TY - JOUR AB - Purpose This research seeks to explain how a national government becomes capable of constructing an account of its biodiversity performance that is aimed at enabling formulation of policy in pursuit of SDG 15: Life on Land.Design/methodology/approach The research examines a case study of the construction of the UK government's annual biodiversity report. The case is analysed to explain the process of framing a space in which the SDG-15 challenge of halting biodiversity loss is rendered calculable, such that the government can see and understand its own performance in relation to this challenge.Findings The construction of UK government's annual biodiversity report relies upon data collected through non-governmental conservation efforts, statistical expertise of a small project group within the government and a governmental structure that drives ongoing evolution of the indicators as actors strive to make these useful for policy formulation.Originality/value The analysis problematises the SDG approach to accounting for sustainable development, whereby performance indicators have been centrally agreed and universally imposed upon all signatory governments. The analysis suggests that capacity-building efforts for national governments may need to be broader than that envisaged by the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development. VL - 33 IS - 7 SN - 0951-3574 DO - 10.1108/AAAJ-01-2019-3810 UR - https://doi.org/10.1108/AAAJ-01-2019-3810 AU - Sobkowiak Madlen AU - Cuckston Thomas AU - Thomson Ian PY - 2020 Y1 - 2020/01/01 TI - Framing sustainable development challenges: accounting for SDG-15 in the UK T2 - Accounting, Auditing & Accountability Journal PB - Emerald Publishing Limited SP - 1671 EP - 1703 Y2 - 2024/05/11 ER -