The journey of accounting for nature: A qualitative study of the strive to account for nature through translation of the TNFD framework from a Scandinavian Institutionalism perspective

Abstract

This thesis examines how the traveling idea of accounting for nature is translated and materialized into a standardized framework. This is interesting as there is a rising interest in how to report on environmental issues and this interest has now expanded beyond climate-related issues to nature more broadly. Drawing on an empirical study of the so-called TNFD framework and theories related to translation, the thesis identifies three main results. First, the process of translating the idea into a standardized framework is complex and conflict-intense, with idea carriers contesting components and engaging in iterative feedback loops through dis-embedding, packaging, and unpacking how to account for nature. Second, the idea carriers play a crucial role in the creation of the framework, where translations become accepted, excluded, contested, or ignored, based on what aligns with their local translation process. Third, idea carriers constantly evaluate the credibility, salience, and legitimacy of different frameworks. This leads to battles between alternative standardized frameworks, as idea carriers evaluate their local translations of the TNFD framework, where the materialization of a framework that does not align with the idea carriers’ views can lead to the strengthening of other frameworks. In showing this, this thesis contributes to previous research into sustainability performance frameworks by showing how the idea of nature (and not just climate) is materialized, and how frameworks battle. Additionally, this thesis speaks to the translation literature by showing how actors accept, exclude, contest, or ignore aspects of the frameworks through local translation processes.