For years, nature-related risk sat in a grey zone - acknowledged, discussed, but rarely acted on. In 2025, that changed. Rules became clearer. Expectations hardened. Adoption went global. And companies began to move from exploration to execution.
After prolonged uncertainty, 2025 brought sharper regulatory signals, particularly in Europe, but with global implications.
In December, the EU reached provisional agreements on CSRD and CSDDD, significantly narrowing scope to the largest corporates while making expectations more explicit. Under CSRD, companies are also required to assess both climate and nature through double materiality, signalling a broader move toward integrating climate and nature. In November, the ISSB confirmed it will draw on the TNFD framework when developing its nature-related standard, cementing TNFD’s role as the global reference point.
ISO also published ISO 17298:2025, the latest international standard for biodiversity reporting and disclosure.
Momentum extended well beyond Europe. Australia introduced mandatory sustainability - and potentially nature-related - disclosures, while Japan accelerated reforms through the ISSB-aligned Sustainability Standards Board of Japan (SSBJ), with nature clearly on the horizon.
Central banks raised the stakes further. The Network for Greening the Financial System deepened its work on nature-related financial risk, and the Bank of England publicly flagged nature degradation as a financial stability concern for the first time.
What began as a European regulatory push became a global market expectation.
TNFD adoption surged, with more than 730 organisations and USD 22 trillion in assets under management engaged. Adoption is increasingly global: 86% of organisations in Asia-Pacific are using or planning to use TNFD, alongside 69% in Europe, 68% in Latin America & the Caribbean, and 63% in North America.
International institutions followed. The IMF and World Bank integrated nature risk into country-level diagnostics and financing frameworks, a powerful signal that nature risk is now macro-critical.
Investor coalitions also sharpened their focus. Groups including PRI, IIGCC, and the Finance for Biodiversity Foundation made nature a named priority for stewardship and engagement in 2025–26.
The growing pressure was underpinned by increasing evidence as to the financial effects of nature-related risks, with the TNFD, the University of Oxford and Global Canopy releasing a report that confirmed that the evidence of financial effects of nature-related risks for businesses and the economy is extensive.
2025 marked a clear behavioural shift.
More than 500 TNFD-aligned reports were published publicly. Investors also began to expect more sophisticated measurement and action from portfolio companies. Notably, NBIM divested from companies with excessive nature-related risks, signalling that nature exposure can now carry real financial consequences.
A growing number of multinationals published their first nature transition plans, modelled on climate transition plans, particularly in food & beverage, consumer goods, and financial services.
Critically, attention shifted to where risk is most concentrated: the supply chain. Real-life case studies in oranges, cocoa, and coffee underlined the material risk nature poses to maintaining secure and stable supply chains. Dependencies, impacts, and hotspots beyond direct operations moved to the centre of decision-making.
As expectations rose, we focused on enabling action.
In 2025, we:
Across the year, we expanded our reach and impact, supporting leading organisations like Tesco, Coca-Cola Europacific Partners and Olam Agri, to understand and act on nature risk in their businesses.
We also grew our team, continuing to invest in science and technology to make sure that our team is uniquely placed to respond to the challenge of measuring, reporting and acting on nature risk.
2025 didn’t make nature important. It made nature operational.
In 2026, the question will no longer be whether organisations address nature risk, but how credibly they do so.
At Natcap, we’re building for that next phase.