Themen für Abschlussarbeiten
Table of contents
- Resilience in ecological and economic systems
- The Role of the Insurance Sector in Biodiversity Protection and Preservation
- The Role of the Banking Sector in Biodiversity Protection and Preservation
- The Role of the Insurance Sector in Climate Change Mitigation and Adaptation
- Auditing Insurance-Associated Emissions in the Insurance Industry: An Analysis of Audit Techniques and Challenges
- How Do Financial Institutions Disclose Their Impacts on Biodiversity? An Empirical Analysis of Biodiversity Reporting in the Euro Stoxx 600 Financial Sector
- Navigating corporate risks by contributing to biodiversity protection and preservation and enhancing the resilience
- Assurance of Sustainability Disclosure
- From Measurement to Accountability: An Analysis of Tools and Methods for Biodiversity Accounting
- Policy Instruments for Mobilizing Private Financing for Nature Conservation and Biodiversity
- Culture of Sustainability in Organisations and Change Processes
- Drivers and barriers of biodiversity management in the finance sector. A systematic literature review
- Financial institutions as drivers of sustainable development
- Corporate biodiversity management
- Prüfung von Nachhaltigkeitsinformationen
- Wie legen Finanzinstitute ihre Auswirkungen auf die Biodiversität offen?
- Die Rolle von Biodiversität bei Feldexkursionen im Bildungskontext
- Which corporate governance mechanisms drive corporate sustainability?
- Sustainability Reporting of Corporations and Higher Education Institutions
Resilience in ecological and economic systems
Resilience captures the capacity of social and ecological systems to adapt, recover, and thrive amid adversity. Recent literature highlights its multidimensional nature, spanning individuals, organizations, and systems, including supply chains, financial governance, and leadership (Hillmann & Guenther, 2021). Amid escalating disruptions caused by climate change, pandemics, and economic or geopolitical crises, resilience is gaining relevance in accounting and sustainability discourse. This master thesis aims to explore resilience as a complementary concept to sustainability, analyzing how resilience thinking can be integrated into business practices to foster short-term adaptability and long-term robustness.
Bachelor-/Master-/Diplomarbeit
Sprache: Deutsch/Englisch
Methodology: systematic literature review, content analysis, interviews (depending on your preference)
Betreuung: Dr. Leyla Azizi
The Role of the Insurance Sector in Biodiversity Protection and Preservation
The insurance sector can play a significant role in the protection and preservation of biodiversity, given its broad influence across the value chain and its exposure to various risks and opportunities stemming from its impacts and dependencies on biodiversity.
Students participating in this research will gain an overview of the insurance business model and an understanding of how insurance companies can contribute to biodiversity protection and preservation. This research involves a content analysis of biodiversity-related disclosures by insurance companies. A coding framework is developed based on the European Sustainability Reporting Standards (ESRS) E4, which provide specific indicators related to biodiversity and ecosystems. Furthermore, the methodology includes performing a systematic literature review.
Bachelor-/Master-/Diplomarbeit
Sprache: Deutsch/Englisch
Methodology: systematic literature review and content analysis
Betreuung: Dr. Leyla Azizi (in Anknüpfung an ein aktuelles Forschungsprojekt)
The Role of the Banking Sector in Biodiversity Protection and Preservation
The banking sector can play a significant role in the protection and preservation of biodiversity, given its central role in financing economic activities and its influence on sectors with high biodiversity impacts. Banks are increasingly exposed to biodiversity-related risks and opportunities through their lending and investment portfolios, as well as their own operations. Students participating in this research will gain an overview of the banking business model and an understanding of how banks can contribute to biodiversity protection and preservation. This research involves a content analysis of biodiversity-related disclosures by banks. A coding framework is developed based on the European Sustainability Reporting Standards (ESRS) E4, which provide specific indicators related to biodiversity and ecosystems. Furthermore, the methodology includes performing a systematic literature review.
