Special issue call for papers from Accounting, Auditing & Accountability Journal
Guest editors
Jill Atkins and Warren Maroun
Special Section: Extinction Accounting & Accountability
The world is currently experiencing a sixth period of mass species extinction. Extinction of flora and fauna is caused by a variety of factors arising from industrial activity and increasing human populations such as global warming, climate change, habitat loss, pollution and use of agrochemicals. Accounting for biodiversity has received attention from the academic accounting community, yet little research has focused on corporate accounting and accountability for specific species at risk of extinction. Multinational companies are increasingly disclosing information relating to specific threatened species and their protection efforts. This may be motivated by the Global Reporting Initiative’s (GRI) call for disclosures relating to IUCN (International Union for the Conservation of Nature) Red List Species. Further, companies protect species according to the Ramsar Convention and various national regulations. The efforts of non-governmental organizations (NGOs), such as the Worldwide Fund for Nature (WWF), to establish partnerships with companies to protect species threatened by extinction are also raising corporate awareness of the need to act against species extinction.
It seems that a new form of accounting, ‘Extinction Accounting and Accountability’, is emerging, which acknowledges a need to protect species at risk of extinction, driven by recognition that, without urgent corporate action, high profile species will be wiped out. Corporations are constructing narratives demonstrating their commitment to species protection, which acknowledge their unique potential to affect change by devoting funds and resources to reverse extinction trends. In order to explore this emergent form of accounting and accountability, we welcome submissions of full papers which focus on the following areas:
- theoretical and philosophical underpinnings of extinction accounting and accountability;
- corporate disclosures relating to species, by level of extinction risk, categorised as critically endangered, endangered, vulnerable, near threatened, of least concern, by the IUCN Red List, and the application of the GRI guidelines in relation to IUCN Red List species (specifically G4-EN14);
- corporate disclosures on specific species (in annual reports, sustainability reports, integrated reports, corporate website disclosures);
- corporate partnerships with NGOs and lobby groups aimed at protecting species at risk of extinction and the role of NGOs in driving corporate accountability for species at risk of extinction;
- the educational role of companies in raising awareness of species at risk of extinction;
- the role of responsible investment and sustainable finance in driving corporate accountability for species at risk of extinction (for example, collaborative engagement via the Principles of Responsible Investment (PRI));
- corporate initiatives aimed at protecting and conserving endangered species;
- the process of corporate biodiversity auditing of species at risk of extinction;
We also welcome research applying a wide range of methodological approaches including qualitative, quantitative, interpretive, archival and theoretical. We would stress that given the embryonic nature of research in this area that the above list is merely indicative rather than exhaustive and that submission on other topics relating to species threatened by extinction are welcome.
Submission Instructions
The submission deadline for this special issue is 31st March 2016. Manuscripts should be submitted using the online system, please use the link http://mc.manuscriptcentral.com/aaaj. If you would like to discuss the special section and/or you potential contribution please contact the guest editors by email: Jill Atkins ([email protected]) and Warren Maroun ([email protected]). All papers will be reviewed in accordance with AAAJ’s normal procedures.