Comparing sustainability claims with assurance in organic agriculture standards
- Ascui, Francisco, Farmery, Anna, Gale, Fred
- Authors: Ascui, Francisco , Farmery, Anna , Gale, Fred
- Date: 2020
- Type: Text , Journal article
- Relation: Australasian Journal of Environmental Management Vol. 27, no. 1 (2020), p. 22-41
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- Description: Voluntary organic standard-setting organisations (SSOs) depend upon public trust in the truth claims implied by their labels: that the product in question has been produced using organic methods. They create and maintain this trust through assurance frameworks based on third-party verification of compliance with organic standards. It is therefore potentially problematic if an SSO makes additional claims that are not capable of being supported by their assurance frameworks. We investigate the claims made about the sustainability of organic agriculture by three voluntary organic SSOs, compared with assurance provisions within their standards. The analysis covers Australia, which has 53 per cent of the world's certified organic farmland; and is extended internationally by including the IFOAM standard, with which a further 49 organic standards are affiliated worldwide. We find that while these standards generally contain principles and requirements that support sustainability claims, they lack well-specified means of verification in most cases other than the ‘core’ claims to exclude synthetic chemical inputs and genetically modified organisms. This assurance gap creates the risk of a consumer backlash. We discuss two ways to mitigate this risk: by strengthening verification within standards; and/or by employing new agricultural information and communication technologies to support claims outside the certification process. © 2019, © 2019 Environment Institute of Australia and New Zealand Inc.
- Authors: Ascui, Francisco , Farmery, Anna , Gale, Fred
- Date: 2020
- Type: Text , Journal article
- Relation: Australasian Journal of Environmental Management Vol. 27, no. 1 (2020), p. 22-41
- Full Text:
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- Description: Voluntary organic standard-setting organisations (SSOs) depend upon public trust in the truth claims implied by their labels: that the product in question has been produced using organic methods. They create and maintain this trust through assurance frameworks based on third-party verification of compliance with organic standards. It is therefore potentially problematic if an SSO makes additional claims that are not capable of being supported by their assurance frameworks. We investigate the claims made about the sustainability of organic agriculture by three voluntary organic SSOs, compared with assurance provisions within their standards. The analysis covers Australia, which has 53 per cent of the world's certified organic farmland; and is extended internationally by including the IFOAM standard, with which a further 49 organic standards are affiliated worldwide. We find that while these standards generally contain principles and requirements that support sustainability claims, they lack well-specified means of verification in most cases other than the ‘core’ claims to exclude synthetic chemical inputs and genetically modified organisms. This assurance gap creates the risk of a consumer backlash. We discuss two ways to mitigate this risk: by strengthening verification within standards; and/or by employing new agricultural information and communication technologies to support claims outside the certification process. © 2019, © 2019 Environment Institute of Australia and New Zealand Inc.
Carbon accounting for negative emissions technologies
- Brander, Matthew, Ascui, Francisco, Scott, Vivian, Tett, Simon
- Authors: Brander, Matthew , Ascui, Francisco , Scott, Vivian , Tett, Simon
- Date: 2021
- Type: Text , Journal article
- Relation: Climate policy Vol. 21, no. 5 (2021), p. 699-717
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- Description: Negative emissions technologies (NETs) are an essential part of most scenarios for achieving the Paris Agreement goal of limiting warming to below 2°C and for all scenarios that limit warming to 1.5 °C. The deployment of these technologies requires carbon accounting methods for a range of different purposes, such as determining the effectiveness of specific technologies or incentivising NETs. Although the need for carbon accounting methods is discussed within the literature on NETs, there does not appear to be a clear understanding of the range of different accounting challenges. Based on a systematic literature review this study identifies five distinct accounting issues related to NETs: 1. estimating total system-wide change in emissions/removals 2. non-permanence 3. non-equivalence of 'no overshoot' and 'overshoot and removal' 4. accounting for incentives for NETs and 5. the temporal distribution of emissions/removals. Solutions to these accounting challenges are proposed, or alternatively, areas for further research and the development of solutions are highlighted. One key recommendation is that carbon accounting methods should follow a 'reality principle' to report emissions and removals when and where they actually occur, and an important overall conclusion is that it is essential to use the correct accounting method for its appropriate purpose. For example, consequential methods that take account of total system-wide changes in emissions/removals should be used if the purpose is to inform decisions on the deployment or incentivisation of NETs. Attributional methods, however, should be used if the purpose is to construct static descriptions of possible net zero worlds. Key policy insights Negative emissions technologies (NETs) raise a number of distinct carbon accounting challenges, the importance of which varies across different NETs. Attributional life cycle assessment is not an appropriate method for estimating the system-wide changes caused by the deployment of NETs. Consequential greenhouse gas accounting methods should be used to estimate system-wide changes, and should be used as much as possible for guiding incentives for NETs. Greenhouse gas accounting methods should follow a 'reality principle' to report emissions and removals when and where they actually occur.
