Table 4 Accounting topics identified... | Emerald Publishing

Table 4

Accounting topics identified from the open coding and corresponding working definitions

General topic (# of articles)	Specific topic	Number of articles	Definition	Examples
Natural capital accounting (85)	Agroecology accounting	2	Agroecology is “the science that provides the ecological principles and concepts for the design and management of productive agricultural ecosystems that conserve natural resources” (Lanka et al., 2017, p. 1592) Agroecology accounting explores the use of ecological principles in the management of agricultural ecosystems where biodiversity is used to generate value for farms	Lanka et al. (2017)
	Biodiversity accounting	25	Biodiversity accounting includes research on both the accounting of life forms (biodiversity as an asset to be accounted for and enhanced; biodiversity as an accounting entity) and research into how accounting (also at the level of individual organizations) can contribute to preserving biodiversity	Maione et al. (2024), Atkins and Maroun (2020)
	Ecological accounting	4	“An ecological accounting […] is focused on change, and transformation, an emancipatory form of accounting that at its core aims to restore nature, revive biodiversity, conserve species and enhance ecological systems” (Atkins et al., 2023, p. 1478) Ecological systems are accounting entities. The goal is to use different forms of accounting to restore the natural environment and ecological systems	Atkins et al. (2023), Sullivan and Hannis (2017)
	Ecosystem accounting	32	A set of official statistics that measure the value and inter-connections between ecosystems and human well-being to support decisions and planning at national and international levels. Ecosystem accounting tends to have a macro-level characterization	Bordt (2018), Feger and Mermet (2020)
	Environmental accounting	9	“Traditional, neo-classical, environmental accounting chiefly incorporates negative externalities into accounting frameworks to record and report on them. In contrast, ecological accounting is concerned with restoring the natural environment and ecological systems, such as biodiversity and ecosystems, in an emancipatory manner” (Atkins et al., 2023, p. 1477) Environmental accounting has to do with the measurement and reporting of the (negative) externalities of economic activities and is, therefore, a sort of extension to traditional accounting to incorporate issues that would otherwise remain outside the accountability of economic activities	Atkins et al. (2023), Freeman and Groom (2013)
	Extended accounts	1	Very similar to the concept of ecosystem accounting, extended accounts are designed to complement national accounts with the valorization of ecosystem services	Campos et al. (2019)
	Marine resource accounting	3	A subset of ecosystem accounting and biodiversity accounting specific to marine ecosystems	Cabral et al. (2015)
	Natural capital accounting	17	Natural capital accounting is “the process of identifying the stocks of natural assets, assessing their condition, and estimating, in physical and/or monetary terms the flow(s) of services that they produce over time” (Fleming et al., 2022, p. 2) Natural capital accounting focuses on measuring and valuing nature as stocks and flows	Fleming et al. (2022), Maione et al. (2024)
	Ocean accounting	4	Subset of ecosystem accounting and biodiversity accounting specific to the ocean ecosystem	Cummings et al. (2023)
Biodiversity and ecosystem valuation (70)	Valuation	65	Economic and/or ecological valuation of biodiversity and ecosystems	Cuckston (2019)
	Monetization	36	Conversion in monetary terms of biodiversity and ecosystems	Jacobsen et al. (2022), Yousefpour and Hanewinkel (2009)
	Bioprospecting	1	Exploration of biodiversity for commercial purposes	Dedeurwaerdere (2005)
	Pricing	2	Development of a price on biodiversity or ecosystem services	Kim et al. (2014)
	Costing	8	Allocation of direct and/or indirect costs to biodiversity conservation services	Kim et al. (2014)
Extinction accounting		17	Refers to studies on the role of accounting in measuring, reporting and combating biodiversity loss	McBride et al. (2023), Atkins and Maroun (2018)
Reporting		51	Organizational reporting on biodiversity and ecosystems	Gaia and Jones (2017, 2020)
Biodiversity offsetting		6	The development and implementation of biodiversity compensation systems	Cuckston (2017), Ferreira (2017)

