27 June 2012: A new technical paper from Ecometrica, titled “Corporate Biodiversity Accounting,” describes how corporate biodiversity performance can be evaluated and presented in a transparent, concise accounting framework that follows the structure of financial reporting but does not require the conversion of biodiversity data to monetary values.

The technical paper proposes a biodiversity framework that can be presented in the corporate sustainability reports of businesses, based on the normative biodiversity metric (NBM), an assessment methodology that quantifies habitat changes caused by corporate activity.

The paper divides biodiversity accounts into two components: the “Biodiversity Impacts Account,” showing direct and indirect impacts to biodiversity over the accounting period; and the “Biodiversity Position Statement” summarizing the biodiversity of the organization’s total land holdings at the end of the accounting period. The Biodiversity Impacts Account and Position Statement correspond to the profit and loss account and balance sheet, respectively, of regular financial statements.

In addition, the account should be accompanied by a narrative description of any new constructions, acquisitions of land, conservation projects, or other factors that have influenced biodiversity performance during the period assessed. The paper argues that this financial accounting framework for biodiversity makes it impossible for corporations to manipulate biodiversity impacts by selling degraded land and buying pristine land in its place. [Publication: Corporate Biodiversity Accounting]