City Research Online

The Biodiversity Moonshot: A Spark for a Transformative Change or a New Business‐Case Facade?

Testa, F., Di Minin, A., Tosi, D. , Cucino, V., Ontano, G., Russo, M. V., Dahlmann, F., Banerjee, S. B. ORCID: 0000-0002-8699-6368, Thorpe, A. S., Figge, F., Shapira, P., Unter, K. M. M., Walls, J., Darnall, N., McCarthy, A., Ferri, P., Holland, C. & Cricchio, J. (2025). The Biodiversity Moonshot: A Spark for a Transformative Change or a New Business‐Case Facade?. Business Ethics, the Environment & Responsibility, doi: 10.1111/beer.70013

Abstract

Biodiversity has recently gained increased attention in sustainability management research. It sustains the ecosystems on which organizations depend, while simultaneously being threatened by organizational activities. By highlighting this dynamic of impact and dependence, the integration of biodiversity into management discourse offers an opportunity to foster a more holistic understanding of the business–nature relationship, grounded in a systems perspective. At the same time, however, there is a risk that biodiversity will be reduced to yet another environmental variable subsumed within the prevailing business‐case logic that views nature primarily as a source of economic value. This approach has proven inadequate to drive the transformative change needed to address the environmental crisis. Drawing on a discussion among scholars, this essay outlines six critical challenges—measurement, strategic decision making, innovation, public policy, interdisciplinary approaches, and dominant ontologies—which, depending on how they are addressed, may either catalyze a rethinking of the business–nature relationship or merely perpetuate existing paradigms.

Publication Type: Article
Additional Information: © 2025 The Author(s). Business Ethics, the Environment & Responsibility published by John Wiley & Sons Ltd. This is an open access article under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits use, distribution and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.
Publisher Keywords: biodiversity, business case, innovation, interdisciplinarity, measurement, public policy, strategic decisions
Subjects: G Geography. Anthropology. Recreation > GE Environmental Sciences
H Social Sciences > HD Industries. Land use. Labor > HD28 Management. Industrial Management
Departments: Bayes Business School
Bayes Business School > Faculty of Management
SWORD Depositor:
[thumbnail of Business Ethics Env   Resp - 2025 - Testa - The Biodiversity Moonshot  A Spark for a Transformative Change or a New.pdf]
Preview
Text - Published Version
Available under License Creative Commons Attribution.

Download (392kB) | Preview

Export

Add to AnyAdd to TwitterAdd to FacebookAdd to LinkedinAdd to PinterestAdd to Email

Downloads

Downloads per month over past year

View more statistics

Actions (login required)

Admin Login Admin Login