1. Evaluation of the role of accounting in addressing climate change and related issues

2. Evaluation of opportunities and challenges of integrating information on climate change and

associated risks into financial reporting, management information, and decision-making

systems

3. Understand how information and communications technology (via data collection and analytics)

can help address climate change issues

Overview Assignment 2:

required to explore the impact of business activities on climate change by focusing on biodiversity. You will be asked to reflect on your learnings in class, the immersive learning experience (excursion), and your own research. The assignment is designed to equip you with graduate-ready skills by resembling a real-life scenario you would encounter in consultancy firms. The assignment will foster your research skills, which involves searching for and the synthesis of information, a reflection on material and learning experiences in the context of the assignment, as well as the communication of findings in a particular form. The task will also assist in the further development of research and visual communication skills. In addition, students are provided with an opportunity to evaluate and communicate accounting-based information in creative ways.

Assignment 2: Blog Post

"Accounting for the Impact of Business Activities on Biodiversity - the Case of the Great Barrier Reef"

The world's biodiversity is declining faster than at any other time in human history, largely due to human activity. Biodiversity loss has the potential to directly impact on businesses through increased regulatory compliance costs, eroding social license, and disruption of supply chains. That is not least due to the economic value of ecosystem services, including carbon storage, water filtration and food provisioning. According to the World Economic Forum's New Nature Economy Report II, US"$4 trillion of economic value generation - over half the world's total GDP - is potentially at risk as a result of the dependence of business on nature and its services" (p. 7).

The Great Barrier Reef is internationally recognized for its outstanding biodiversity, not least through its World Heritage status. However, the Great Barrier Reef is nearing its tipping point, beyond which the reef would lose its function as a viable ecosystem. Causes for this are the result of climate change and include, amongst others, exacerbated marine heatwaves, higher ocean acidity, loss of oxygen, and pollution. Widespread mass bleaching, for example, was first seen in 1998 and has since happened in 2002, 2016, 2017, 2020, 2022 and now in 2024 (see also the depiction in the image below).

Bleaching and death of coral off Heron Island from 2021 to February 2024. Source: CoralWatch, 2024.

Imagine you have just graduated and now work in a climate change consultancy that advises companies and governments on how the impact of business activities on climate change should be accounted for and reported on; and to make recommendations to investors as to which companies to invest in based on their contribution to climate change.

The consulting firm you work for has recently started a blog, and you have been asked to contribute to this blog by writing a blog post on Accounting for the Impact of Business Activities on Biodiversity - the Case of the Great Barrier Reef. The aim of the blog post is (i) to attract companies as clients that have a high impact on biodiversity loss in general and on the Great Barrier Reef's biodiversity in particular, and (ii) to attract consultancy engagements from Australian governmental authorities trying to mitigate the impact of business activities on biodiversity in the Great Barrier Reef. To this end, the head of your department has asked you to critically discuss the following five questions in the blog post:

Why is biodiversity in general and, in particular, the biodiversity of the Great Barrier Reef important for society?

How do the activities of businesses impact on (i) biodiversity in general and (ii) on the Great Barrier Reef's biodiversity?

Why should/shouldn't businesses care about the impact of their activities on (i) biodiversity in general and (ii) on the Great Barrier Reef's biodiversity?

What is the Taskforce on Nature-related Financial Disclosures (TNFD) and what is its role in accounting for biodiversity?

Using the Great Barrier Reef as an example, what are the benefits, opportunities, challenges, and hindrances of accounting for the impact of business activities on biodiversity?

imagine you work as a graduate consultant in the climate reporting field. The consultancy has recently started a blog to attract attention to critical issues of climate change reporting. It is your task to address the five questions outlined above through a contribution to this blog by writing a blog post on biodiversity that focuses on the Great Barrier Reef. You can use this example, this example, and this example for orientation on blog posts in the respective field.

Please include graphs, diagrams or percentages to make it more interesting