The emancipatory potential of biodiversity reporting: evidence from the United Kingdom and South Africa

Abstract

The current paper explores the emancipatory potential of biodiversity accounting and reporting by analysing interpretively how listed companies in the United Kingdom and South Africa engaged with biodiversity-related information in their corporate reports. Drawing on the seminal academic research and recent international policy developments, five interrelated elements pointing to transformative accounting and reporting practice are identified: (1) the organisation’s rationale for managing biodiversity; (2) the identification and measurement of material stocks of biodiversity; (3) biodiversity-related performance management; (4) governance and assurance practices; and (5) reporting considerations. The elements are applied to a sample of the largest companies in each jurisdiction using a qualitative content analysis with complementary techniques to gauge the level of biodiversity reporting in total and for each element. The analysis highlights disclosures ranging from a weak-form of emancipatory accounting characterised by policy-level reporting and compliance to stronger forms of emancipatory accounting which, owing to action-oriented, context-specific substantiated reporting, point to an underlying change potential at work. By articulating a continuum of biodiversity accounting and reporting practice, the paper extends the emancipatory accounting literature, provides a principles-based framework for assessing the change potential of biodiversity reporting in different contexts and informs ongoing environmental reporting policy development.