- Authors: Brander, Matthew , Ascui, Francisco , Scott, Vivian , Tett, Simon
- Date: 2021
- Type: Text , Journal article
- Relation: Climate policy Vol. 21, no. 5 (2021), p. 699-717
- Full Text:
- Reviewed:
- Description: Negative emissions technologies (NETs) are an essential part of most scenarios for achieving the Paris Agreement goal of limiting warming to below 2°C and for all scenarios that limit warming to 1.5 °C. The deployment of these technologies requires carbon accounting methods for a range of different purposes, such as determining the effectiveness of specific technologies or incentivising NETs. Although the need for carbon accounting methods is discussed within the literature on NETs, there does not appear to be a clear understanding of the range of different accounting challenges. Based on a systematic literature review this study identifies five distinct accounting issues related to NETs: 1. estimating total system-wide change in emissions/removals 2. non-permanence 3. non-equivalence of 'no overshoot' and 'overshoot and removal' 4. accounting for incentives for NETs and 5. the temporal distribution of emissions/removals. Solutions to these accounting challenges are proposed, or alternatively, areas for further research and the development of solutions are highlighted. One key recommendation is that carbon accounting methods should follow a 'reality principle' to report emissions and removals when and where they actually occur, and an important overall conclusion is that it is essential to use the correct accounting method for its appropriate purpose. For example, consequential methods that take account of total system-wide changes in emissions/removals should be used if the purpose is to inform decisions on the deployment or incentivisation of NETs. Attributional methods, however, should be used if the purpose is to construct static descriptions of possible net zero worlds. Key policy insights Negative emissions technologies (NETs) raise a number of distinct carbon accounting challenges, the importance of which varies across different NETs. Attributional life cycle assessment is not an appropriate method for estimating the system-wide changes caused by the deployment of NETs. Consequential greenhouse gas accounting methods should be used to estimate system-wide changes, and should be used as much as possible for guiding incentives for NETs. Greenhouse gas accounting methods should follow a 'reality principle' to report emissions and removals when and where they actually occur.
Opportunities and challenges for decarbonizing steel production by creating markets for ‘green steel’ products
- Muslemani, Hasan, Liang, Xi, Kaesehage, Katharina, Ascui, Francisco, Wilson, Jeffrey
- Authors: Muslemani, Hasan , Liang, Xi , Kaesehage, Katharina , Ascui, Francisco , Wilson, Jeffrey
- Date: 2021
- Type: Text , Journal article
- Relation: Journal of Cleaner Production Vol. 315, no. (2021), p.
