Facilitating the development of national nature strategies that are aligned with the Convention on Biological Diversity. The present report was prepared by staff at the United Nations Economic Commission for Africa (ECA). The authors would also like to thank staff at FSD Africa for their invaluable input during the drafting process. This report builds on...

Financial regulators around the world are recognising that the depletion of nature poses major risks to financial and economic stability: these are additional to climate change risks. They have the opportunity to act on nature-related risks because doing so ensures that they fulfill their core mandate to maintain financial stability. Transparency is the cornerstone of...

Our society, economies and financial systems are embedded in nature, not external to it. The prosperity and resilience of our societies and economies depend on the health and resilience of nature and its biodiversity. Healthy ecosystems are a prerequisite for the sustained flow of ecosystem services that communities need to survive and flourish, and that...

ESG Fixed Income Solutions are designed for institutional investors looking to integrate ESG factors into the investment process, identify ESG-driven investment risks that may not be captured by conventional analysis, or screen companies in alignment with values or mandates. Coverage includes 14,000 total issuers including subsidiaries and more than 680,000 equity and fixed income securities...

To assess the potential importance of the contribution an ecosystem service makes to a production process, and the materiality of the impact if this service is disrupted, two aspects were considered: How significant is the loss of functionality in the production process if the ecosystem service is disrupted? Limited loss of functionality: the production process can...

UNEP-WCMC have developed a hierarchical natural capital asset classification to support the identification of natural capital assets which underpin ecosystem services. The classification was primarily developed because existing classifications were alone not fit-for-purpose. The development of a standardised, scientifically robust and fit-for-purpose classification, which consolidates and modifies existing classifications, enables consistent identification and description of...

After linking economic sectors to the ecosystem services they depend on, it is important to understand how these services are provided by natural capital assets and how they might be influenced by drivers of environmental change such as pollution and climate change. Identifying the natural capital assets underpinning each ecosystem service and the potential drivers...

Nature can be understood through a construct of four realms – Land, Ocean, Freshwater, and Atmosphere. These are major components of the natural world that differ fundamentally in their organisation and function. Atmosphere is included in the framework to reflect the close association between climate- and nature-related risks and opportunities, while also acknowledging that links with climate mitigation and adaptation...

Belem, Brazil, 11 August 2023: High level scoping study from the Taskforce on Nature-related Financial Disclosures (TNFD) and partners concludes that demand for nature-related data is growing quickly and a global nature-related public data facility could scale the availability, quality and maintenance of nature data with significant benefits for public, private and civil society stakeholders globally....

Whether it’s down to regulatory change, greater understanding of the climate crisis, client pressure, recruitment needs or investor questions, PR firms are now frequently being asked to support ESG communications. In recent months, several meetings with our clients to set up campaigns or messaging workshops have turned to the company’s ESG initiatives or concerns over...