Beyond Reporting: The Integration of Climate Change and Biodiversity Into Business Strategies and Governance Structures of Swedish Firms and Financial Institutions

ABSTRACT This paper analyses how large Swedish firms and financial institutions integrate climate change and biodiversity into their business strategies and governance structures. Using unique 2022 and 2023 survey data and logistic probability models, we examine how internal and external factors shape early responses to the EU Taxonomy and the CSRD. Our findings confirm that the integration of climate change into business strategies and governance structures has progressed faster than that of biodiversity. Most organisations have already integrated climate change to a significant extent, whereas biodiversity remains far less prioritised. Notably, the integration of biodiversity is primarily driven by the presence of board members with environmental sustainability competence compared to climate change that is more broadly integrated. Experience with the NFRD supports integration, whereas voluntary frameworks such as the TCFD play a weaker role. Overall, organisations remain in an early learning phase, with most changes centred on mapping and reporting rather than on substantive behavioural transformation.