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- Description: The creation of a market for steel produced by less carbon-intensive production processes, here called ‘green steel’, has been identified as a means of supporting the introduction of breakthrough emission reduction technologies into steel production. However, numerous details remain under-explored, including exactly what ‘green’ entails in the context of steelmaking, the likely competitiveness of green steel products in domestic and international markets, and potential policy mechanisms to support their successful market penetration. This paper addresses this gap through qualitative research with international sustainability experts and commercial managers from leading steel trade associations, research institutes and steelmakers. We find that there is a need to establish a common understanding of what ‘greenness’ means in the steelmaking context, and to resolve various carbon accounting and assurance issues, which otherwise have the potential to lead to perverse outcomes and opportunities for greenwashing. We identify a set of potential demand-side and supply-side policy mechanisms to support green steel production, and highlight a need for a combination of policies to ensure successful market development and avoid unintended consequences for competition at three different levels: 1) between products manufactured through a primary vs secondary steelmaking route, 2) between ‘green’ and traditional, ‘brown’ steel, and 3) with other substitutable materials. The study further shows that the automotive industry is a likely candidate for green steel demand, where a market could be supported by price premiums paid by willing consumers, such as those of high-end luxury and heavy-duty vehicles. © 2021 Elsevier Ltd
- Authors: Muslemani, Hasan , Liang, Xi , Kaesehage, Katharina , Ascui, Francisco , Wilson, Jeffrey
- Date: 2021
- Type: Text , Journal article
- Relation: Journal of Cleaner Production Vol. 315, no. (2021), p.
- Full Text:
- Reviewed:
- Description: The creation of a market for steel produced by less carbon-intensive production processes, here called ‘green steel’, has been identified as a means of supporting the introduction of breakthrough emission reduction technologies into steel production. However, numerous details remain under-explored, including exactly what ‘green’ entails in the context of steelmaking, the likely competitiveness of green steel products in domestic and international markets, and potential policy mechanisms to support their successful market penetration. This paper addresses this gap through qualitative research with international sustainability experts and commercial managers from leading steel trade associations, research institutes and steelmakers. We find that there is a need to establish a common understanding of what ‘greenness’ means in the steelmaking context, and to resolve various carbon accounting and assurance issues, which otherwise have the potential to lead to perverse outcomes and opportunities for greenwashing. We identify a set of potential demand-side and supply-side policy mechanisms to support green steel production, and highlight a need for a combination of policies to ensure successful market development and avoid unintended consequences for competition at three different levels: 1) between products manufactured through a primary vs secondary steelmaking route, 2) between ‘green’ and traditional, ‘brown’ steel, and 3) with other substitutable materials. The study further shows that the automotive industry is a likely candidate for green steel demand, where a market could be supported by price premiums paid by willing consumers, such as those of high-end luxury and heavy-duty vehicles. © 2021 Elsevier Ltd
Implementing natural capital credit risk assessment in agricultural lending
- Ascui, Francisco, Cojoianu, Theodor
- Authors: Ascui, Francisco , Cojoianu, Theodor
- Date: 2019
- Type: Text , Journal article
- Relation: Business Strategy and the Environment Vol. 28, no. 6 (2019), p. 1234-1249
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- Description: Agriculture has critical impacts and dependencies on natural capital, and agricultural lenders are therefore exposed to natural capital credit risk through their loans to farmers. Currently, however, lenders lack any detailed guidance for assessing natural capital credit risk in agriculture and are challenged by the fact that the relevant material risks vary considerably by agricultural sector and geography. This paper develops a natural capital credit risk assessment framework based on a bottom-up review of the material risks associated with natural capital impacts and dependencies for Australian beef production. It demonstrates that implementing natural capital credit risk assessment is feasible in agricultural lending, using a combination of quantitative and qualitative inputs. Implementation challenges include the complexity and interconnectedness of natural capital processes, data availability and cost, spatial data analytical capacity, and the need for transformational change, both within lending organisations and across the banking sector. © 2019 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd and ERP Environment
- Authors: Ascui, Francisco , Cojoianu, Theodor
- Date: 2019
- Type: Text , Journal article
- Relation: Business Strategy and the Environment Vol. 28, no. 6 (2019), p. 1234-1249
- Full Text:
- Reviewed:
