Work

Sustainability Reporting on Biodiversity and Ecosystems in the European Forest‐Based Sector: An Institutional Analysis

Year: 2026

Type: article

Abstract: ABSTRACT The EU's Corporate Sustainability Reporting Directive (CSRD) emphasises the importance of corporate sustainability reporting on biodiversity and ecosystems, particularly specified in the European Sustainability Reporting Standard E4 (ESRS E4). This study examines how the European forest‐based sector operationalises ESRS E4 through mandatory disclosures and explores the institutional pressures shaping these practices. Using a qualitative content analysis method on 23 sustainability reports, we assess ESRS E4 disclosures and coercive, mimetic and normative pressures. Overall, these pressures manifest in responses ranging from isomorphism and substantive adaptation to tendencies towards means‐ends decoupling related to specific disclosure obligations. The results reveal a contrast between converging transition plans and policies and diverging practices in terms of actions, targets and metrics. Few disclosed financial effects from biodiversity‐related risks were detected. The findings also indicate that effective biodiversity reporting depends not only on regulatory requirements but also on the development of shared reporting and measurement infrastructures.

Source: Business Strategy and the Environment

DOI: 10.1002/bse.71680

Authors: Andreas Barth, Tobias Stern, Kurt Christian Schuster, Lea Ranacher, Stefanie Linser

Institutions: Vienna University of Economics and Business, Kompetenzzentrum Holz, BOKU University, Graz University of Technology, Lenzing (Austria)

Language: English

Topic: Corporate Social Responsibility Reporting

Subfield: Strategy and Management

Field: Business, Management and Accounting

Domain: Social Sciences

SDG: Life on land

Open Access status: hybrid

Estimated APC paid: $4,480