Corporate Environmental Reporting

The Western Approach to Nature

Leanne J Morrison

• Publisher: Routledge
• Year: 2019
• ISBN:
  9780429809453
• Edition: 1
• Topic: Negocios y empresa
• Subtopic: Contabilidad

This book explores corporate environmental discourse by examining a sample of corporate environmental reports through the lens of environmental philosophy. Findings include the predominant use of a dualistic approach towards nature, which highlights the perceived 'separateness' of companies from the natural world. Also explored are the corporate articulations of interconnectivity and transcendence, two philosophical approaches that are also in common use in western culture. The expression of these themes reveals the discursive underpinnings of a harmful relationship with nature. Exploring the ways in which discourse informs corporate relationships with nature allows for an in-depth 'diagnosis' of current environmental problems.

The history of environmental philosophy demonstrates how some powerful philosophical approaches have shaped the western relationship with nature over time, and continue to do so through corporate environmental reporting. Corporate Environmental Reporting: The Western Approach to Nature demonstrates how corporate reporting is used to reduce the perception of the corporate responsibility, and contributes to the erosion of broader cultural restraints against the harmful treatment of nature. As such, discourse is integral to the survival of the world which we – and other members of our biotic community – are utterly reliant on. It shows the latest state of knowledge on the topic and will be of interest both to students at an advanced level, academics and reflective practitioners. It will be of interest to researchers, academics, and students in the fields of accounting, management, environmental philosophy and sustainable management.

1 Western Environmental Discourse and the Corporate Report

In this period of crisis, time taken for the development of theory seems luxury indeed. But if we do not understand the development and the defects in the western story of reason and nature, we may remain trapped within it or settle for one of its new versions.

(Plumwood, 1993, p. 196)

Introduction

By articulating the relationship between the corporation and the natural world, corporate environmental reporting implicitly draws from cultural attitudes towards nature. Since this relationship has been blamed in large part for the current environmental crisis, it is imperative that we closely examine the values with which it is informed. In order to explore these underpinning values in this book, I examine the corporate relationship with nature through the lens of western environmental philosophy.

The way people and organisations communicate about the natural world can be called cultural discourse. Such discourse is made up of spoken word, written text, but also by images, custom, traditions and actions. Even such disparate artefacts as architecture, magazine covers and art can be included in a culture’s discourse. When we consider the roles of such discourse, it becomes clear that it not only reflects the way those within that culture think and behave, but it also shapes our thoughts and behaviour. Consider for a moment the ways nature is discussed in popular culture in Australia; quite often as the subject of economic debate (for example, the Murray Darling Basin being degraded for the economic benefit of cotton growers, or natural habitat being erased for mining companies). This not only reflects the way Australians value nature, but also perpetuates certain ideals.

If we compare how nature is reflected in the popular culture of Australia with how it is represented in another culture, say, Malaysia, we might notice some differences. This difference would then tell us that discourses change from culture to culture. Or perhaps we might compare how nature is reflected in the popular culture of Australia in 2018 with that of 1918. We would likely notice some differences there, too. If discourses differ between cultures, and over time, then they are malleable, and might be used to understand the values and attitudes of different eras or cultures. This book does exactly that. In this book, I will examine western culture’s approach to nature, over time, and in particular, in the contemporary era.

Cultural discourse about nature reflects and informs how cultures interact with and consider the natural world. These discourses also inform such texts as the corporate environmental report. By articulating the relationship between the corporation and the natural world, corporate environmental reporting implicitly draws from cultural attitudes towards nature in its discourse. Because the natural world is currently experiencing the unprecedented pressure of human activity (predominantly from humans living in western cultures), and because much of this pressure stems from corporate activity, this book explores the discourse of corporate environmental reporting in an attempt to unravel some of the ways companies communicate about nature, and what this might convey about the corporate relationship with nature.

