Why nature reporting is gaining significance for companies
Until the mid-2010s, few companies reported on on their nature-related impacts. However, nature reporting has gained significant traction in the past few years as businesses recognize the financial, operational and reputational risks associated with nature loss and a lack of data monitoring.
As the conversation surrounding sustainability advances, companies are increasingly expected to disclose their dependencies and impacts on nature, integrating biodiversity and ecosystem considerations into their reporting frameworks.
Key players in nature reporting and when to use them
Several major initiatives have emerged to guide businesses in reporting and managing nature-related risks and opportunities. Each serves a distinct purpose, and complements the other in supporting corporate sustainability efforts:
- Taskforce on Nature-related Financial Disclosures (TNFD): TNFD is the most comprehensive nature disclosure framework, providing companies with structured guidance on assessing and reporting nature-related risks and dependencies. As of 18 February 2025, the TNFD released a major update to its Knowledge Hub, offering training videos, case studies and resources to help businesses make the case for disclosure and better understand their impacts.
- Natural Capital Protocol (Capitals Coalition): The Capitals Coalition is a framework for businesses to measure and value their impacts and dependencies on natural capital. This is particularly useful for organizations looking to integrate nature-related considerations into decision-making processes.
- Global Reporting Initiative (GRI): The GRI is a well-established sustainability reporting framework that includes specific disclosures on biodiversity and ecosystem impacts. The UN Global Compact references GRI in its Communication on Progress (CoP), making it a key tool for participants.
- Science-Based Targets for Nature (SBTN): Unlike the aforementioned frameworks, the SBTN provides a methodology for setting measurable, science-based targets to align corporate actions with planetary boundaries. Kering, Holcim and GSK were the first companies to declare SBTNs, demonstrating corporate leadership in this space.
The UN Global Compact collaborates with all of these organizations, helping businesses integrate nature into their sustainability strategies.
The business case for nature reporting
As nature-related risks become more material to investors, regulators and consumers, a paradigm shift presents itself; reporting on nature is no longer just a voluntary exercise—it is a strategic advantage. Companies that engage in nature-related disclosures benefit from:
- Risk reduction & future-proofing: Identifying and mitigating environmental risks can help companies avoid financial and operational disruptions.
- Competitive advantage: Proactive disclosure and sustainability leadership can enhance brand reputation and stakeholder trust.
- Supply chain resilience: Understanding dependencies on natural resources can help businesses secure long-term access to raw materials and reduce vulnerability to supply chain disruptions.
- Increased innovation: Investing in nature-positive solutions can drive new product development and business model transformation.
- Access to new markets: Sustainable practices can open doors to emerging markets with growing regulatory and consumer demand for responsible business practices.
To further support companies on their nature disclosure journey, the UN Global Compact will host two Academy sessions in June 2025—one focused on the Taskforce on Nature-related Financial Disclosures and another on Science-Based Targets for Nature. These sessions will provide businesses with practical insights on integrating nature considerations into their reporting and strategy.
As the private sector accelerates its efforts to align with global sustainability goals, nature reporting will continue to be a critical component of corporate accountability. The companies leading the way today are setting the standard for a more sustainable and nature-positive economy.
The Communication on Progress (CoP) is the key accountability mechanism of the UN Global Compact and helps participating companies track and disclose their sustainability efforts in alignment with the Ten Principles and the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). The CoP includes reporting on environmental topics, specifically those directly related to nature and biodiversity, ensuring that businesses assess and communicate their impact on ecosystems, natural resources and climate resilience. Given this focus, referencing the CoP reinforces the importance of corporate transparency and action in safeguarding biodiversity and advancing nature-positive solutions.
The Practical Tool offers businesses practical advice, experiences, and insights on how to integrate environmental dimensions into their human rights due diligence to identify, prevent, mitigate, and account for how they address adverse impacts on human rights resulting from environmental harms, including on the new right to a healthy environment. The Practical Tool can also be of relevance to other stakeholders, particularly States in developing human rights and environmental due diligence and disclosure measures, as well as CSOs, trade unions, community-based groups, National Human Rights Institutions, environmental human rights defenders, and investors engaged in working with and monitoring businesses’ human rights and environmental performance.