- Description: Agriculture has critical impacts and dependencies on natural capital, and agricultural lenders are therefore exposed to natural capital credit risk through their loans to farmers. Currently, however, lenders lack any detailed guidance for assessing natural capital credit risk in agriculture and are challenged by the fact that the relevant material risks vary considerably by agricultural sector and geography. This paper develops a natural capital credit risk assessment framework based on a bottom-up review of the material risks associated with natural capital impacts and dependencies for Australian beef production. It demonstrates that implementing natural capital credit risk assessment is feasible in agricultural lending, using a combination of quantitative and qualitative inputs. Implementation challenges include the complexity and interconnectedness of natural capital processes, data availability and cost, spatial data analytical capacity, and the need for transformational change, both within lending organisations and across the banking sector. © 2019 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd and ERP Environment
Developing an evidence base for assessing natural capital risks and dependencies in lending to Australian wheat farms
- Cojoianu, Theodor, Ascui, Francisco
- Authors: Cojoianu, Theodor , Ascui, Francisco
- Date: 2018
- Type: Text , Journal article
- Relation: Journal of Sustainable Finance and Investment Vol. 8, no. 2 (2018), p. 95-113
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- Description: Farmers are highly dependent on stocks of natural capital, and lenders are in turn exposed to natural capital through their loans to farmers. However, the traditional process for assessing a farmer’s credit risk relies primarily on historical financial data. Banks’ consideration of environmental factors tends to be limited to major risks such as contaminated land liabilities, and to large project and corporate finance, as opposed to the smaller loans typical of the Australian agricultural sector. The relevant risks and dependencies for agriculture vary by sub-sector and geography, and there is a lack of standardised methodologies and evidence to support risk assessment. We provide an evidence base to support natural capital risk assessment for a single sub-sector of Australian agriculture–wheat farming. We show that such an assessment is possible, with a combination of quantitative and qualitative inputs, but the complexity and interconnectedness of natural capital processes is a challenge, particularly for soil health. © 2017, © 2017 Informa UK Limited, trading as Taylor & Francis Group.
- Authors: Cojoianu, Theodor , Ascui, Francisco
- Date: 2018
- Type: Text , Journal article
- Relation: Journal of Sustainable Finance and Investment Vol. 8, no. 2 (2018), p. 95-113
- Full Text:
- Reviewed:
- Description: Farmers are highly dependent on stocks of natural capital, and lenders are in turn exposed to natural capital through their loans to farmers. However, the traditional process for assessing a farmer’s credit risk relies primarily on historical financial data. Banks’ consideration of environmental factors tends to be limited to major risks such as contaminated land liabilities, and to large project and corporate finance, as opposed to the smaller loans typical of the Australian agricultural sector. The relevant risks and dependencies for agriculture vary by sub-sector and geography, and there is a lack of standardised methodologies and evidence to support risk assessment. We provide an evidence base to support natural capital risk assessment for a single sub-sector of Australian agriculture–wheat farming. We show that such an assessment is possible, with a combination of quantitative and qualitative inputs, but the complexity and interconnectedness of natural capital processes is a challenge, particularly for soil health. © 2017, © 2017 Informa UK Limited, trading as Taylor & Francis Group.
Sensing reality? New monitoring technologies for global sustainability standards
- Gale, Fred, Ascui, Francisco, Lovell, Heather
- Authors: Gale, Fred , Ascui, Francisco , Lovell, Heather
- Date: 2017
- Type: Text , Journal article
- Relation: Global Environmental Politics Vol. 17, no. 2 (2017), p. 65-83
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- Description: In the 1990s, civil society organizations partnered with business to “green” global supply chains by setting up formal sustainability standard-setting organizations (SSOs) in secwtors including organic food, fair trade, forestry, and fisheries. Although SSOs have withstood the long-standing allegations that they are unnecessary, costly, nondemocratic, and trade-distorting, they must now respond to a new challenge, arising from recent developments in technology. Conceived in the pre-Internet era, SSOs are discovering that verification systems that utilize annual, expert-led, low-tech field audits are under pressure from new information and communication technologies that collect, aggregate, interpret, and display open-source “Big Data” in almost real time. Drawing on the concept of governmentality and on interviews with experts in sustainability certification and natural capital accounting, we argue that while these technological developments offer many positive opportunities, they also enable competing alternatives to the prevailing “truth” or governing rationality about what is happening “on the ground,” which is of critical existential importance to SSOs as guarantors of trust in claims about sustainable production. While SSOs are not helpless in the face of this challenge, we conclude that they will need to do more than take incremental action: rather, they should respond actively to the disintermediation challenge from new virtual monitoring technologies if they are to remain relevant in the coming decade. © 2017 by the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.
