Från mätning av biologisk mångfald till strategisk handling: Användningen av mått och indikatorer för biologisk mångfald i svenska företags strategiska hållbarhetsarbete

Sammanfattning

Companies play a central role in international efforts to counteract ongoing biodiversity loss, which threatens human welfare and the global economy. They are expected to use biodiversity metrics and indicators in strategic sustainability work to understand and manage their impacts and dependencies on biodiversity. At the same time, this work remains at an early stage and is characterised by several challenges, creating a need for greater knowledge about how such use is structured and how well it functions. This qualitative study aims to enhance the understanding of how twelve Swedish companies in the food, forestry, and energy sectors use biodiversity metrics and indicators in their strategic sustainability work, and to highlight company perspectives on how well this use functions. The empirical material is based on semi-structured interviews with company employees and has been analysed thematically, guided by the theoretical frameworks of PDCA and DPSIR. This study shows that the companies primarily use different types of indicators to guide their strategic sustainability work through planning, implementation, evaluation, and improvement. Metrics and indicators are used to a limited extent in assessments of impacts and risks, yet with incomplete understanding of impacts, dependencies, and risks in relation to all causes of biodiversity loss. Their use is not perceived as optimal, although some metrics can be applied clearly, effectively, credibly and reliably. This is explained by a lack of expertise, resource-intensive administration, communication challenges, insufficient data and data systems, limited standardisation of metrics and approaches, and high complexity and multidimensionality. The use of the biodiversity metrics and indicators is described as developing but is currently not sufficiently extensive or successful in counteracting biodiversity loss. This underlines the need for continued organisational development, collaboration, and research to achieve the desired change.