Corporate Biodiversity Management
The Chair of Business Administration, esp. Environmental Management (from October 1, 2026: Chair of Business Administration, esp. Sustainability and Biodiversity Management), addresses the business-related challenges of biodiversity management. One of the research focus is on how companies can systematically integrate biodiversity into sustainability strategies, management processes, and reporting. A key area of emphasis is identifying the drivers and barriers associated with corporate biodiversity management across various sectors (Keckel, Lin Feuer and Sassen, 2025). Findings from previous studies indicate that regulatory requirements, stakeholder expectations, and reputational considerations serve as significant drivers, whereas a lack of valuation methods, insufficient data availability, and limited awareness of biodiversity impacts hinder implementation (Azizi et al., 2025a; Keckel, Lin Feuer and Sassen, 2025). Building on this, further research has examined the practical implementation of biodiversity management in diverse industries, such as transport (Hölzinger et al., 2023), tourism (Schröter and Sassen, 2023), the cruise industry (Schröter and Sassen, 2024), education (Yerokin et al., 2024; Yerokhin, Lin Feuer and Sassen, 2025), forestry (Deutscher, Braun and Sassen, 2026), and finance (Junge, Lin Feuer and Sassen, 2026).
Another research focus concerns biodiversity reporting. Work in this area has specifically analyzed the disclosure of biodiversity-related information across various sectors as well as the impact of regulatory developments on corporate practice. This research focus has examined key areas in greater depth, specifically water as a vital resource (Morris, Sassen and McGuinness, 2023), the financial sector (Azizi et al., 2025b), and the interaction between female executives and environmental teams (Rahmani, Konadu and Sassen, 2026). The findings indicate that while biodiversity aspects are gaining increasing importance, significant gaps remain regarding standardization, transparency, and comparability when compared to climate-related aspects (Azizi et al., 2025a; Azizi et al., 2025b; Keckel, Lin Feuer and Sassen, 2025; Junge, Lin Feuer and Sassen, 2026).
Overall, the research conducted to date makes a significant contribution to understanding corporate biodiversity management and biodiversity reporting. At the same time, it highlights a clear need for further research into the development of practice-oriented management tools and assessment approaches. We are therefore dedicated to research in these areas and welcome Master's theses on these topics.
Literature
Azizi, L., Bärsch, S., Braun, V., Junge, L., Lin Feuer, Y. S., Sassen, R., & Adam, N. (2025a). Bridging biodiversity accounting and stakeholder engagement: Towards an integrated paradigm for enhancing corporate biodiversity management. Accounting, Auditing & Accountability Journal, 39(3-4), 463-494. https://doi.org/10.1108/AAAJ-11-2023-6758
Azizi, L., Scope, C., Ladusch, A., & Sassen, R. (2025b). Biodiversity disclosure in the European finance sector. Ecological Economics, 228, Article 108430. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ecolecon.2024.108430
Deutscher, S., Braun, V., & Sassen, R. (2026). Shaping the future of biodiversity in our forests: Perspectives on the new EU Forest Strategy for 2030. Sustainable Futures. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.sftr.2026.101798
Hölzinger, M., Lüttmann, M., Günster, C., Sassen, R., & Seidel, B. (2023). Entwicklung eines ökologischen Rahmenkonzepts für einen Ökokontenpool der Deutschen Bahn AG: Monitoring eines Net-Gain-Ansatzes mit einem System von Biodiversitätsindikatoren. Zeitschrift für Umweltpolitik & Umweltrecht, 46, 148–198.
Junge, L., Lin Feuer, Y. S., & Sassen, R. (2026). How can the financial sector contribute to limiting biodiversity loss? A systematic review. Sustainable Finance Review. https://doi.org/10.1108/SFR-09-2025-0030
Keckel, L., Lin Feuer, Y. S., & Sassen, R. (2025). Identifying motivations, measures and challenges to implement corporate biodiversity management and reporting: A systematic review across sectors and regions. Journal of Environmental Management, 389, Article 125987. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jenvman.2025.125987
Morris, J., Sassen, R., & McGuinness, M. (2023). Beyond water scarcity and efficiency? Water sustainability disclosures in corporate reporting. Sustainability Accounting, Management and Policy Journal, 14, 490–514. https://doi.org/10.1108/SAMPJ-11-2021-0495
Rahmani, M., Konadu, R., & Sassen, R. (2026). Advancing biodiversity disclosure through the interaction between women leaders and environmental team: A critical mass perspective. Business Strategy and the Environment, 35(2), 3093–3123. https://doi.org/10.1002/bse.70303
Schröter, L., & Sassen, R. (2023). Biodiversitätsmanagement im Tourismussektor: Literaturüberblick zu unternehmerischen Treibern und Barrieren. Zeitschrift für Umweltpolitik & Umweltrecht, 46, 486–506.
Schröter, L., & Sassen, R. (2024). Biodiversitätsmanagement von Kreuzfahrtunternehmen. Zeitschrift für Umweltpolitik & Umweltrecht, 47, 471–516.
Yerokhin, S.-M., Lin, T.-Y., Lin Feuer, Y. S., Azizi, L., & Sassen, R. (2024). How do higher education institutions manage biodiversity? Exploring the current state at universities from the Global North and South. In L. Caporarello, P. Kumar, & A. Agrawal (Eds.), Higher education for sustainable development goals: Bridging the Global North and South (pp. 13–40). https://doi.org/10.1108/978-1-80382-525-020231002
Yerokhin, S. M., Lin Feuer, Y. S., & Sassen, R. (2025). Biodiversity preservation in German higher education institutions: Existing approaches, challenges and future developments. International Journal of Sustainability in Higher Education, 26(4), 717–734. https://doi.org/10.1108/IJSHE-12-2023-0608