IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/taf/jsustf/v16y2026i2p490-529.html

Sustainability leadership and biodiversity reporting in US firms: substantive vs symbolic board expertise

Author

Listed:
  • Mohamed Toukabri

Abstract

In recent years, the presence of Chief Sustainability Officers (CSOs) and directors with NGO experience in S&P 500 firms has evolved significantly, yet limited research examines which firms are most likely to appoint them or how these profiles influence biodiversity reporting. Drawing on resource dependence theory, we investigate whether the presence and characteristics of CSOs, as well as directors with NGO backgrounds, affect subsequent biodiversity disclosure. We construct three variables capturing CSO presence and expertise (CSO, CSOExpert, CSONonExpert) and two variables measuring NGO-related board expers, NGO Dir Number). Analyzing S&P 500 firms from 2011 to 2022, we find that neither CSOs nor NGO-experienced directors are associated with immediate improvements in biodiversity reporting. Interestingly, non-expert CSOs correlate with an initial decline in reporting quality among firms with weak sustainability commitments. Our findings highlight a distinction between symbolic and substantive motivations behind CSO appointments.

Suggested Citation

  • Mohamed Toukabri, 2026. "Sustainability leadership and biodiversity reporting in US firms: substantive vs symbolic board expertise," Journal of Sustainable Finance & Investment, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 16(2), pages 490-529, April.
    • Handle: RePEc:taf:jsustf:v:16:y:2026:i:2:p:490-529
    DOI: 10.1080/20430795.2026.2644285
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://hdl.handle.net/10.1080/20430795.2026.2644285
    Download Restriction: Access to full text is restricted to subscribers.
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1080/20430795.2026.2644285?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    As the access to this document is restricted, you may want to

    for a different version of it.

    More about this item

    Statistics

    Access and download statistics

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:taf:jsustf:v:16:y:2026:i:2:p:490-529. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    We have no bibliographic references for this item. You can help adding them by using this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Chris Longhurst (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://www.tandfonline.com/TSFI20 .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.