Accounting for Biodiversity

Citation

Helen Tregidga (2015), "Accounting for Biodiversity", Sustainability Accounting, Management and Policy Journal, Vol. 6 No. 3, pp. 441-443. https://doi.org/10.1108/SAMPJ-03-2015-0016

The United Nations declared 2011-2020 a Decade on Biodiversity to:

[…] promote the involvement of a variety of national and intergovernmental actors and other stakeholders in the goal of mainstreaming all relevant issues related to biodiversity into broader planning and economic activities (UNEP, 2011, p. 2).

This declaration was made in recognition of the importance of biodiversity loss and the relative lack of political priority given to biodiversity issues. It is therefore perhaps not surprising that we are seeing more attention being paid to biodiversity by the business sector (WBCSD, 2011) and others – accounting academics included.

This book, edited by Jones, represents an important contribution to the literature on accounting for biodiversity. Indeed, alongside other writings and projects by Jones (1996, 2003), such as his early key works and the recent special issue of Accounting, Auditing and Accountability Journal on Accounting for Biodiversity edited by Jones and Solomon (2014), it represents a growing (but in my opinion not yet sufficient) focus on the role of accounting and accountants in biodiversity and, put simply, why accountants are implicated and should care.

In the introduction chapter, Jones outlines four aims of the book. In short, these are to:

1. build on prior limited work on biodiversity in the accounting area;

2. provide a summary of different aspects of biodiversity;

3. develop a body of knowledge about accounting for biodiversity; and

4. encourage research into the recording, valuing and reporting of biodiversity data for organisations.

Overall, the book has both a theoretical and practical focus.

The book is structured into five parts. The first and last parts of the book are essentially introduction and conclusion chapters authored by Jones himself. In between are Part 2 “Theoretical framework” (six chapters), Part 3 “Practical applications” (three chapters) and Part 4 “Alternative perspectives” (three chapters). While there is some overlap in content between the chapters and book sections, I suppose something that could be expected in an edited book drawing on a limited amount of existing literature in the field, all chapters in the book do offer unique perspectives on a range of divergent topic areas. While perhaps not essential to read the book in the order it is presented (I found some of the links between the chapters in each section unclear), or all at once, this is not a book where you can read the introduction and conclusion chapters and feel you have a grasp on the book and all the aspects of the topic therein. However, all the chapters do stand on their own, so the reader could select areas of interest.

For me, there were several standout chapters in the book. Perhaps the most interesting in my opinion is the chapter titled “Accounting for biodiversity – A Deep Ecology perspective” by Jack Christian. While in many chapters of the book it is made clear to the reader, often we are told explicitly, that there are (severe) limits to conventional accounting when it comes to accounting for biodiversity. Indeed, Jones in Chapter 2 (Jones is author or co-author of 5 of the 14 chapters) states six impediments that prevent conventional accounting from being appropriate for environmental accounting:

1. capitalist orientation;

2. business focus;

3. reliance on neo-classical economics;

4. numerical quantification;

5. monetary dependence; and

6. technical accounting practices (p. 30).

However, it is in the chapter by Christian that we most clearly see the challenge to conventional accounting confronted “head on” and begin to see alternative ways in which accounting for biodiversity is and could be practiced. Christian (as do Dey and Russell in their chapter nicely titled “Who Speaks for the River?”) considers the potential role of “others” and “other voices” in providing accounts of biodiversity. He refers to the volunteers and societies who already collect information on biodiversity within habitats – for example the Butterfly Conservation and the British Mammal Society – and raises the potential for accounts to be provided via poems, photographs, pictures and stories. Christian (p. 138) asks “why business should be involved at all and if it is to be involved does its current language ‘accounting’ have an appropriate vocabulary?” If anything, this chapter, appearing in the middle of the book, highlights the possibility of thinking differently, something I would argue is likely to be essential when addressing such a complex and important issue like biodiversity.

A range of readers are likely to get value from this book. It is without saying that those interested in accounting for biodiversity should read this contribution to the literature. Given the range of perspectives and overview of the field of knowledge provided, it is likely that both experienced and new researchers to the area will find value in chapters. Students, both undergraduate and postgraduate, in the area of social and environmental accounting are likely to find value in the book and the chapters are written in an accessible way to this audience. Instructors of courses in social and environmental accounting are likely to find examples and readings relevant. Indeed, instructors of more “mainstream” accounting courses wanting to highlight the complexity of recognition and measurement could also find chapters useful to expose and challenge their students. The theoretical and practical components of the book are also likely to appeal to students, as there are many examples of how accounting for biodiversity is being “practiced”.

Overall, the book outlines the current state of accounting for biodiversity (which Jones refers to as “embryonic”) and also challenges accounting and accounting academics to go further. It raises some interesting aspects of accounting for biodiversity, including the extent to which conventional accounting is suitable for accounting for biodiversity. Jones states that he hopes the book will “encourage discussion and experimentation by both accountants and non-accountants” (p. 18). In my view, discussion (and action) is needed, and needed urgently, so I do hope that with the growing awareness of biodiversity and the increased attention in the field of research, as evidenced by this contribution, that we see more attention being paid to this area of study.

There is much to be done, so the sooner we start, the better (Jones, 2014, p. 303).

About the reviewer

Helen Tregidga is an Associate Professor at AUT University, Auckland, New Zealand. Helen’s primary research area is social and environmental accounting and reporting. In particular, she is interested in analysing how organisations account for and communicate social and environmental impacts. In addition to this research, Helen teaches a range of courses and supervises a number of postgraduate students in the broad area of business and sustainability. Helen Tregidga can be contacted at: helen.tregidga@aut.ac.nz