- Authors: Gale, Fred , Ascui, Francisco , Lovell, Heather
- Date: 2017
- Type: Text , Journal article
- Relation: Global Environmental Politics Vol. 17, no. 2 (2017), p. 65-83
- Full Text:
- Reviewed:
- Description: In the 1990s, civil society organizations partnered with business to “green” global supply chains by setting up formal sustainability standard-setting organizations (SSOs) in secwtors including organic food, fair trade, forestry, and fisheries. Although SSOs have withstood the long-standing allegations that they are unnecessary, costly, nondemocratic, and trade-distorting, they must now respond to a new challenge, arising from recent developments in technology. Conceived in the pre-Internet era, SSOs are discovering that verification systems that utilize annual, expert-led, low-tech field audits are under pressure from new information and communication technologies that collect, aggregate, interpret, and display open-source “Big Data” in almost real time. Drawing on the concept of governmentality and on interviews with experts in sustainability certification and natural capital accounting, we argue that while these technological developments offer many positive opportunities, they also enable competing alternatives to the prevailing “truth” or governing rationality about what is happening “on the ground,” which is of critical existential importance to SSOs as guarantors of trust in claims about sustainable production. While SSOs are not helpless in the face of this challenge, we conclude that they will need to do more than take incremental action: rather, they should respond actively to the disintermediation challenge from new virtual monitoring technologies if they are to remain relevant in the coming decade. © 2017 by the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.
Creative accounting : a critical perspective on the market-based method for reporting purchased electricity (scope 2) emissions
- Brander, Matthew, Gillenwater, Michael, Ascui, Francisco
- Authors: Brander, Matthew , Gillenwater, Michael , Ascui, Francisco
- Date: 2018
- Type: Text , Journal article
- Relation: Energy Policy Vol. 112, no. (2018), p. 29-33
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- Description: Electricity generation accounts for approximately 25% of global greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions, with more than two-thirds of this electricity consumed by commercial or industrial users. To reduce electricity consumption-related emissions effectively at the level of individual firms, it is essential that they are measured accurately and that decision-relevant information is provided to managers, consumers, regulators and investors. However, an emergent GHG accounting method for corporate electricity consumption (the ‘market-based’ method) fails to meet these criteria and therefore is likely to lead to a misallocation of climate change mitigation efforts. We identify two interrelated problems with the market-based method: 1. purchasing contractual emission factors is very unlikely to increase the amount of renewable electricity generation; and 2. the method fails to provide accurate or relevant information in GHG reports. We also identify reasons why the method has nonetheless been accepted by many stakeholders, and provide recommendations for the revision of international standards for GHG accounting. The case is important given the magnitude of emissions attributable to commercial/industrial electricity consumption, and it also provides broader lessons for other forms of GHG accounting. © 2017 The Authors
- Authors: Brander, Matthew , Gillenwater, Michael , Ascui, Francisco
- Date: 2018
- Type: Text , Journal article
- Relation: Energy Policy Vol. 112, no. (2018), p. 29-33
- Full Text:
- Reviewed:
- Description: Electricity generation accounts for approximately 25% of global greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions, with more than two-thirds of this electricity consumed by commercial or industrial users. To reduce electricity consumption-related emissions effectively at the level of individual firms, it is essential that they are measured accurately and that decision-relevant information is provided to managers, consumers, regulators and investors. However, an emergent GHG accounting method for corporate electricity consumption (the ‘market-based’ method) fails to meet these criteria and therefore is likely to lead to a misallocation of climate change mitigation efforts. We identify two interrelated problems with the market-based method: 1. purchasing contractual emission factors is very unlikely to increase the amount of renewable electricity generation; and 2. the method fails to provide accurate or relevant information in GHG reports. We also identify reasons why the method has nonetheless been accepted by many stakeholders, and provide recommendations for the revision of international standards for GHG accounting. The case is important given the magnitude of emissions attributable to commercial/industrial electricity consumption, and it also provides broader lessons for other forms of GHG accounting. © 2017 The Authors
Is operationalising natural capital risk assessment practicable?
