Library | ESG issues
Biodiversity
Biodiversity encompasses the variety of life on Earth, forming the ecosystems that support human well-being and economic activity. All industries rely on healthy ecosystems for resources and services, making biodiversity preservation critical for economic stability. Biodiversity loss introduces material risks including supply chain disruptions, regulatory challenges, and reputational damage, while also creating investment opportunities in biodiversity restoration and natural resource management.
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NatureFinance: Resources & Tools
NatureFinance’s Resources & Tools hub provides a curated collection of reports, briefs and analytical tools focused on mobilising finance for nature-positive outcomes. It covers topics such as bioeconomy development, nature markets and innovative financing structures, supporting investors and policymakers in integrating nature-related considerations into financial decision-making.
A systems approach to sustainable finance: Actors, influence mechanisms, and potentially virtuous cycles of sustainability
This review applies systems thinking to sustainable finance, analysing key actors, influence mechanisms and feedback loops. It identifies barriers such as weak ESG metrics and poor risk integration, and highlights opportunities for collaboration to align capital flows with sustainability and ecological resilience.
IFC's performance standards on environmental and social sustainability
The IFC Performance Standards (2012) form part of the Sustainability Framework, setting requirements for clients to identify, manage, and mitigate environmental and social risks in financed projects. They comprise eight standards covering areas such as labour, resource efficiency, biodiversity, and community impacts, and are widely used as a global benchmark for responsible investment.
Forever wild series
This series outlines the Forever Wild Initiative’s approach to financing and managing large-scale wilderness landscapes through blended capital models, community co-design, and nature-based enterprises. It documents the development of equitable nature finance structures that integrate conservation, economic activity, and social outcomes across landscapes.
Nature markets: Overarching principles and framework: Specification version 2
Sets out overarching principles and framework for high-integrity UK nature markets, covering credit generation, trading and storage. Emphasises transparency, additionality, governance, verification and registries to ensure credible environmental outcomes, prevent greenwashing, and support investment in nature recovery.
Sustainable Finance Roundup March 2026: Markets, Climate Risk, and the Transition in Practice
This month’s sustainability roundup captures a shift from framework development to real-world application, where climate and nature risks are increasingly embedded across financial systems, legal accountability, and decision-making. It highlights how intensifying physical climate signals, evolving disclosures, and maturing litigation are converging with insights on sovereign risk, energy systems, and corporate strategy. Together, these developments show how sustainability is moving beyond principle—being tested, priced, and enforced across markets, regulation, and the real economy.
Nature-based solutions
This report explains nature-based solutions as ecosystem protection, restoration and management measures that can support climate mitigation, adaptation and biodiversity. It stresses their carbon-storage limits, vulnerability to disturbance, and the risk of overreliance in net-zero claims without deep emissions cuts.
Seafood traceability engagement series
This series examines how investor engagement can drive improved traceability in global seafood supply chains. It focuses on assessing company progress, encouraging adoption of traceability systems, and supporting investors in identifying and managing environmental and social risks within complex seafood value chains.
Climate-nature scenario development for financial risk assessment
This report develops integrated climate-nature scenarios for financial risk assessment, showing that combined climate and nature policies provide a fuller view of agricultural, biodiversity and ecosystem-service risks than separate approaches, with implications for central banks, supervisors and future stress-testing frameworks.
Regulating finance for biodiversity: An assessment for the global biodiversity framework
This report assesses how financial regulation in Indonesia, Brazil, China, the EU and the US aligns with Global Biodiversity Framework targets, finding biodiversity integration generally weak and recommending stronger disclosure, due diligence, taxonomies, sanctions and sector-specific rules to redirect finance away from forest-risk activities.
The economics of water: Valuing the hydrological cycle as a global common good
The report argues the hydrological cycle should be governed as a global common good, with water valued more accurately and managed for efficiency, equity and environmental sustainability, supported by five missions spanning food systems, ecosystems, circular water use, lower water-intensity industry, and universal safe water access. The report is produced by the Global Commission on the Economics of Water, supported by the OECD.
ASRS first year has landed: Here's what we’re seeing in the market
This article examines how Australian organisations are approaching the first year of mandatory ASRS climate disclosures. It highlights common implementation patterns, areas of misallocated effort, and emerging practices that prioritise financially material, decision-useful climate reporting.
The slow forces behind this year’s fast crises
The article argues that today’s rapid global crises (political, ecological, and social) are the visible outcomes of long-building systemic pressures. Using complexity science and systemic risk analysis, it highlights how understanding these deep drivers can help societies both anticipate crises and accelerate positive, transformative change.
Investing in nature: Navigating the landscape with Handprint’s nature tech ecosystem map V.4
The report maps the emerging nature-tech ecosystem, grouping participants into frontliners, builders and enablers, and highlights version 4 updates: 62 new organisations and three new categories—paradigm shifters, regulatory and compliance, and payment for ecosystem services.
Kicking away the green ladder: The asymmetric sovereign risk from nature degradation
This working paper analyses how nature and biodiversity degradation affect sovereign borrowing costs. Using panel econometric models across 53 countries (2000–2020), it finds biodiversity loss raises bond yield spreads, with effects up to three times larger for higher-risk, often lower-income countries, indicating asymmetric sovereign risk from nature-related financial vulnerability.
Turning the tide: How to finance a sustainable ocean recovery
This report provides guidance for financial institutions on financing a sustainable blue economy. It outlines principles, sector-specific criteria and case studies to support responsible investment in ocean-related sectors including seafood, ports, maritime transport, marine renewable energy and coastal tourism, aligning finance with ocean protection and long-term economic sustainability.