Financial Disclosures, biodiversity accounting remains underdeveloped, constrained by fragmented metrics, anthropocentric paradigms, and limited integration into financial systems.
Grounded in the critical realism paradigm, this research employs retroduction to uncover the underlying mechanisms shaping biodiversity reporting practices. Through semi-structured interviews and case studies across industries (remark: in a later stage), the study examines the interplay of institutional pressures, organizational practices, and ecological realities in shaping corporate biodiversity disclosures. By integrating institutional theory and emancipatory accounting, the study highlights the systemic barriers that prevent biodiversity from being fully incorporated into organizational accountability.
The findings reveal significant gaps and, more importantly, potential reasons and impacts, including the lack of standardized metrics, superficial compliance-driven disclosures, and a persistent focus on short-term financial materiality over long-term ecological sustainability. This research contributes to the field by subsequently discussing implementation and challenges of hybrid frameworks that balance standardized reporting with context-specific flexibility and by advocating for a paradigm shift in accounting that aligns ecological and organizational goals.
By advancing the theoretical and methodological discourse on biodiversity accounting, our study provides insights for policymakers, standard-setters, and businesses seeking to integrate biodiversity into reporting practices. This research underscores the urgent need for transformative approaches bridging ecological accountability with corporate responsibility