- Ascui, Francisco, Ball, Alex, Kahn, Lewis, Rowe, James
- Authors: Ascui, Francisco , Ball, Alex , Kahn, Lewis , Rowe, James
- Date: 2021
- Type: Text , Journal article
- Relation: Ecosystem Services Vol. 52, no. (2021), p.
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- Description: Financial institutions are indirectly exposed to risks associated with the impacts and dependencies on natural capital and ecosystem services of the companies that they invest in, lend to, and insure. This is particularly true for banks lending to agriculture: a sector with both significant impacts and critical dependencies on natural capital. Bank lending is a vital source of new finance for the sector, which is essential to achieve sustainable intensification targets. Yet current credit decision-making practice is still based on conventional financial and management indicators, lacking any systematic assessment of natural capital risks, especially those associated with dependencies. Operationalising natural capital risk assessment requires practicable indicators and data to evaluate the most material natural capital risks for a given sub-sector and geography, but it is unclear to what extent these are available. We assess the practicability of natural capital dependency risk indicators and data sources for a critical case study of Australian sheep production. We find that at least moderately practicable indicators and data sources are available to assess the 11 major dependency risks that are material for this industry. Challenges remain in determining risk thresholds for most indicators, and quantifying risk impacts on profitability. © 2021 Elsevier B.V.
- Authors: Ascui, Francisco , Ball, Alex , Kahn, Lewis , Rowe, James
- Date: 2021
- Type: Text , Journal article
- Relation: Ecosystem Services Vol. 52, no. (2021), p.
- Full Text:
- Reviewed:
- Description: Financial institutions are indirectly exposed to risks associated with the impacts and dependencies on natural capital and ecosystem services of the companies that they invest in, lend to, and insure. This is particularly true for banks lending to agriculture: a sector with both significant impacts and critical dependencies on natural capital. Bank lending is a vital source of new finance for the sector, which is essential to achieve sustainable intensification targets. Yet current credit decision-making practice is still based on conventional financial and management indicators, lacking any systematic assessment of natural capital risks, especially those associated with dependencies. Operationalising natural capital risk assessment requires practicable indicators and data to evaluate the most material natural capital risks for a given sub-sector and geography, but it is unclear to what extent these are available. We assess the practicability of natural capital dependency risk indicators and data sources for a critical case study of Australian sheep production. We find that at least moderately practicable indicators and data sources are available to assess the 11 major dependency risks that are material for this industry. Challenges remain in determining risk thresholds for most indicators, and quantifying risk impacts on profitability. © 2021 Elsevier B.V.
From impacts to dependencies : a first global assessment of corporate biodiversity risk exposure and responses
- Carvalho, Sergio, Cojoianu, Theodor, Ascui, Francisco
- Authors: Carvalho, Sergio , Cojoianu, Theodor , Ascui, Francisco
- Date: 2023
- Type: Text , Journal article
- Relation: Business Strategy and the Environment Vol. 32, no. 5 (2023), p. 2600-2614
- Full Text:
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- Description: There is growing awareness that biodiversity loss poses a significant risk to the global economy, but a lack of clarity on what this means for corporations, and how they are responding. This study provides a first quantitative assessment of biodiversity risk exposure across the world's largest listed companies, compared with their adoption of biodiversity policies, through analysis of disclosures from a sample of 11,812 companies from 2004 to 2018. We find that companies have started responding strategically to biodiversity risk, with 29% having adopted a biodiversity policy by 2018. However, around $7.2 trillion of total enterprise value remains exposed to unmanaged biodiversity risk. Companies in sectors with material impacts on biodiversity tend to have high levels of response, but there is poorer responsiveness to material biodiversity dependency risks. A natural-capital-based view (NCBV) of the firm is proposed to theorise how corporations are constrained by both their impacts and dependencies on natural capital. © 2022 The Authors. Business Strategy and The Environment published by ERP Environment and John Wiley & Sons Ltd.