Bachelor-/Master-/Diplomarbeit
Sprache: Deutsch/Englisch
Methodology: systematic literature review and content analysis
Betreuung: Dr. Leyla Azizi und M.Sc. Ronja Paleit (in Anknüpfung an ein aktuelles Forschungsprojekt)
The Role of the Insurance Sector in Climate Change Mitigation and Adaptation
The insurance sector plays a vital role in climate change adaptation and mitigation due to its significant influence along the value chain and its exposure to various climate-related risks and opportunities. Insurers can drive change by integrating climate considerations into underwriting, investment strategies, and risk management practices.
This research applies a content analysis of climate-related disclosures by insurance companies. A coding framework is developed based on the European Sustainability Reporting Standards (ESRS) E1, which provide indicators relevant to climate change adaptation and mitigation.
Students participating in this research will gain an in-depth understanding of the insurance business model and how insurance companies can support and contribute to climate resilience and decarbonization efforts. The methodology includes conducting a content analysis of sustainability reports and performing a systematic literature review.
Bachelor-/Master-/Diplomarbeit
Sprache: Deutsch/Englisch
Methodology: systematic literature review and content analysis
Betreuung: Dr. Leyla Azizi (in Anknüpfung an ein aktuelles Forschungsprojekt)
Auditing Insurance-Associated Emissions in the Insurance Industry: An Analysis of Audit Techniques and Challenges
This master thesis examines the increasing importance of sustainability reporting in the insurance sector, particularly in the context of rising regulatory requirements and growing public interest in the credibility of emissions data. As existing methods and standards for auditing insurance-associated emissions (IAE) are insufficiently researched and offer little guidance to practice, a research gap exists regarding the challenges and best practices in this area. Therefore, the thesis aims to analyze the auditing of IAE in the insurance industry, evaluate existing audit techniques, and identify challenges, ultimately improving the transparency and credibility of sustainability reports. Insurance companies face problems with data availability, quality, and the complexity of calculation methods when auditing IAE. Ensuring the reliability and comparability of the data presents a significant challenge. The research questions, therefore, address how emissions in the underwriting area can be reliably audited, what challenges and best practices exist, and how theoretical principles and practical experience can contribute to improving the audit.
Bachelor-/Master-/Diplomarbeit
Sprache: Deutsch/Englisch
Methodology: systematic literature review and content analysis
Betreuung: Dr. Leyla Azizi (in Anknüpfung an ein aktuelles Forschungsprojekt)
How Do Financial Institutions Disclose Their Impacts on Biodiversity? An Empirical Analysis of Biodiversity Reporting in the Euro Stoxx 600 Financial Sector
The disclosure of corporate sustainability activities related to biodiversity is increasingly demanded by various stakeholders. Societal and regulatory pressures (e.g., GRI 304, EU Sustainable Finance Disclosure Regulation, Taskforce on Nature-related Financial Disclosures [TNFD], CSRD, EU Biodiversity Strategy) particularly call for the measurement and reporting of companies’ impacts and dependencies on biodiversity across their operations.
This is urgently needed: according to the Global Risk Report 2023 (World Economic Forum), biodiversity loss ranks as the fourth most severe global risk over the next ten years. Measuring and reporting on biodiversity as part of sustainability reporting is therefore a key tool for communicating corporate performance and impacts in this area.
The planned master’s thesis will systematically evaluate the challenges of the current and emerging disclosure frameworks and assess existing biodiversity reporting practices in terms of their reported impacts and dependencies. Collaboration with practice partners is possible upon request.
Bachelor-/Master-/Diplomarbeit
Sprache: Deutsch/Englisch
Methodology: systematic literature review and content analysis
Betreuung: Dr. Leyla Azizi (in Anknüpfung an ein aktuelles Forschungsprojekt)
Navigating corporate risks by contributing to biodiversity protection and preservation and enhancing the resilience
The planetary boundaries framework represents nine components of Earth system critically affected by anthropogenic activities. Six of these nine boundaries, especially biodiversity, are transgressed. Biodiversity is a prerequisite for human welfare and economic functioning. By adopting an interdisciplinary systemic lens to biodiversity, this master thesis provides an understanding of the complex interrelations and processes between biodiversity loss and business sector. By including the social-ecological resilience as an interrelated system between humans and nature, this thesis connects firm-level resilience to the resilience of macro-level ecological systems. This master thesis aims on a framework development on drivers of biodiversity loss and identifying approaches for firms to building socio-ecological resilience.
