TY - JOUR

T1 - Shaping nature outcomes in corporate settings

AU - Bebbington, J.

AU - Blasiak, R.

AU - Larrinaga, C.

AU - Russell, S.

AU - Sobkowiak, M.

AU - Jouffray, J.-B.

AU - Österblom, H.

N1 - Funding details: David and Lucile Packard Foundation, DLPF, 2019-68336, 2022-73546, 2017-66205 Funding details: Walton Family Foundation, 00104857, 2018-1371, 2017-693 Funding details: Gordon and Betty Moore Foundation, GBMF, 5668.02, 5668.01 Funding details: Knut och Alice Wallenbergs Stiftelse, 2021.0343 Funding text 1: J.B., R.B. and H.\u00D6. were funded by the Walton Family Foundation (grant nos 2017-693, 2018-1371, 00104857), the David and Lucile Packard Foundation (grant nos 2017-66205, 2019-68336, 2022-73546) and the Gordon and Betty Moore Foundation (grant nos 5668.01, 5668.02). J.-B.J. was funded by the Knut and Alice Wallenberg Foundation (grant no. 2021.0343). Feedback from Thorsten Sellhorn and two anonymous reviewers is gratefully acknowledged. Funding text 2: J.B., R.B. and H.\u00D6. were funded by the Walton Family Foundation (grant nos 2017-693, 2018-1371, 00104857), the David and Lucile Packard Foundation (grant nos 2017-66205, 2019-68336, 2022-73546) and the Gordon and Betty Moore Foundation (grant nos 5668.01, 5668.02). J.-B.J. was funded by the Knut and Alice Wallenberg Foundation (grant no. 2021.0343). Acknowledgements

PY - 2024/6/10

Y1 - 2024/6/10

N2 - Transnational companies have substantive impacts on nature: a hallmark of living in the Anthropocene. Understanding these impacts through company provision of information is a precursor to holding them accountable for nature outcomes. The effect of increasing disclosures (of varying quality) is predicated on ‘information governance’, an approach that uses disclosure requirements to drive company behaviour. However, its efficacy is not guaranteed. We argue that three conditions are required before disclosures have the possibility to shape nature outcomes, namely: (1) radical traceability that links company actions to outcomes in particular settings; (2) developing organizational routines, tools and approaches that translate strategic intent to on-the-ground behaviour; and (3) mobilizing and aligning financial actors with corporate nature ambitions. While disclosure is key to each of these conditions, its limits must be taken into account and it must be nested in governance approaches that shape action, not just reporting. This article is part of the theme issue ‘Bringing nature into decision-making’. © 2024 The Authors. Published by the Royal Society under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License.

AB - Transnational companies have substantive impacts on nature: a hallmark of living in the Anthropocene. Understanding these impacts through company provision of information is a precursor to holding them accountable for nature outcomes. The effect of increasing disclosures (of varying quality) is predicated on ‘information governance’, an approach that uses disclosure requirements to drive company behaviour. However, its efficacy is not guaranteed. We argue that three conditions are required before disclosures have the possibility to shape nature outcomes, namely: (1) radical traceability that links company actions to outcomes in particular settings; (2) developing organizational routines, tools and approaches that translate strategic intent to on-the-ground behaviour; and (3) mobilizing and aligning financial actors with corporate nature ambitions. While disclosure is key to each of these conditions, its limits must be taken into account and it must be nested in governance approaches that shape action, not just reporting. This article is part of the theme issue ‘Bringing nature into decision-making’. © 2024 The Authors. Published by the Royal Society under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License.

KW - biodiversity accounting

KW - company decision-making

KW - information governance

KW - Anthropocene

KW - biodiversity

KW - corporate strategy

KW - decision making

KW - environmental assessment

KW - behavior

KW - Intention

U2 - 10.1098/rstb.2022.0325

DO - 10.1098/rstb.2022.0325

M3 - Journal article

VL - 379

JO - Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences

JF - Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences

SN - 0962-8436

IS - 1903

ER -