Call for papers: Contemporary biodiversity challenges and economic responses
Biodiversity loss represents one of the most complex challenges of our time, together with climate change, increasing trade and geopolitical tensions, and global inequality. While biodiversity loss and ecosystem degradation result in an estimated annual economic damage between US$ 4 trillion and US$20 trillion (Kapnick, 2022), approximately US$ 7.2 trillion of total enterprise value is reported exposed to unmanaged biodiversity risk (Carvalho et al., 2023). Moreover, the Living Planet Index shows a 69% average decline in monitored wildlife populations between 1970 and 2018, indicating unprecedented biodiversity challenges the world is facing.
Biodiversity contributes to critical ecosystem services that sustain human well-being, economic productivity, and environmental stability. Yet, economic systems and business practices remain among the most significant drivers of the decline of biodiversity across the globe. Economic activities, particularly those tied to land use, extractive industries, infrastructure expansion, and consumer markets, continue to exert unsustainable pressure on ecosystems worldwide. There is increasing recognition that preserving nature is not merely an ethical imperative but a foundation for long-term economic resilience, supply chain stability, and global financial security (Lanz et al., 2018; Bach et al., 2025). Consequently, policymakers, investors, and corporate leaders is calling for the integration of biodiversity consideration into decision-making processes.
This call for papers seeks to bring together leading experts and practitioners to critically explore the economic implications of biodiversity and natural capital challenges in this contemporary global economy. We seek rigorous, integrative scholarship that bridges economics, business, and ecological science to understand and address biodiversity loss not just as an environmental issue, but as a fundamental economic risk. Contributions should aim to provide strategic insight and economic implications, equipping researchers, practitioners, corporates, and other decision-makers with the knowledge required to navigate and lead in a biodiversity-constrained world.
We encourage diverse research design and methodological approaches, including systematic literature reviews, theoretical modelling, qualitative and quantitative analysis. Regardless of research methodology, submissions should be grounded in strong theoretical frameworks that not only guides the analytical process but also advances conceptual understanding in the field. Such theoretical contributions can be further strengthened by drawing on the expanding range of data sources and analytical tools now available in this rapidly evolving field. Researchers can now access a variety of tools and datasets to support empirical and conceptual works, for examples, the Exploring Natural Capital Opportunities, Risks and Exposure (ENCORE) database, the Swiss Re Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services Index, the firm-level nature dependence database (Garel et al., 2025), the Biodiversity Intactness Index, and firm-level biodiversity risk for the United States (Giglio et al., 2023), China (He et al., 2024), India (Rao et al., 2024), the United Kingdom (Wang et al., 2025), and more.
Specifically, this special issue’s topics-of-interest include, but not limited to:
- Assessment of how policy actions, such as biodiversity-related taxes and mandates, influence economic resilience and sector stability;
- The impacts of government strategies, international frameworks (e.g., the Kunming-Montreal Biodiversity Framework), and local initiatives (e.g., California Biodiversity Initiatives) on economic outcomes and risk mitigation associated with biodiversity loss;
- Corporate responses to biodiversity-related regulations and initiatives;
- Corporate responses to address biodiversity-related risks in supply chains, operations, and product portfolios;
- Sector-specific impacts and business opportunities in response to biodiversity challenges, including adaptation strategies in high-risk industries such as agriculture, food, energy, and infrastructure;
- Natural capital accounting, biodiversity footprint metrics, and the integration of biodiversity risk into corporate strategies and disclosures;
- Firm-level dependence on natural capital and its impact on business risk and financial risks;
- The transformation of biodiversity loss into financial risks for markets and investment portfolios;
- Evaluation of financial instruments designed to mobilize private capital for conservation and restoration;
- Corporate bond markets and responses to biodiversity risk;
- Market microstructure and responses to biodiversity risk;
- Asset pricing implications of managing and mitigating biodiversity risk.
Manuscript Submission Information
Manuscripts should be submitted online using Scholar One Manuscripts:
Manuscripts can be submitted until the deadline. Submitted manuscripts should not have been published previously, nor be under consideration for publication elsewhere (except conference proceedings papers).
All submissions that pass pre-check are peer-reviewed. All manuscripts are thoroughly refereed through the standard double-blind peer-review process. Submissions to the themed issue will be reviewed under fast-track review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Author guidelines page. There is no charge to the author. Submitted papers should be well formatted and use good English.
For any further information, please contact the Guest Editor, Dr. Khanh Hoang at khanh.hoang@lincoln.ac.nz or the Journal’s Editor-in-Chief, Assoc. Prof. Dr. Nguyen Vu Hung at nguyenvuhung@neu.edu.vn.
Key Dates
- Open date for manuscript submissions: 15 October 2025
- Deadline for manuscript submissions: 30 April 2026
- Final acceptance deadline: 15 October 2026
Guest Editors
- Khanh Hoang
Faculty of Agribusiness and Commerce, Lincoln University, New Zealand
Email: khanh.hoang@lincoln.ac.nz - Christopher Gan
Faculty of Agribusiness and Commerce, Lincoln University, New Zealand
Email: christopher.gan@lincoln.ac.nz - Cuong Nguyen
Faculty of Agribusiness and Commerce, Lincoln University, New Zealand
Email: cuong.nguyen@lincoln.ac.nz
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