Bachelor-/Master-/Diplomarbeit
Sprache: Deutsch/Englisch
Methodology: systematic literature review and content analysis
Betreuung: Dr. Leyla Azizi (in Anknüpfung an ein aktuelles Forschungsprojekt)
Assurance of Sustainability Disclosure
The assurance of sustainability information enhances the credibility and transparency of sustainability reports and can help prevent greenwashing. At the same time, there are legal requirements for certain companies to have their sustainability information assured. As such, assurance can support companies in achieving their sustainability goals and fulfilling their social responsibilities. Various research approaches are conceivable in the context of sustainability assurance, focusing on the validity, reliability, and impact of assured sustainability information. Potential topics include, for example, comparisons of different assurance methods for sustainability data, the credibility of sustainability reports (particularly in preventing greenwashing), challenges in the assurance process, the effects of regulation on the assurance of sustainability information, or the role of the assurance provider within the audit process.
Bachelor-/Master-/Diplomarbeit
Sprache: Deutsch/Englisch
Methodology: systematic literature review and content analysis
Betreuung: Dr. Leyla Azizi and M.Sc. Ronja Paleit (in Anknüpfung an ein aktuelles Forschungsprojekt)
From Measurement to Accountability: An Analysis of Tools and Methods for Biodiversity Accounting
In their biodiversity management, companies face the challenge of wanting or needing to measure their impact on nature and biodiversity. The Corporate Biodiversity Footprint (CBF) is a key metric for this purpose, quantifying a company’s dependence on biodiversity and its impact on it. It assesses how a company’s activities affect ecosystems and biodiversity and provides insights into direct and indirect impacts. The CBF is measured in area (e.g., km²) and can be expressed in absolute terms (total affected area) or relative terms (affected area per financial or physical KPI). Various tools and frameworks are available to help companies measure their biodiversity footprint. They provide insights into the specific activities and supply chain processes that contribute most significantly to biodiversity loss. What tools and databases are available that companies can use to analyze their biodiversity footprint or natural capital and for biodiversity accounting? What metrics do these platforms use? What tools do companies actually use in practice, and what is the cost-benefit ratio for the company (e.g., SMEs)?
The study may focus on a specific sector, such as agriculture, and employ various methods (e.g., a case study within a company).
Bachelor-/Master-/Diplomarbeit
Sprache: Deutsch/Englisch
Betreuung: M.Sc. Ronja Paleit, M.Sc. Laura Hoffmann
Policy Instruments for Mobilizing Private Financing for Nature Conservation and Biodiversity
In 2019, calculations of global needs and existing financial flows for biodiversity conservation revealed an estimated funding gap of $598 billion to $824 billion per year (Deutz et al., 2020). Since most current financial flows originate from public budgets (UNEP, 2023, p. 16; Deutz et al., 2020), policy measures are needed to prevent actions that harm biodiversity and to create incentives for measures that promote biodiversity-friendly investments.
Economic instruments can create incentives for specific actions to achieve policy goals more efficiently and effectively than through bans. These instruments (e.g., taxes, CO2 certificates, subsidies) are used particularly in the areas of climate change and nature conservation. In the field of nature conservation and biodiversity, there are currently few incentives, and it is unclear what actual effects they have on nature. We are interested in which incentive instruments exist for biodiversity-friendly actions and which of these actually increase private financing for nature conservation. How can more incentives be created to encourage greater investment in biodiversity and nature conservation? Innovative mechanisms such as nature/biodiversity credits could help close the funding gap, but how would companies handle them? What challenges do companies see with regard to these incentives and investments in nature conservation in general?
Bachelor-/Master-/Diplomarbeit
Sprache: Deutsch/Englisch
Betreuung: M.Sc. Ronja Paleit, M.Sc. Laura Hoffmann
Culture of Sustainability in Organisations and Change Processes
To what degree do organisations implement sustainability into their everyday life, encompassing products/supply chain/internal structures? Focussing rather on the internal perspective and tracing sustainability change processes to eventually identify (a) culture(s) of sustainability that foster sustainable development. Ideally, different types of organisational settings can be identified and interdependencies mapped accordingly.
