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This paper aims to explore the current stage of biodiversity preservation in higher education institutions (HEIs), using samples from German universities and investigating three different dimensions, namely, existing approaches, challenges and future developments.

Semistructured expert interviews were conducted with employees from 14 German Universities. To analyze the data, both deductive and inductive methods of content analysis were conducted to systematically code the results.

This research shows that efforts for biodiversity preservation are frequently made in the areas of student and staff initiatives, green space management, as well as in research and teaching. However, German HEIs face numerous hurdles such as interest conflict, lack of prioritization and financial restrictions, some of which are difficult to overcome. In the future, HEIs should seek a deeper integration of biodiversity into curricula to further raise biodiversity awareness.

This study provides practical implications by providing good practices, which can serve as a guide for implementing measures for biodiversity preservation. By understanding the struggles and future expectations, stakeholders and policymakers could promote targeted measures and relevant policies to advance biodiversity initiatives at and beyond universities. Moreover, the research shows the importance of involving students and staff actively in the planning and executing stage for biodiversity preservation through initiatives to achieve green campuses.

The paper presents an essential research field which is still in its earlier stage. To the best of the authors’ knowledge, it is the first study that focuses on German Universities in this context. This study adds value in providing in-depth insights into this topic to raise awareness of biodiversity preservation in both practice and research.

The purpose of this study is to learn what kinds of obstacles Indian businesses face when trying to make biodiversity protection a top priority as part of their corporate social responsibility (CSR) efforts. Interventions are proposed to elevate biodiversity protection to the ranks of CSR priorities among Indian businesses.

This study applies an interpretive phenomenological analysis strategy to glean information from in-depth interviews with leaders and professionals in CSR.

The findings of the study revealed that the main factors influencing Indian companies’ CSR area choices are existing processes and stakeholder pressures. Companies prioritise engaging with local communities and employees when selecting CSR activities. The major challenge is integrating biodiversity into business plans, with CSR heads struggling to secure investment due to long gestation periods and limited media coverage. Implementing agencies face issues with project deliverables, mainly due to land ownership and lack of local government support. Companies can also encourage employee involvement in pro-environmental behaviours. The study also provides practical solutions for Indian companies to enhance their CSR engagement in biodiversity conservation.

The research only focuses on the opinions of CSR specialists and leaders, so it may only consider part of the situation’s complexity inside the organisation. The results may only apply to the business climate in India; hence, extra care is warranted when extrapolating them to other countries. Nonetheless, the study provides valuable insights into the interplay between CSR and biodiversity protection that might inform future studies and policy initiatives.

This research fills a gap in the literature by investigating an uncharted territory: the role of CSR in protecting biodiversity in India. Examining obstacles and variables affecting CSR objectives illuminates business involvement in biodiversity conservation. The recommended treatments have real-world consequences for improving CSR involvement in this critical area.

This study explores the relation between firm-level climate change risks, measured by carbon emissions and waste generation, and the level of biodiversity disclosures.

Drawing on an international sample from 2009 to 2021, our study employs panel regression models to assess the effects of climate change risks on biodiversity disclosures. We also conduct a range of sensitivity analyses, including additional proxies, endogeneity tests, and alternative samples to examine the robustness of our inferences.

We find that firms with higher carbon emissions and waste generation levels tend to disclose extensive biodiversity information. Furthermore, we provide evidence that the disaggregated components of carbon (Scope 1 and 2) emissions and waste (hazardous and non-hazardous) generation volumes are positively associated with biodiversity disclosures. Our results also reveal that the effects of climate change risks on biodiversity disclosures are stronger for firms from environmentally sensitive industries. Finally, our results show that climate and biodiversity protection regulations appear to be effective in limiting legitimation efforts.

Consistent with legitimacy theory, our findings suggest that high carbon and waste emitting firms tend to utilize increased biodiversity disclosures as a legitimizing tool to conform to societal expectations and protect their legitimacy.

The purpose of this study is to assess students' behaviors toward biodiversity management in higher education institutions. This study expands upon the value belief norm (VBN) theory by examining how environmental values, beliefs and norms impact students' engagement in biodiversity management.

