Mandatory Disclosures as Calculative Spaces: Public Sector Accountability on Restoring Species at Risk*

Abstract

While sustainability has been a subject of growing inquiry in the accounting literature, biodiversity loss, an issue of critical societal importance, has not received the same attention. Furthermore, despite corporations, nongovernmental organizations, and the public sector all having distinct influences on biodiversity loss, the role of the public sector remains largely unexamined. Mobilizing Cuckston's (2022) framework for analyzing disclosures as calculative spaces, our study examines the framing of public sector reporting on biodiversity conservation. Specifically, through discourse analysis, we scrutinize the mandatory annual reports prepared by the Canadian federal government under the 2002 Species at Risk Act (SARA), which is aimed at preventing species extinction. The disclosures within these reports present discussions on the government's administration of SARA, thereby offering insights into the government's efforts to discharge accountability over the protection of species at risk. Our findings examine the significance of public sector reporting in enabling accountability for species conservation and discuss the ways in which mandatory disclosures contribute to this process.