This is rather an open-ended research question, hence a qualitative approach would fit best.
The research will be empirical (interviews), but a thorough literature-review still needs to be done in order to theorise the findings.
Of course, we will specify the topic individually according to your degree. The scope of this topic is rather advanced, but might be levelled down to BA as well. In case you contact me, please, have an inspired idea of what you would like to research and how you might do that.
Bachelor-/Master-/Diplomarbeit
Sprache: Deutsch/Englisch
Betreuung: M.Sc. Ronja Paleit
Drivers and barriers of biodiversity management in the finance sector. A systematic literature review
Sustainable finance has been gaining momentum in recent years, aiming to increase the resilience of the global financial system in order to avoid further financial breakdowns, as experienced in 2008. In this context, the biodiversity topic's consideration often falls short for multiple reasons. Nevertheless, biodiversity and related ecosystem services are essential pillars of economic functioning and should be regarded when attempting to restructure the finance system. This thesis shall therefore examine existing literature on the topic and carve out drivers and barriers to implementing the matters of biodiversity in the context of sustainable finance.
Bachelorarbeit
Sprache: Deutsch/Englisch
Betreuung: Dr. Leyla Azizi
Financial institutions as drivers of sustainable development
Sustainable development aims fulfilling today's needs without comprising the capabilities of future generations to meet their needs (World Commission on Environment and Development, 1987). In recent years, reaching the path of sustainable development ranks high on the global agenda given the increasing threats that the current growth paradigm has caused (e.g. climate change, and biodiversity loss). In this context, financial institutions play an essential role as they can redirect investments, nudge sustainable development and become co-agents of positive biodiversity change. For example, development banks can nudge future development by being responsible for financially supporting, inter alia, municipalities, businesses and private persons. Additionally, private financial institutions can leverage the business approaches of their business partners by excluding biodiversity-harming business activities from their funding. Consequently, financial institutions may uphold a significant power for sustainable development.
This topic can be shaped according to the specific interest of the candidate working on the topic (e.g. by selecting a type of financial institution, a sector, or a region). This topic shall be tackled by conducting a systematic literature review.
Bachel-/Master-/Diplomarbeit
Sprache: Deutsch/Englisch
Betreuung: Dr. Leyla Azizi
Corporate biodiversity management
Corporate environmental responsibilities have received growing attention from multiple stakeholders and become common practices worldwide. However, certain particular issues such as biodiversity conservation, though receiving great social pressures, have not been considered in depth by current environmental management standards. To address such gap, research on the challenge of integrating biodiversity management in businesses are specifically called for.
The thesis should select one or more particular issues related to corporate biodiversity management such as drivers and barriers, internalization challenges, standards and implementation, governance mechanism, etc. Furthermore, the thesis should be able to critically discuss applicable managerial implication.
Bachelor-/Master-/Diplomarbeit
Sprache: Englisch/Deutsch
Betreuung: Dr. Leyla Azizi
Prüfung von Nachhaltigkeitsinformationen
Die Prüfung von Nachhaltigkeitsinformationen unterstützt die Glaubwürdigkeit und Transparenz von Nachhaltigkeitsberichten und kann dazu beitragen Greenwashing zu vermeiden. Gleichzeitig existieren auch für bestimmte Unternehmen gesetzliche Anforderungen zur Prüfung von Nachhaltigkeitsinformationen. Insofern kann sie dazu beitragen, dass Unternehmen ihre Nachhaltigkeitsziele erreichen und ihrer gesellschaftlichen Verantwortung nachkommen. Im Kontext der Prüfung von Nachhaltigkeitsinformationen sind verschiedene Forschungsansätze denkbar, die sich mit der Validität, Zuverlässigkeit und Auswirkungen von geprüften Nachhaltigkeitsinformationen befassen können. Dies könnte bspw. den Vergleich der Methoden zur Prüfung von Nachhaltigkeitsdaten, die Glaubwürdigkeit von Nachhaltigkeitsberichten (Vermeidung von Greenwashing), Herausforderungen bei der Prüfung von Nachhaltigkeitsinformationen, Auswirkungen von Regulierungen auf die Prüfung von Nachhaltigkeitsinformationen oder auch die Rolle des Prüfers im Rahmen des Prüfungsprozesses betreffen.