An online survey was undertaken using a Google questionnaire. Convenience and snowball sampling techniques were adopted to reach the targeted students. The proposed associations were examined through the application of SEM with the use of AMOS software.

The findings provide valuable insights into students' behaviors regarding biodiversity management and demonstrate that extending VBN theory to the context of biodiversity, with the incorporation of environmental knowledge and environmental-friendly activities, resulted in a robust model for understanding students' behaviors toward biodiversity management in higher education institutions.

The findings can guide targeted interventions to boost student engagement in biodiversity management. Understanding the factors influencing their behaviors can aid in designing effective educational programs that promote biodiversity conservation and management.

This uniqueness of this study rests in its extension of the VBN theory to the context of biodiversity management, the exploration of environmental knowledge and environmental-friendly activities, and its focus on higher education institutions. Its value lies in guiding targeted interventions and campus sustainability strategies, aligning with UN SDGs to support global biodiversity and sustainable practices.

This paper aims to explore the biodiversity and threatened species extinction reporting of 54 biodiversity-indexed companies on the Indonesia Stock Exchange (IDX). The primary objectives are to explore the rhetoric of biodiversity disclosure as a practice of virtue ethics and to identify instances of emancipatory extinction accounts on the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) Red List.

The research sample comprised 54 biodiversity-indexed companies on the IDX. A content analysis of the narrative text of their annual and sustainability reports for 2020 was conducted to discern the rhetoric of biodiversity disclosure as an ethical practice using Aristotle’s rhetoric (ethos, logos and pathos). The identification of extinction accounts listed on the IUCN Red List was conducted based on criteria established in the conceptual framework of Atkins and Maroun (2018).

All 54 companies used ethos, logos and pathos in their biodiversity disclosure as a virtuous practice. These disclosures improve the tone of corporate communications and enhance accountability and transparency. Low-profile companies showed a greater propensity for reporting biodiversity disclosures compared to high-profile companies. Additionally, the authors identified 14 companies informing extinction accounts that qualify as emancipatory accounts, with high-profile companies disclosing extinction more frequently than low-profile ones. Emancipatory accounting highlighted species such as turtles, orangutans, elephants, rhinos, turtles and medicinal plants. These accounts are intended as a form of accountability to the species.

The limitation of this research is the observation of annual reports in one period. Future studies can add more observation periods to see the consistency of companies in disclosing biodiversity and extinction.

Companies can adopt the rhetorical strategy of ethos, logos and pathos in disclosing their biodiversity. For policymakers, it is important to establish regulations to encourage companies to disclose biodiversity. The implications for accountants, to contribute more to biodiversity and extinction reporting, considering that previously sustainability accounting reporting was mostly carried out by nonaccountants.

Regarding social implications, emancipatory accounts aimed at preventing the extinction of animals such as birds, orangutans and rhinos will have significant social and natural impacts.

This research represents the first use of Aristotelian rhetoric and virtue to understand biodiversity disclosure as virtue rhetoric and extinction disclosure as emancipatory accounting. This rhetoric is a benevolent persuasion tool that can shape the audience’s thinking and behavior in a more ethical manner concerning biodiversity issues. It provides evidence of the role of accounting as a social and moral practice, which is particularly relevant in the face of a complex reality and increasing concerns, notably regarding the threat of biodiversity loss and extinction.

The purpose of this study is to understand how to improve the recognition of biodiversity knowledge for engineering students, using a case study in the context of Norway.

A case study based on an elective course for engineering students was carried out. The course is related to sustainability and also explicitly focuses on biodiversity topics and causality for loss of biodiversity. Data was collected through questionnaires to students to understand their motivations and perceptions about the course, and through interviews with study programme coordinators, to understand their perspectives regarding sustainability and biodiversity education for engineering programmes.

Three main conclusions are established: the best approach is to incorporate biodiversity content into existing courses, rather than having a specific course dedicated to biodiversity; more knowledge on biodiversity is seemingly increasing the understanding of its importance, thus, students should be exposed to these topics early in their studies; and some strategies to improve the current course are related to being more specific on how to deal with biodiversity in different contexts (such as working life and different industries), offering a higher number of examples, and linking biodiversity with other environmental impacts.

