Shaping nature outcomes in corporate settings

Bebbington, J. and Blasiak, R. and Larrinaga, C. and Russell, S. and Sobkowiak, M. and Jouffray, J.-B. and Österblom, H. (2024) Shaping nature outcomes in corporate settings. Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences, 379 (1903). ISSN 0962-8436

Abstract

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.