Management Control for Nature: Beyond Net-Zero and Nature-Positive

Abstract

‘Net-Zero’ and ‘Nature-Positive’ are two compelling global goals for Nature. But what is the nature of Nature, and what should a Management Control system for Nature look like? We discuss these questions by commenting on the extant accounting literature on global goals for Nature and accounting's contribution to achieving them. We start with a reflection on the idea of ‘Zero’ both as a number and an abstraction offering infinite possible combinations in a simultaneously negative and positive world, and we comment on the role of accounting numbers and calculations in relation to Nature – not only as an ecosystem of interconnected elements, ultimately leading to Net-Zero or Nature-Positive outcomes, but also in its more mysterious and enchanting traits, as part of a ‘more than human’ world. We outline four possible areas of enquiry for Management Control scholars, looking into the tensions between measurement precision and intervention; micro and macro objects or spaces of intervention; positive and negative interventions ultimately leading to Net-Zero and Nature-Positive; rigorously estimated projections and imaginative Management Control. We call for accounting scholars to start new enquiries into these areas, moving beyond a concern about how to calculate, and instead shifting the focus towards embracing a more Nature-based, future-oriented, maybe even imaginative and ‘more than human’, approach to Management Control for Nature.