6 March 2025, Singapore – The United Nations Global Compact (UNGC) and Principles for Responsible Investment (PRI) successfully convened the Executive Roundtable on Sustainable Finance – Driving Leadership in Sustainable Finance for a Resilient Future at the Orchard Hotel in Singapore today. This high-level gathering brought together CEOs, CFOs and institutional investors to mobilize private and institutional capital towards financing sustainable development, addressing biodiversity loss and closing the SDG financing gap in the Asia-Pacific region. With Asia facing an annual shortfall of $1.5 trillion to meet the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), discussions centered on scaling innovative financing mechanisms to drive inclusive growth, climate resilience and sustainable development. The roundtable, aligned with the UN’s Road Map for Financing the 2030 Agenda, emphasized the urgent need for private sector leadership in mobilizing capital for the Global South and integrating sustainability-related factors into financial decision-making. Key Themes and Insights The discussions were structured around two key themes: Financing for Development: Participants explored strategies for increasing capital flows into emerging economies, tackling investment barriers and aligning financial markets with long-term sustainability goals. Biodiversity & Climate Finance: Leaders deliberated on how businesses and investors can incorporate nature and biodiversity into investment frameworks, ensuring that capital supports climate resilience and ecosystem restoration. Speaking at the event, Neha Das, Head of Asia & Oceania, UN Global Compact, underscored the role of corporate leaders in advancing sustainable finance: “Achieving the SDGs requires bold leadership and concrete action from the private sector. By embedding sustainability into business and investment strategies, companies and financial institutions can accelerate progress toward a more resilient and equitable global economy.” David Atkin, CEO of PRI, emphasized the importance of investor action: “Institutional investors have a fiduciary responsibility to consider sustainability-related factors in their investment and ownership decisions. Alongside investor action, an enabling policy environment has a critical role in advancing sustainable finance. We are grateful to the UNGC-PRI roundtable participants for an important discussion on how leadership in these areas can create a sustainable future in Singapore and beyond.” The roundtable concluded with a call to action for businesses and investors to: Strengthen commitments to sustainable finance by aligning corporate financial strategies with sustainability-related factors. Collaborate with policymakers to address policy barriers and enhance regulatory frameworks supporting sustainable investment. Advance standardized reporting on biodiversity and climate-related financial risks. This event also set the stage for deeper engagement at future UN Global Compact events reinforcing the commitment to scaling sustainable finance solutions across the Asia-Pacific region. About the UN Global Compact The ambition of the UN Global Compact is to accelerate and scale the global collective impact of business by upholding the Ten Principles and delivering the SDGs through accountable companies and ecosystems that enable change. With more than 20,000 participating companies, 5 Regional Hubs, 63 Country Networks covering 80 countries and 13 Country Managers establishing Networks in 18 other countries, the UN Global Compact is the world's largest corporate sustainability initiative — one Global Compact uniting business for a better world. About Principles for Responsible Investment: The Principles for Responsible Investment (PRI) is the world’s leading proponent of responsible investment. Supported by the United Nations, it works to understand the investment implications of environmental, social and governance (ESG) factors and to support its international network of investor signatories in incorporating these factors into their investment and ownership decisions. The PRI acts in the long-term interests of its signatories, of the financial markets and economies in which they operate and ultimately of the environment and society as a whole. Launched in New York in 2006, the PRI has grown to more than 5,300 signatories, managing over US$121 trillion. For more information visit www.unpri.org.
March 20, 2025 – Ahead of World Water Day, the Water Resilience Coalition—a CEO-led initiative driving corporate action on water stress—announced the addition of two new members: Grundfos and Haleon. This expansion brings the Coalition’s membership to 40 leading companies, collectively representing a market capitalization exceeding US$5 trillion. The Water Resilience Coalition is an initiative of the CEO Water Mandate, a partnership between the Pacific Institute and the United Nations Global Compact. By 2030, the Coalition aims to unite a critical mass of companies to build water resilience in their operations and supply chains, while also investing in collective action to improve water resilience in 100 Priority Basins, the most water-stressed basins in the world. In addition, the Water Resilience Coalition announced that Heineken, alongside a key partner have intensified efforts to enhance water resilience in the Rio Bravo River Basin, which spans the United States and Mexico. Their commitment will drive impactful collaborations in this Priority Basin, advancing collective action for sustainable water management. “The momentum we are seeing—from new members to deepened corporate leadership in priority basins—demonstrates that water stewardship is no longer optional. It’s a business and sustainability imperative," said Jason Morrison, Head of the CEO Water Mandate. “Leading companies, including Heineken, are playing a catalytic role in advancing action in water-stressed basins around the globe by supporting collaborative infrastructure and services for scaling and tracking strategic, multi-funder investment opportunities for basin-wide impact.” More than 60 companies have also endorsed the CEO Water Mandate in 2025, bringing the total number of companies to 478. These companies have committed to continuous progress building water resilience across their direct operations, supply chains, watershed management, and other areas. About the CEO Water Mandate The CEO Water Mandate is a partnership between the UN Global Compact and the Pacific Institute that mobilizes business leaders on water, sanitation, and the Sustainable Development Goals for corporate water stewardship. Mandate endorsers commit to continuous progress against six core elements (direct operations, supply chain and watershed management, collective action, public policy, community engagement, and transparency) and in so doing understand and manage their own water risks. Established in 2007, the CEO Water Mandate was created out of the acknowledgement that global water challenges create risk for a wide range of industry sectors, the public sector, local communities, and ecosystems alike. About the Water Resilience Coalition The Water Resilience Coalition is an industry-driven, CEO-led initiative of the CEO Water Mandate that aims to elevate the long-term mounting crisis of global water stress to the top of the corporate agenda and to preserve the world’s freshwater resources through collective action in water-stressed basins and ambitious, quantifiable commitments. About the UN Global Compact As a special initiative of the United Nations Secretary-General, the UN Global Compact is a call to companies worldwide to align their operations and strategies with Ten Principles in the areas of human rights, labour, environment and anti-corruption. Our ambition is to accelerate and scale the global collective impact of business by upholding the Ten Principles and delivering the Sustainable Development Goals through accountable companies and ecosystems that enable change. With more than 18,000 companies and 3,800 non-business signatories based in over 101 countries, and 62 Local Networks, the UN Global Compact is the world’s largest corporate sustainability initiative—one Global Compact uniting business for a better world. About the Pacific Institute Founded in 1987, the Pacific Institute is a global water think tank that combines science-based thought leadership with active outreach to influence local, national, and international efforts in developing sustainable water policies. From working with Fortune 500 companies to frontline communities, our mission is to create and advance solutions to the world’s most pressing water challenges. Since 2009, the Pacific Institute has also acted as co-secretariat for the CEO Water Mandate, a global commitment platform that mobilizes a critical mass of business leaders to address global water challenges through corporate water stewardship.