Bachelor-/Master-/Diplomarbeit
Sprache: Englisch/Deutsch
Betreuung: Dr. Leyla Azizi
Wie legen Finanzinstitute ihre Auswirkungen auf die Biodiversität offen?
Empirische Analyse der Biodiversitätsberichterstattung des Euro Stoxx 600 Finanzsektors.
Die Offenlegung von Nachhaltigkeitsaktivitäten von Unternehmen im Bereich Biodiversität wird von vielen Stakeholdern zunehmend gefordert. Gesellschaftlicher und regulatorischer Druck (z.B. GRI 304, EU-Verordnung über die Offenlegung nachhaltiger Finanzen, Taskforce on Nature-related Financial Disclosures TNFD, CSRD, EU-Biodiversitätsstrategie) erfordern dabei vor allem die Messung und Berichterstattung von Auswirkungen und Abhängigkeiten auf die Biodiversität in den Unternehmensbereichen. Dies ist dringend erforderlich: Laut dem Global Risk Report 2023 (Weltwirtschaftsforum) stellt der Verlust der biologischen Vielfalt in den nächsten 10 Jahren das viertgrößte Risiko auf globaler Ebene dar. Die Messung und Berichterstattung über die biologische Vielfalt als Teil der Nachhaltigkeitsberichterstattung ist daher ein Instrument, um die Leistungen der Unternehmen in Bezug auf die biologische Vielfalt und deren Auswirkungen zu kommunizieren.
Einerseits sind regulatorische Bemühungen im Gange, um die Messung und Berichterstattung über die biologische Vielfalt zu verbessern und zu standardisieren sowie die Transparenz zu erhöhen. Dazu gehören zum einen die erste Version des TNFD Disclosure Framework, die im September 2023 veröffentlicht wurde, die EU-Taxonomie, die zur Klassifizierung von grünen Biodiversitätsaktivitäten dient, sowie die erst im Oktober 2023 veröffentlichten Datenpunkte im Bereich Biodiversität der CSRD.
Auf der anderen Seite entwickeln Pionierunternehmen in der Zwischenzeit individuelle Lösungen zur Messung und Berichterstattung über die biologische Vielfalt. Doch trotz der eindeutigen Verbindung zwischen Wirtschaft und Natur wird die Messung und Berichterstattung über die biologische Vielfalt noch immer nicht ausreichend berücksichtigt, und es hat sich noch kein Standard für die Berichterstattung über die biologische Vielfalt durchgesetzt.
Um diese Forschungslücke zu schließen, werden in der Masterarbeit die Herausforderungen der derzeit in der Entwicklung befindlichen Offenlegungsrahmen systematisch evaluiert und bestehende Offenlegungspraktiken hinsichtlich ihrer Auswirkungen und Abhängigkeiten auf die Biodiversität bewertet.
Mögliche Fragestellungen im Hinblick auf Wirkung, Messung und Regulierung:
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Wie berichten die EuroStoxx 600 Finanzinstitute über seine Auswirkungen auf und Abhängigkeiten von der/die Biodiversität in Nachhaltigkeitsberichten?
- Was können passende quantitative und qualitative Indikatoren für Biodiversitätsreporting sein, sowohl auf Unternehmens- als auch Investoren-/Regularienebene?
- Wie können diese analysierten Indikatoren gemessen werden?
- Wie beeinflussen Indikatoren das Ambitionsniveau der Akteure im Finanzsektor
- Was sind die (aktuellen und zukünftigen) Anforderungen seitens der Regulierung auf der EU-Ebene und naturbezogener Biodiversitätsrisiken an die Berichterstattung über Biodiversität?
- Welche Biodiversitätsthemen sind für Finanzsektor wesentlich?
- Zusammenarbeit mit Praxispartnerrinnen auf Wunsch möglich
Methodik:
Inhaltsanalyse von Reportingpraxis auf Basis der Nachhaltigkeitsberichte (Eingrenzung: Zeit, Land [EU außer Schweiz und Großbritannien], Branche [Banken, Versicherungen, etc.)