- Authors: Carvalho, Sergio , Cojoianu, Theodor , Ascui, Francisco
- Date: 2023
- Type: Text , Journal article
- Relation: Business Strategy and the Environment Vol. 32, no. 5 (2023), p. 2600-2614
- Full Text:
- Reviewed:
- Description: There is growing awareness that biodiversity loss poses a significant risk to the global economy, but a lack of clarity on what this means for corporations, and how they are responding. This study provides a first quantitative assessment of biodiversity risk exposure across the world's largest listed companies, compared with their adoption of biodiversity policies, through analysis of disclosures from a sample of 11,812 companies from 2004 to 2018. We find that companies have started responding strategically to biodiversity risk, with 29% having adopted a biodiversity policy by 2018. However, around $7.2 trillion of total enterprise value remains exposed to unmanaged biodiversity risk. Companies in sectors with material impacts on biodiversity tend to have high levels of response, but there is poorer responsiveness to material biodiversity dependency risks. A natural-capital-based view (NCBV) of the firm is proposed to theorise how corporations are constrained by both their impacts and dependencies on natural capital. © 2022 The Authors. Business Strategy and The Environment published by ERP Environment and John Wiley & Sons Ltd.
Salmon, sensors, and translation : the agency of Big Data in environmental governance
- Ascui, Francisco, Haward, Marcus, Lovell, Heather
- Authors: Ascui, Francisco , Haward, Marcus , Lovell, Heather
- Date: 2018
- Type: Text , Journal article , Article
- Relation: Environment and Planning D: Society and Space Vol. 36, no. 5 (2018), p. 905-925
- Full Text:
- Reviewed:
- Description: This paper explores the emerging role of Big Data in environmental governance. We focus on the case of salmon aquaculture management from 2011 to 2017 in Macquarie Harbour, Australia, and compare this with the foundational case that inspired the development of the concept of ‘translation’ in actor-network theory, that of scallop domestication in St Brieuc Bay, France, in the 1970s. A key difference is the salience of environmental data in the contemporary case. Recent dramatic events in the environmental governance of Macquarie Harbour have been driven by increasing spatial and temporal resolution of environmental monitoring, including real-time data collection from sensors mounted on the fish themselves. The resulting environmental data now takes centre stage in increasingly heated debates over how the harbour should be managed: overturning long-held assumptions about environmental interactions, inducing changes in regulatory practices and institutions, fracturing historical alliances and shaping the on-going legitimacy of the industry. Environmental Big Data is now a key actor within the networks that constitute and enact environmental governance. Given its new and unpredictable agency, control over access to data is likely to become critical in future power struggles over environmental resources and their governance. © The Author(s) 2018.
- Authors: Ascui, Francisco , Haward, Marcus , Lovell, Heather
- Date: 2018
- Type: Text , Journal article , Article
- Relation: Environment and Planning D: Society and Space Vol. 36, no. 5 (2018), p. 905-925
- Full Text:
- Reviewed:
- Description: This paper explores the emerging role of Big Data in environmental governance. We focus on the case of salmon aquaculture management from 2011 to 2017 in Macquarie Harbour, Australia, and compare this with the foundational case that inspired the development of the concept of ‘translation’ in actor-network theory, that of scallop domestication in St Brieuc Bay, France, in the 1970s. A key difference is the salience of environmental data in the contemporary case. Recent dramatic events in the environmental governance of Macquarie Harbour have been driven by increasing spatial and temporal resolution of environmental monitoring, including real-time data collection from sensors mounted on the fish themselves. The resulting environmental data now takes centre stage in increasingly heated debates over how the harbour should be managed: overturning long-held assumptions about environmental interactions, inducing changes in regulatory practices and institutions, fracturing historical alliances and shaping the on-going legitimacy of the industry. Environmental Big Data is now a key actor within the networks that constitute and enact environmental governance. Given its new and unpredictable agency, control over access to data is likely to become critical in future power struggles over environmental resources and their governance. © The Author(s) 2018.
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