Abstract

It is a fundamental problem that, even if humanity can collectively agree that Earth’s biodiversity must be conserved, it is very difficult to translate this into effective action at the level of governments, organisations and individuals. In this chapter, we review the emerging stream of research in accounting for biodiversity, exploring possible roles that accounting might play in making it possible to achieve sustainable development that conserves species and ecosystems. We examine the World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF) Living Planet Report as an account of nature, evaluate intergovernmental initiatives to establish global governance and accountability frameworks for biodiversity, review research into organisation-level mechanisms of accounting for the biodiversity impacts of production activities and the uses of accounting in the organising of conservation activities, and finally suggest some possible future directions for research in accounting for biodiversity. In the Anthropocene era, accounting research has a potentially pivotal role to play in envisaging a future where Earth’s biosphere is organised and managed in ways that are ecologically and socially sustainable.