To the best of the authors’ knowledge, this study is the first to address the recognition of biodiversity knowledge in engineering programmes at a Norwegian university. The case study provides valuable insights that can be used to improve the integration of biodiversity knowledge into engineering programmes. Moreover, the methods used provide innovative and more reliable tools to better address the perceptions of stakeholders.

The overexploitation of resources has led to drastic negative impacts on biodiversity such as an overall increasing amount of infertile soil and overgrazed land. Environmentalists have been noticing now more than ever that plants and trees around the world have seen their population numbers severely drop over the last century. Many species including enormous flocks of birds congregating in marshes, herds of Wildebeest, Zebra and Tomson's Gazelle, along with untamed Tigers, Elephants, Giraffes, and Rhinos, grazing the vast natural landscape of the African plains that make their natural homes are at major risk of becoming extinct. With many pressures on world ecosystems already impacting the environment, continuous growth and natural human development trajectory is one that we must find a way to reconcile with environmental sustainability. The best way to do so is by establishing sustainability through the preservation of biodiversity and the ecosystem services different aspects of biodiversity provide. Although sustainability and biodiversity are crucial to assuring a clean future for our planet, the COVID-19 Pandemic has had a negative effect on the needs for biodiversity research, protection, and policymaking. This chapter looks at two main examples of biodiversity loss (1) the Tragedy of the Commons and (2) Deforestation to provide potential policy solutions to combat impacts of the Tragedy of the Commons and Deforestation, especially while considering implications of the current COVID-19 pandemic on biodiversity supportive policies.

Biodiversity conservation is a major challenge globally. This global challenge exists due to the Scarcity of funds to preserve biodiversity. The need for more funds is the primary issue in managing biodiversity in this uncertain environment wherein different challenges emerge routinely. Thus, the main purpose of this study is to focus on the issues of biodiversity conservation and to examine alternative sources for biodiversity financing. Biodiversity is a multidimensional aspect covering several facets of the environment. It acts as a life support on earth and is a catalyst for human survival. However, biodiversity conservation is critical due to the Scarcity of biodiversity financing (Negacz, Petersson, Widerberg, Kok, & Pattberg, 2022). Thus, it is the need of the hour to overcome this issue by examining varied sources to generate more funds for preserving biodiversity. The study is based on a systematic review of past research wherein possible alternatives have been provided for generating necessary funds to mitigate biodiversity loss. It is revealed through past literature that though effort is made to combat the problem of funds, a very minimal effort is made at the individual level. More so framework lneeds to be not implemented globally. Therefore, the present study has proposed the practice of Green finance as an innovative financial mechanism to deal with biodiversity loss by emphasising environmental benefits. As laid down in this paper, a theoretical framework about biodiversity loss will encourage researchers to carry out various studies from varied outlooks to have a holistic approach towards this issue, hence ensuring environmental sustainability.

Biodiversity loss now ranks as one of the most significant global drivers of environmental change. In an increasingly urbanized world, there is enormous potential to address this problem through conservation, restoration, and creation of new urban ecosystems. This chapter explores how nature-based solutions (NBS) can contribute to addressing the urgent problem of biodiversity loss in a way that goes beyond just greening gray environments. It then explores the alignment (and misalignment) between the ways in which NBS is framed as a nature conservation tool globally and the ways in which biodiversity is considered in urban approaches to NBS. Finally, the chapter explores the ways in which NBS might become an essential part of the solution to biodiversity and ecosystem decline. It discusses how NBS can be effectively leveraged to address the biodiversity crisis in urban areas, through conservation, restoration, and efforts to create thriving places for both people and nature. Although the concept of NBS in urban areas is fairly divorced from its nature conservation origins, reconnecting with those ecological roots is important for creating biodiverse, resilient cities. In so doing, NBS could offer a unified concept for environmental management in urban areas that integrates the ecological benefits of nature conservation with an innovative focus on confronting major societal challenges. Though this is a demanding task, it could provide a fit-for-purpose approach for conserving biodiversity and supporting functional ecosystems in the Anthropocene.