Experience and reflections from piloting the TNFD’s LEAP approach on an infrastructure development and finance organisation’s portfolio

Private Infrastructure Development Group (PIDG) case study on piloting the Taskforce on Nature-related Financial Disclosures’ LEAP approach.

Private Infrastructure Development Group (PIDG), an infrastructure developer and investor which mobilises private investment in climate resilient, sustainable and inclusive infrastructure throughout Africa and in South and Southeast Asia, took part in Global Canopy’s Taskforce on Nature-related Financial Disclosures (TNFD) piloting programme prior to the launch of the TNFD’s Final Recommendations in September 2023.

The TNFD has developed a set of recommendations and guidance for organisations to identify, assess, manage, and – where appropriate – disclose, their evolving nature-related dependencies, impacts, risks and opportunities. Its recommendations and guidance help organisations to integrate nature into decision-making, and ultimately support a shift in global financial flows away from nature-negative outcomes, toward nature-positive outcomes.

Supported by The Biodiversity Consultancy and Global Canopy, PIDG piloted the TNFD’s LEAP approach to identify and assess its nature-related issues.

The pilot focused on applying the TNFD LEAP approach to PIDG’s infrastructure portfolio, comprising infrastructure projects financed through equity, debt and guarantees to banks and bond investors to support infrastructure project development. Specifically, the pilot sought to identify: challenges and opportunities regarding the data sources, tools and platforms available to support nature-related assessments; the potential use and limitations of existing available data to inform the Locate, Evaluate, and Assess phases of the LEAP approach; and synergies between the LEAP approach and PIDG’s impact management framework and process.

“Undertaking the TNFD pilot, together with Global Canopy and The Biodiversity Consultancy, has enabled PIDG to identify opportunities to align our existing risk and impact management approach with the TNFD’s LEAP approach. It was a valuable learning experience for us as we seek to better implement a nature lens to our infrastructure investments, and explore our readiness for future disclosure in line with the TNFD’s recommendations.”

PIDG’s Group Lead, Biodiversity and Nature, Cheryl Ng

ENCORE is among the tools that PIDG used to identify the nature-related dependencies, relevant environmental assets and ecosystem services to which its infrastructure portfolio is exposed. The free, online tool jointly developed by Global Canopy, UNEP-FI and UNEP-WCMC provides organisations with data that enables them to identify the nature-related impacts and dependencies they are exposed to through their business activities. Find out more about ENCORE and how it can support organisations undertaking the TNFD LEAP approach.

After completing the pilot with Global Canopy and The Biodiversity Consultancy, PIDG has gone on to become an Early Adopter of the TNFD.

Read the PIDG case study, ‘Experience and reflections from piloting the TNFD’s LEAP approach on an infrastructure development and finance organisation’s portfolio’.

Read the case study

Global Canopy is a founding partner of the TNFD, and was an official piloting organisation for the TNFD prior to the launch of the TNFD Final Recommendations in September 2023. We continue to provide technical expertise to the TNFD, and to build capacity among businesses and financial institutions, preparing them to get started with adopting the TNFD recommendations.

This case study was generously funded by USAID.