FAQ

Nature intelligence is the integration of science-based data and metrics into business decision-making to measure, report, and act on nature-related risks and opportunities.

While traditional ESG tools provide a broad sustainability overview, nature intelligence delivers granular, location-specific insights.  This allows companies to:

• Identify specific dependencies on ecosystem services like water and pollination.

   

• Quantify the financial magnitude of physical and transition risks.

   

• Meet mandatory disclosure requirements (e.g., CSRD) and voluntary frameworks (e.g., TNFD) with audit-grade data.

Natcap provides specialised, science-based depth that generic ESG tools lack. Most reporting platforms offer qualitative country-level estimates, whereas Natcap calculates absolute values anchored in exactly where your business operates.

Key differentiators include:

• Scientific Rigour: Founded by scientists at the University of Oxford, our methodologies are rooted in peer-reviewed science, not just expert opinion.

   

• Unrivalled Granularity: We provide location-specific data for over 200 commodities and evaluate 19 distinct nature-related dependencies.

   

• Decision-Ready Insights: We enrich raw data with interpretive layers—such as concern scores and prioritisation heatmaps—to make data actionable for C-suite leads.

The best way to start is by identifying your most material impacts and dependencies. Natcap helps you prioritise high-impact sites and commodities to ensure you tackle the right risks first.

Ready to accelerate your nature strategy? Get in touch today.

Yes, while climate change is a driver of nature loss, nature-related risks specifically address the degradation of ecosystem services like pollination and water purification. Nature intelligence focuses on location-specific biodiversity and habitat health, whereas climate intelligence typically focuses on greenhouse gas emissions and global temperature thresholds.

Distinguishing these risks is critical for resilience:

• Physical Risks: Climate models might predict a flood, but nature models predict the loss of soil stability that makes that flood catastrophic for a local facility.
• Interdependence: Nature loss can accelerate climate change (e.g., deforestation), and climate change can accelerate nature loss (e.g., coral bleaching).

Financial institutions use nature intelligence to identify "nature-blind" risks in their portfolios and align with SFDR and TNFD requirements. By mapping the locations and commodity dependencies of their portfolio companies, banks can quantify their exposure to physical disruptions and transition risks like the EU Deforestation Regulation (EUDR).

Portfolio managers use Natcap to:

• Screen Assets: Identify companies with high dependencies on water-stressed regions.

   

• Benchmark Performance: Compare the nature-positive progress of different companies within a sector.

   

• Drive Engagement: Use science-based data to lead more effective stewardship. 

Natcap integrates a wide range of peer-reviewed scientific datasets, including satellite imagery, the IBAT (Integrated Biodiversity Assessment Tool), and high-resolution spatial indices. Our methodology translates complex metrics—such as species richness, ecosystem integrity, and habitat fragmentation—into a standardised score that business leaders can easily interpret and act upon.

Our data framework includes:

• Observed Metrics: Direct satellite observations of land-use change and forest loss.

   

• Predictive Modeling: LCA (Life Cycle Assessment) modeling to estimate pressures like water consumption and pollution.

   

• Landscape Connectivity: Indices that measure how fragmented or intact a local ecosystem remains.

Yes, Natcap’s platform covers over 200 commodities, including soft agricultural goods, critical minerals, metals, and construction materials like cement and steel. This broad coverage allows global firms in sectors like electronics, automotive, and infrastructure to assess nature-related risks across their entire footprint, not just their direct land use.

We provide granular data for:

• Agricultural Goods: Beef, soy, palm oil, cocoa, timber, and more.

   

• Industrial Materials: Iron ore, copper, lithium, aluminum, and cement.

   

• Energy Inputs: Crude oil, natural gas, and renewables-related mineral needs.

A nature transition plan starts with a baseline assessment of your most material impacts and dependencies, followed by setting time-bound, science-based targets. Natcap helps you identify "nature-positive" opportunities, such as investing in restoration projects or shifting to regenerative sourcing, that protect long-term business value.

Contact our team to request a demo of the Natcap platform.

Natcap automates the extraction of key metrics required for leading sustainability frameworks. Our platform is pre-aligned with CSRD and TNFD, ensuring your disclosures stand up to investor and auditor scrutiny.

We support the compliance journey by:

• Mapping Data: Aligning supply chain and operational data with 70+ TNFD- and CSRD-aligned metrics.

• Auditability: Establishing a clear data trail that links every disclosure point back to transparent, traceable sources and calculations.

• Standardisation: Establishing a single source of truth to improve consistency across global teams.

Proactive nature management is a competitive advantage. Even without immediate mandates, disruptions to critical resources—like water, raw materials, or biodiversity—create significant financial, operational, and reputational risks.

Early adoption allows your business to:

• Future-Proof: Stay ahead of rapidly evolving global regulations that may soon impact your supply chain.

   

• Enhance Trust: Strengthen your reputation with investors and stakeholders who increasingly prioritise nature-related financial disclosures.

   

• Unlock Growth: Identify nature-positive market opportunities and regenerative business models that drive long-term growth.

The Omnibus package aims to simplify administrative burdens but does not remove the fundamental requirement for double materiality assessments under CSRD. While it may delay some sector-specific standards or ease data collection from smaller partners, companies must still disclose material nature impacts, dependencies, and risks under the ESRS E4 standard.

Key points to remember regarding the Omnibus changes:

• Double Materiality: The core principle remains; if nature is material to your business (or vice versa), you must report it.

   

• Data Relief: There is increased flexibility in how companies gather data from value chain partners who are not yet in scope.

   

• Timeline: While some reporting dates have shifted, the pressure from investors and financial institutions (via SFDR) for this data remains high.

Nature-related risks generally fall into two categories: physical and transition risks. Because the majority of nature impacts occur in the supply chain, these risks can directly disrupt access to commodities and drive up costs.

• Physical Risks: Arise from the degradation of nature, including acute events (floods, wildfires) and chronic shifts (rising temperatures, water scarcity).

   

• Transition Risks: Arise from policy changes, tightening regulations (EUDR), shifts in consumer demand, and reputational backlash.

Assessing lower-tier impacts requires combining supplier-disclosed data with spatially-explicit modeling to fill visibility gaps. Natcap uses a "top-down" methodology to map commodities to high-risk sourcing regions. This allows you to prioritise high-risk nodes for direct engagement even when specific supplier locations are initially unknown.

To gain visibility into complex supply chains, we recommend a three-step approach:

1. Prioritisation: Use Natcap's heatmaps to identify which commodities and regions carry the highest nature risk.

    

2. Mapping: Link high-embedded commodities (like minerals in complex machinery) to their likely origins using trade-flow data.

    

3. Engagement: Direct your transparency efforts and audits toward the specific "lower tier" suppliers identified as high-risk.