One way of understanding the different discourses about nature is to examine their historical use. Throughout the history of western culture, one particular body of discourse provides an in-depth exploration of the human-nature relationship: environmental philosophy. In order to explore the underpinning philosophies which guide the relationship between humans and nature, this book examines the corporate relationship with nature through the lens of western environmental philosophy. In doing so, it highlights the dynamics inherent in the corporate relationship with nature. The analysis presented in this book will test corporate relations to nature and consider the implications. In doing so, it opens up the field for what environmental philosopher Val Plumwood, in 1993, described as “new, less destructive guiding stories” (1993, p. 196), which she argued are necessary in the construction of healthy relationships between western culture and the natural world. As no resolution has been reached since Plumwood first proposed these “guiding stories,” the relevance of her call to action persists, 26 years later (Adams & Belasco, 2015; Dryzek, 2013; Mathews, 2014). The guiding intent of this book reflects what Plumwood articulates – to explore the discourse which guides our western relationship with nature in order to provide insight into current conditions.

This book is an acknowledgement of the profound dependence of human existence on the wellbeing of our natural environment. While much of this book might be interpreted as a critique of western approaches to nature, I also link back to a past in which western culture acknowledged its interdependence with, and respect of, nature. This profound sense of interconnectivity is evident in multiple early sources, including in Giambattista della Porta’s scientific volumes written in the fourteenth century, in which he articulated that “…the parts of this huge world… are knit together… so that when one part suffers, the rest also suffer with it, even so the parts and members of this huge creature the World…are linked in one common bond” (as cited in Merchant, 1989, p. 104). This quote reminds us that human (and corporate) actions are connected via a complex network of relationships to the wellbeing of not just other humans, but to all “the parts and members” sharing life on this planet. As such, this book is informed by a deep love of nature, and a concern for the effects western culture has had on its welfare.

Keeping these intentions in mind, this first chapter introduces the reader to some of the issues that inform the writing of this book. It does so by first explicating the aims and motivations for writing this book, then outlining the book will proceed to unravel the problem of the corporate relationship with nature, chapter by chapter. This explication will present some background to the topic. In doing so, I will explain the problem, the reasoning for the approaches adopted in this book and the justifications for undertaking the research which underpins the writing of this book.

Background

That the natural world is currently experiencing significant distress is a view which is shared by much of the scientific community (IPCC, 2013; Mitchell, Lowe, Wood, & Vellinga, 2006; Oreskes, 2004; Raupach, McMichael, Finnigan, Manderson, & Walker, 2012; Steffen, Grinevald, Crutzen, & McNeill, 2011). This is also the view of the wider community, where concern for the environment has been growing (Bradley, Reser, Glendon, & Ellul, 2014; Reser, Bradley, Glendon, Ellul, & Callaghan, 2012), and negative attention is being increasingly directed towards large corporations. In an attempt to answer these concerns, 92% of large corporations now publicly report on their environmental interactions (KPMG, 2015).

Despite the changes evident in corporate discourse however, damage to the environment continues to grow. Evidence of this damage includes the increase in carbon (and equivalents) emissions (IPCC, 2013), increasing rates of flora and fauna extinctions (Steffen et al., 2011), reductions in natural habitat (Attfield, 1991), increasing air, water and terrestrial pollution (Gregory, 2009) and the continued consumption of fossil fuels, which is attributed to the increase in average global temperatures (IPCC, 2013; Steffen et al., 2011). The apparent disconnection between the environmental discourse and its outcomes indicates the possibility of a subversive problem embedded in the discourse. Consequently, I undertake an in-depth exploration of corporate discourses and the philosophies which underpin them in order to identify any potential underlying problems.

What Is the Problem?

While there are many causes for the current distress of the natural environment such as overpopulation and consumerism (Crutzen & Stoermer, 2000; Steffen et al., 2011), in this book I focus on corporate impacts. In aggregate, the corporate world controls a large proportion of the world’s economy and natural resources (CorpWatch, 2001; Vitali, Glattfelder, & Battiston, 2011) and is therefore perceived to be responsible for much of today’s environmental damage (de Vries, Terwel, Ellemers, & Daamen, 2015; Nyilasy, Gangadharbatla, & Paladino, 2014; Spence, 2009). In light of these factors, the corporate relationship with nature requires careful examination. Consequently, I aim to explore how environmental discourse informs the corporate relationship with nature.

