Conference Programme
Overview and details of the sessions of this conference. Please select a date or location to show only sessions at that day or location. Please select a single session for detailed view (with abstracts and downloads if available). Note that the schedule is subject to changes.
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Daily Overview |
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Research Sketches 2: Sustainability Disclosure & Reporting Location: Auditorium (Level 1) Session Chair: Mike Toffel, Harvard Business School | |
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The State of Biodiversity Reporting: How Institutional Pressures Shape Accountability Gaps 1: Thunderbird School of Global Management, Arizona State University, Phoenix, USA; 2: School of Life Sciences, Arizona State University, Tempe, Arizona, USA.; 3: Center for Biodiversity Outcomes, Arizona State University, Tempe, Arizona, USA. This paper examines how corporations disclose their biodiversity impacts and why biodiversity accountability often remains elusive. Using content analysis of 146 sustainability reports and a comparison sample from Forbes Global 2000, over 5 years, we classify disclosures into mentions, actions, and outcomes and identify a substantial gap between communication and conservation outcomes. Drawing on institutional theory, we introduce symbolic inertia (the persistence of superficial disclosures under pressure), latent stakeholder pressures (diffuse expectations that spur mentions over actions), and enforcement interplay (the alignment of coercive, normative, and mimetic forces). These illuminate why biodiversity reporting stalls and where outcome aligned reporting emerges. Biodiversity reporting lags climate, water, and other themes in both prevalence and measurable outcomes. We argue that sector specific, flexible metrics embedded within mainstream ESG routines, coupled with cross sector collaboration and assurance, can shift biodiversity reporting from rhetoric to measurable conservation outcomes. | |