Nature Risk Reporting: Building on Your Climate Experience
Organizations facing new nature and biodiversity risk disclosure requirements often view them as yet another reporting burden. As the reporting landscape expands, sustainability teams may feel overwhelmed by the complexity of measuring nature-related risks, particularly when examining frameworks like the Taskforce on Nature-related Financial Disclosures (TNFD).
The good news is that companies with climate reporting experience already possess many of the building blocks needed for success. Climate reporting has served as a valuable training ground: the governance structures, data collection processes, and reporting frameworks developed for climate work create a strong foundation for tackling nature risk assessment.
What to Expect When Addressing Nature
While sustainability teams can leverage their climate reporting expertise, there are three important distinctions to consider when approaching nature-related disclosures:
The Scope Is Broader
Unlike climate, which focuses primarily on greenhouse gas emissions, nature encompasses multiple environmental dimensions simultaneously unfolding. Water, waste, pollution, biodiversity, and ecosystem services (those provided by nature, such as climate regulation and water and air purification) all fall under the nature umbrella. Rather than trying to address everything at once, organizations should begin with a risk screening to identify their most significant impacts and dependencies. Starting with one or two priority areas in the first year allows teams to build confidence and competency. Also, companies are likely already to be working on some of these issues, like water or waste, that they can incorporate into their new nature program.
Location Specificity Matters
While greenhouse gas emissions are assumed to have the same global impact regardless of where they are released, nature impacts are inherently local. Restoring one ecosystem cannot offset damage to another. This means organizations must conduct site-specific analyses to accurately assess nature risks. However, detailed assessments across hundreds of global operations can be cost-prohibitive and time-consuming. A strategic screening process helps identify which locations require immediate attention, enabling teams to focus resources where they will have the greatest positive impact.
Data Complexity Requires New Tools
Unlike climate change, for which IPCC models provide standardized scenarios, nature-related data exists in fragmented datasets that can be challenging to navigate. While some organizations have responded by hiring specialists, this approach is not scalable for most companies. Fortunately, new technological solutions are emerging to handle these complexities. Platforms like Dunya Analytics' nature risk analytics solution allow organizations to screen priority locations and impact areas without expanding their teams, enabling existing sustainability professionals to focus on transformation rather than data analysis.
Climate reporting has served as a valuable training ground: the governance structures, data collection processes, and reporting frameworks developed for climate work create a strong foundation for tackling nature risk assessment.
Looking Ahead: Why 2025 Matters
With thousands of companies required to comply with CSRD reporting in 2026 (covering 2025 data), the time to prepare is now. While regulators may show initial flexibility as teams and tools mature, delaying preparation carries significant risks. Organizations attempting to avoid these requirements through materiality exemptions may find themselves struggling to catch up as reporting standards become more stringent.
Instead, sustainability teams should view 2025 as a critical learning opportunity. By adopting new tools and practicing nature risk disclosures early, organizations can build competency while the stakes are lower. This proactive approach positions teams for success in an evolving regulatory landscape.
The Path Forward
Organizations don't need to start from scratch with nature-related disclosures. By building on existing sustainability foundations and embracing new technological solutions that simplify the first steps of complex nature disclosure, teams can focus on driving meaningful environmental improvements while meeting regulatory requirements.
The journey toward comprehensive nature risk reporting may seem daunting, but with the right approach and tools, sustainability teams can transform this challenge into an opportunity for environmental leadership.