General topic (# of articles)	Specific topic	Number of articles	Definition	Examples
Natural capital accounting (85)	Agroecology accounting	2	Agroecology is “the science that provides the ecological principles and concepts for the design and management of productive agricultural ecosystems that conserve natural resources” (Lanka et al., 2017, p. 1592)Agroecology accounting explores the use of ecological principles in the management of agricultural ecosystems where biodiversity is used to generate value for farms	Lanka et al. (2017)
	Biodiversity accounting	25	Biodiversity accounting includes research on both the accounting of life forms (biodiversity as an asset to be accounted for and enhanced; biodiversity as an accounting entity) and research into how accounting (also at the level of individual organizations) can contribute to preserving biodiversity	Maione et al. (2024), Atkins and Maroun (2020)
	Ecological accounting	4	“An ecological accounting […] is focused on change, and transformation, an emancipatory form of accounting that at its core aims to restore nature, revive biodiversity, conserve species and enhance ecological systems” (Atkins et al., 2023, p. 1478)Ecological systems are accounting entities. The goal is to use different forms of accounting to restore the natural environment and ecological systems	Atkins et al. (2023), Sullivan and Hannis (2017)
	Ecosystem accounting	32	A set of official statistics that measure the value and inter-connections between ecosystems and human well-being to support decisions and planning at national and international levels. Ecosystem accounting tends to have a macro-level characterization	Bordt (2018), Feger and Mermet (2020)
	Environmental accounting	9	“Traditional, neo-classical, environmental accounting chiefly incorporates negative externalities into accounting frameworks to record and report on them. In contrast, ecological accounting is concerned with restoring the natural environment and ecological systems, such as biodiversity and ecosystems, in an emancipatory manner” (Atkins et al., 2023, p. 1477)Environmental accounting has to do with the measurement and reporting of the (negative) externalities of economic activities and is, therefore, a sort of extension to traditional accounting to incorporate issues that would otherwise remain outside the accountability of economic activities	Atkins et al. (2023), Freeman and Groom (2013)
	Extended accounts	1	Very similar to the concept of ecosystem accounting, extended accounts are designed to complement national accounts with the valorization of ecosystem services	Campos et al. (2019)
	Marine resource accounting	3	A subset of ecosystem accounting and biodiversity accounting specific to marine ecosystems	Cabral et al. (2015)
	Natural capital accounting	17	Natural capital accounting is “the process of identifying the stocks of natural assets, assessing their condition, and estimating, in physical and/or monetary terms the flow(s) of services that they produce over time” (Fleming et al., 2022, p. 2)Natural capital accounting focuses on measuring and valuing nature as stocks and flows	Fleming et al. (2022), Maione et al. (2024)
	Ocean accounting	4	Subset of ecosystem accounting and biodiversity accounting specific to the ocean ecosystem	Cummings et al. (2023)
Biodiversity and ecosystem valuation (70)	Valuation	65	Economic and/or ecological valuation of biodiversity and ecosystems	Cuckston (2019)
	Monetization	36	Conversion in monetary terms of biodiversity and ecosystems	Jacobsen et al. (2022), Yousefpour and Hanewinkel (2009)
	Bioprospecting	1	Exploration of biodiversity for commercial purposes	Dedeurwaerdere (2005)
	Pricing	2	Development of a price on biodiversity or ecosystem services	Kim et al. (2014)
	Costing	8	Allocation of direct and/or indirect costs to biodiversity conservation services	Kim et al. (2014)
Extinction accounting		17	Refers to studies on the role of accounting in measuring, reporting and combating biodiversity loss	McBride et al. (2023), Atkins and Maroun (2018)
Reporting		51	Organizational reporting on biodiversity and ecosystems	Gaia and Jones (2017, 2020)
Biodiversity offsetting		6	The development and implementation of biodiversity compensation systems	Cuckston (2017), Ferreira (2017)

Source(s): Authors’ own work