Nature-related Finance

Nature loss poses material risks to financial institutions, as studies show more than half of global GDP is moderately or highly dependent on nature. Lack of high-quality nature-related data is one of the biggest obstacles holding financial institutions back from addressing nature-related risks. Global Canopy innovates to increase the scope, quality and accessibility of freely available data. We work to enable investors, lenders, insurers, financial regulators and others in the sector to identify and mitigate their impacts and dependencies on nature – and to seize the opportunity of investing in nature-positive solutions. Our work on nature-related finance centres on three collaborative flagship projects, the Taskforce on Nature-related Financial Disclosures (TNFD), ENCORE and The Little Book of Investing in Nature.

Taskforce on Nature-related Financial Disclosures (TNFD)

Global Canopy is one of four Founding Partners of the Taskforce on Nature-related Financial Disclosures (TNFD), alongside UNDP, UNEP FI and WWF. Together, we formed the initiative to bring together a Taskforce on Nature-related Financial Disclosures in September 2020. We set up and supported an Informal Working Group of 75 financial institutions, corporates, governments and regulators, think tanks and consortia, which worked alongside an informal Technical Expert Group and an Observer Group.

Formally launched in September 2023, after two years of design and development, the TNFD has now published its final Recommendations for nature-related risk management and disclosure.

It has been welcomed by a wide range of leading financial institutions and corporates, including AXA, Barclays, BNP Paribas, Grupo Financiero Banorte, Kering, KPMG, H&M and many, many more. Regulators and policymakers have also expressed their support for the TNFD, including the G7 environment and finance ministers and the G20 environment ministers.

Over the two years, Global Canopy has continued to support the TNFD as an official piloting organisation alongside Frontierra, Nature-Based Insetting and The Biodiversity Consultancy to support forward-looking organisations to better understand their nature-related risks and opportunities. This involved organisations such as AECOM, Grupo Sura, JGP, IndusInd Bank, PIDG and Tesco.

Visit TNFD

“Financial institutions have a key role to play in the preservation of biodiversity. Since 2019, AXA has supported the establishment of a Taskforce on Nature-Related Financial Disclosures in order to better understand nature-related risks and impacts. Today I am proud to see Axa being part of the Taskforce Members, having previously been part of the work of the Informal Working Group. We look forward to contributing to this important work.”

AXA’s CEO Thomas Buberl

ENCORE

ENCORE is a unique data initiative developed by Global Canopy in partnership with UNEP Finance Initiative (UNEP FI) and UNEP’s World Conservation Monitoring Centre (UNEP-WCMC), through the Natural Capital Finance Alliance. The ENCORE tool maps the impacts and dependencies of different economic sectors on nature enabling financial institutions to identify and assess the nature-based risks to the businesses in their portfolios. ENCORE takes a global approach to a wide and growing range of nature impacts and dependencies, including deforestation and biodiversity-loss.

ENCORE is used by investors, lenders, regulators and central banks worldwide. It has recently been used for major studies on systemic risks by de Nederlandsche Bank (DNB), Banque de France, Swiss Re, the World Bank and the World Economic Forum.

For queries about our work on ENCORE, get in touch with Lisa Petrovic, NCFA Senior Project Manager.

Explore ENCORE

Project partners

The Little Book of Investing in Nature

The Little Book of Investing in Nature from Global Canopy provides an essential overview of the area of biodiversity finance at a time when governments and international negotiators are urgently seeking pragmatic solutions for the twin crises of climate change and the loss of nature.

In 2021 it was a winner of the FT How we Teach This Recognition Award for Excellence in Sustainable Finance Education for Teaching Materials Most Informed by Recent Developments.

It features more than 40 mechanisms and 25 case studies illustrating how governments, banks and NGOs – and sometimes combinations of all three – are driving transformation, reflecting the recent growth in the technical expertise and energy that is being directed towards efforts to value nature appropriately and pay for its conservation.

The Little Book of Investing in Nature is available in English, French, Indonesian and Spanish. You can also read more about The Little Book in Chinese.

Or, for a quicker insight to the Little Book, the summary is now available in English, French, Indonesian and Spanish.

Read the Little Book