New data from the ENCORE Insights: Country Dashboard shows the UK’s dependence on nature

New data from the ENCORE Insights: Country Dashboard shows nature loss – both in the UK and abroad – could create a trillion-pound disruption to the UK economy

The ENCORE Insights: Country Dashboard provides quantitative data that reveals how far countries and their most crucial economic sectors are potentially at financial risk from nature degradation. It enables central banks, governments and financial institutions to pinpoint how much of this risk originates at home compared with abroad.

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Nature is the hidden backbone of the UK economy

New dashboard data shows £1.08tn of the UK’s economic production is highly exposed to financial risk from nature loss at home and abroad. Knowing the size of this risk exposure and the sectors where nature matters most are key to understanding how regulation and investment – both at home and abroad – are needed to build the UK’s financial resilience.

The UK’s nature underpins its economy

The dashboard shows that more than half (51%) of the UK’s domestic production is highly dependent on nature in the UK. It’s not just primary industries like agriculture that heavily depend on the health of nature – this dependence is embedded across the wider economy in sectors such as real estate and retail. 

Real estate is an important sector for the UK and is highly dependent on nature at home. Our data shows £252bn of the sector (or 64%) is highly exposed to nature loss in the UK. Healthy local ecosystems help prevent erosion of land and regulate the local climate, reducing the damage wrought by storms and flooding on homes and buildings.

The agriculture sector depends heavily on the health of the UK’s natural environment. Our data shows £15bn of the sector (or 87%) is highly dependent on nature domestically. Healthy ecosystems prevent erosion and retain sediment that may otherwise choke waterways, help regulate rainfall, prevent local drought and purify water – all important for a thriving agriculture sector. While it may not be among the UK’s top GDP contributors, it is strategically important given its relationship with food supply and consumption, and therefore inflation.

Nature abroad supports the UK economy

Dashboard data on the imports that feed supply chains for UK domestic production show that 10% of these imports depend highly on nature abroad. This number reflects a very conservative estimate of the impact of nature loss abroad – after taking into account the UK’s foreign investment and lending portfolios, imports for consumer consumption, and the impact of overseas deforestation on climate change, the UK’s exposure to financial risk from nature loss abroad is likely to be much greater.

The UK construction industry heavily depends on nature in countries where materials, parts and products are manufactured before being imported to the UK and used in domestic production. Dashboard data shows £25bn (63%) of the sector depends highly on nature abroad. In particular it depends on healthy ecosystems overseas to supply water needed for manufacturing and to mitigate storms and flooding which can disrupt factories and plants in the supply chain. 

Likewise, the UK’s automotive sector is exposed to financial risk from the intertwined effects of nature loss abroad and climate change. New dashboard data shows £25bn (62%) of the sector depends on healthy ecosystems internationally.

“Our data reinforces growing evidence that nature loss harms the UK economy. There is much action the Bank of England can take – spanning microprudential policy and supervision, as well as macroprudential and monetary policy – to build national economic resilience. Incentivising UK banks and insurers to better assess and manage their nature-related risks, requiring disclosure of nature-related physical and transition risks, and encouraging financial institutions to follow the recommendations of the Taskforce on Nature-related Financial Disclosures are just a few examples.”

Dr Natacha Postel-Vinay, Technical Nature-Related Finance Lead, Global Canopy

More on the ENCORE Insights: Country Dashboard data release

Data about the UK’s economic dependence on nature is part of the latest release from the dashboard, which includes:

• UK and Switzerland joining European Union countries on the dashboard.
• The addition of ecosystem services – the benefits that nature provides to people and on which human wellbeing and economic activities depend. The dashboard shows the specific ecosystem services that the economy of each country and its sectors depend on, and how these services interact with each other to create dependencies and risks, driving exposure to financial risk in any given country or sector.

The ENCORE Insights: Country Dashboard launched in December 2025. Currently the dashboard covers the European Union, UK and Switzerland, and will expand over time to include countries across the globe. New data will be added to the dashboard later this year.

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The ENCORE Insights: Country Dashboard is being developed by Global Canopy as part of the Nature-3B consortium. This project has received funding from the European Union’s Horizon Europe research and innovation programme under grant agreement No. 101182455. ENCORE Insights is a project of ENCORE.