- Forschungsdesign: Systematic literature review & Content analysis
- Datenerhebung/Datenanalyse: Qualitative Inhaltsanalyse und quantitative Analyse von Nachhaltigkeitsberichten (Inhaltsanalyse nach vorgegebenen Indikatoren)
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Die Rolle von Biodiversität bei Feldexkursionen im Bildungskontext
Der fortschreitende Verlust der Biodiversität und die damit verbundene Beeinträchtigung von Ökosystemleistungen stellen eine ernstzunehmende Bedrohung für unsere Gesellschaft dar. In diesem Zusammenhang wird Bildung als entscheidender Faktor für den Schutz und die nachhaltige Nutzung von Biodiversität angesehen.
Insbesondere Formate, die direkt in der natürlichen Umwelt stattfinden, wie etwa Feldexkursionen, spielen eine zentrale Rolle, um den Wert der Natur und ihrer vielfältigen Funktionen für den Menschen erfahrbar zu machen. Diese praxisnahen Lernerfahrungen tragen dazu bei, ein tieferes Verständnis und Bewusstsein für die Bedeutung der Biodiversität zu fördern.
Ziel der Masterarbeit ist es, einen umfassenden Überblick über den aktuellen Forschungsstand zur Rolle von Biodiversität im Rahmen von Feldexkursionen zu schaffen. Darüber hinaus sollen gute Praxisbeispiele identifiziert und analysiert werden. Ein besonderer Schwerpunkt der Arbeit liegt auf der Untersuchung des sächsischen Curriculums, um potenzielle Anknüpfungspunkte für Schulen aufzuzeigen und Empfehlungen für die Integration von Biodiversitätsthemen in den Unterricht zu entwickeln.
Aufgabenstellung:
- Überblick über den aktuellen Forschungsstand zur Bedeutung von Biodiversität bei Feldexkursionen.
- Identifizierung und Analyse von Best-Practice-Beispielen.
- Untersuchung des sächsischen Curriculums, um Möglichkeiten zur Einbindung von Biodiversitätsthemen in den Schulunterricht herauszuarbeiten.
Masterarbeit
Sprache: Englisch/Deutsch
Betreuung: M.Ed. Vera Braun
Which corporate governance mechanisms drive corporate sustainability?
Corporate sustainability, which is often confused with corporate social responsibility, is a strategy that goes beyond short-term efficiency to search for environmental, social and economic balance of doing business. In this sense, traditional corporate governance philosophies and mechanisms are challenged for reconsideration.
The aims of this thesis is to conduct a systematic literature review of the relationship between sustainability and governance, how sustainability- related issues could be integrated in corporate governance, and which tools and mechanisms are available or being developed to help companies in the transition towards sustainable business practices. Governing issues such as ownership structure, board structure, management process, compliance, information transparency, etc. are to be discussed in detail.
Bachelor-/Master-/Diplomarbeit
Sprache: Englisch/Deutsch
Betreuung: My Hanh Doan
Sustainability Reporting of Corporations and Higher Education Institutions
The sustainability reporting (SR) practices of corporations and other public institutions such as Higher Education Institutions (HEIs) are facing many challenges from the lack of mandatory requirements, uniform standards and formal assurance. Either intentionally or unintentionally, institutions might engage in the act of greenwashing or sustainability-washing in a broader sense, using sustainability reports as a form of public communication and mislead their stakeholders about the actual impacts of their economic, environmental, social and educational performance. Given the essential role of SR in the advancement of sustainable development, attention should be devoted to enhance the credibility of reports as well as to regulate, uniform and assure the SR practices within each sector. In such a context, research should attempt to bring the sustainability-washing matter to light by investigating the motivations of voluntary reporting, examining the gaps between the degree of performance and the quality of disclosure, and proposing a summarized catalogue to assess sustainability reports for future research. The results are expected to enrich the SR research field conceptually and empirically, as well as to support further practical development in governing, standardizing and assuring the reporting practices of corporations alongside other social and public organizations.
Bachelor-/Master-/Diplomarbeit
Sprache: Englisch
Betreuung: My Hanh Doan