One lens through which to explore the corporate relationship with the natural world is that of western environmental philosophy. Western environmental philosophy is the lens adopted in this book since the West is responsible for a large proportion of environmental damage, despite supporting only a minority of the world’s population (Figuero & Mills, 2001; Milstein, Thomas, & Hoffmann, 2018). This situation suggests an argument that the current damaged condition of the natural environment can be attributed to western culture’s interaction with the environment (Kheel, 2008; Merchant, 1989). Since discourse articulates cultural values, it therefore presents a germane example to analyse cultural attitudes towards the natural world.

Implicitly drawing from western attitudes towards nature, corporate environmental reporting articulates the relationship between the corporation and the natural world (Kathyayini, Tilt, & Lester, 2012). In order to unravel the problem of the discrepancy between cultural discourse and contemporary environmental conditions, it is useful to closely examine the values which inform corporate environmental reporting. In this book, I aim to illuminate how the underpinning philosophical approaches have shaped organisational environmental reporting, and in doing so I pose a twofold question:

How is western environmental philosophy communicated through corporate environmental reporting; and what does this convey about the corporate relationship with nature?

In responding to these questions, I have taken a critical approach. Critical approaches are those which aim to deconstruct dominant paradigms such as positivist and enlightenment thought (Agger, 1991). These dominant paradigms are a source of power for cultural institutions such as capitalism (Spence, 2009), patriarchy (Irigaray, 2004) and other institutions which implicitly dominate the cultural landscape (Archel, Husillos, & Spence, 2011; Plumwood, 1993) which actively shape the way we approach the world (Horkheimer, 1982). In this book, it is the dominant approaches which shape the way people (and organisations) approach the natural world which is the focus.

I also adopt an interdisciplinary approach. Such an approach reflects the perspective of Thompson Klein (2010), who illustrates that rather than juxtaposing and comparing the perspectives of multiple disciplines, interdisciplinarity integrates the ideas and perceptions of multiple disciplines in order to create research which is neither one discipline or another, but both (or in this case, a few). In this book a broad, or wide interdisciplinarity is adopted; this means that the disciplines which are used in this book are not those that are normally considered complementary, or easily combined. Combinations of philosophy, accounting and history have not heretofore been integrated in the extant literature in the manner demonstrated in this book. In what Thompson Klein (2010, p. 20) establishes as an authentic interdisciplinarity, this book uses “the concepts and insights of one discipline [to] contribute to the problems and theories of another.”

Outline of Book

The first of these multiple disciplines to be discussed in this book is that of philosophy. The next chapter (Chapter 2) will introduce the concepts of western environmental philosophy from a historical point of view. Chapter 2 introduces the three primary philosophical themes which will be used in the analysis of the corporate environmental reports: dualism, transcendence and interconnectivity. The historical passages of these philosophical themes will be traced back to the pre-Socratic era of Ancient Greece, and their vestiges detected in the dominant institutions of contemporary western culture. The chapter will discuss the ways these philosophical themes have informed the western relationship with nature over time, and the way they continue to do so.

Next, in Chapter 3, some corporate reporting background will be charted. Chapter 3 will explore some of the key influences of corporate envir...

Table of contents

• Cover
• Half Title
• Series Page
• Title Page
• Copyright Page
• Table of Contents
• List of Figures
• List of Tables
• Preface
• Acknowledgements
• 1 Western Environmental Discourse and the Corporate Report
• 2 Western Environmental Philosophy
• 3 Corporate Reporting
• 4 Operationalising Critique
• 5 Predominant Corporate Philosophical Approaches
• 6 Prevalent Discursive Mechanisms
• 7 Unravelling the Discourse
• 8 Reflecting on the Discourse of the Corporate Report
• Index