More than 830 organisations worldwide have now committed to publicly reporting the risks they face from the loss of nature, according to the Taskforce on Nature-related Financial Disclosures (TNFD), as investors and companies increasingly treat biodiversity decline as a financial issue rather than solely an environmental one.
The adopters include investors representing more than $26 trillion in assets under management and publicly listed companies with a combined market capitalisation of $10.5 trillion, according to figures reported by BusinessGreen on 15 October.
The milestone marks continued growth since the TNFD published its 2026 status report in September, when 802 organisations had committed to adopting its recommendations.
What the TNFD Asks Companies to Do
The TNFD framework, launched in 2023 and modelled on the earlier climate-focused Task Force on Climate-related Financial Disclosures, provides recommendations for how organisations should identify, assess, manage and disclose their dependencies and impacts on nature, along with the related risks and opportunities.
Nature-related risks can take many forms. A food company may depend on pollinators, healthy soils and reliable water supplies. A clothing brand may rely on cotton grown in water-stressed regions. A bank may hold loans to companies whose operations contribute to deforestation, exposing it to regulatory, reputational and financial risk.
The framework encourages organisations to use a structured approach, known as LEAP, to locate their interfaces with nature, evaluate dependencies and impacts, assess risks and opportunities, and prepare disclosures.
Reporting Has Doubled
According to the TNFD's 2026 status report, published on 21 September, more than 1,000 organisations in 56 countries and areas have now published TNFD-aligned disclosures, double the number identified a year earlier. More than 100 organisations have published a third annual cycle of reporting.
A survey of more than 500 market participants, conducted for the report, found that all surveyed investors were concerned about the impact of nature loss on financial markets, and 59 per cent ranked nature among their top three sustainability topics. More than 70 per cent of respondents supported mandatory nature-related reporting, preferably within one to three years.
Investors are also looking at opportunities. Some 56 per cent said they were exploring or deploying capital into nature-related opportunities, and 74 per cent expected financing for such opportunities to grow by two to five times over the next five years.
Demand, Not Just Compliance
Supporters of the framework argue that its growth is being driven by markets rather than regulation. "What is most striking is that this momentum is being driven by demand rather than compliance," Nicola Ranger, executive director of Earth Capital Nexus and professor in practice at the London School of Economics, said when the status report was released.
Paul Polman, the former Unilever chief executive who serves as a TNFD senior adviser, said "nature loss is a financial risk and nature resilience is essential to business resilience."
David Craig, TNFD co-chair, said the market "is moving beyond an appreciation of why nature matters", indicating a shift from awareness towards action.
The Road to Mandatory Rules
Nature-related disclosure is likely to become increasingly formalised. The International Sustainability Standards Board, which sets global baseline standards for sustainability reporting, has been researching how to incorporate nature-related issues into its standards, drawing on the TNFD's work. A majority of surveyed investors also want requirements aligned with Target 15 of the Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework, which calls on governments to require large companies and financial institutions to assess and disclose their nature-related risks and impacts.
The TNFD released its status report on the eve of the 17th Conference of the Parties to the Convention on Biological Diversity, where governments are reviewing progress on the biodiversity framework, including how countries implement Target 15.
What It Means for India
For Indian companies, nature-related disclosure is an emerging issue. Many large Indian companies already report on environmental performance through the Securities and Exchange Board of India's Business Responsibility and Sustainability Reporting (BRSR) framework, which covers areas such as water, waste and biodiversity impacts.
Indian businesses with significant exposure to agriculture, water, mining, textiles and infrastructure face material nature-related risks, from water scarcity to soil degradation and extreme weather. As global investors increasingly demand nature-related information, Indian companies seeking international capital or supplying multinational customers may find themselves under pressure to adopt TNFD-aligned reporting, even before it becomes mandatory at home.
From Climate to Nature
The rise of nature-related disclosure follows the path set by climate reporting. Over the past decade, climate disclosure moved from voluntary reporting by a handful of companies to mandatory requirements in many jurisdictions, driven by investor demand and regulatory action. Many observers expect nature reporting to follow a similar trajectory, though it is at an earlier stage and faces additional complexity.
Unlike greenhouse gas emissions, which can be measured in a common unit, nature-related impacts and dependencies vary widely by location and ecosystem. A company's impact on a river basin in India, a forest in Brazil or a fishery in the North Atlantic cannot easily be compared or aggregated. Developing reliable metrics and data has therefore been one of the central challenges for the TNFD and for companies trying to adopt its recommendations. The growing number of adopters suggests organisations are willing to begin reporting despite those challenges, refining their approach over time.
For investors, nature-related data is becoming part of mainstream risk management. Asset managers and banks are developing tools to assess exposure to deforestation, water stress and biodiversity loss across their portfolios, and some have begun incorporating such assessments into lending and investment decisions. The scale of assets represented by TNFD adopters suggests that companies seeking capital from these investors will increasingly be asked how their operations depend on, and affect, the natural world.
Why It Matters
The growth of nature-related disclosure reflects a broader recognition that economies depend on healthy ecosystems. The World Economic Forum has estimated that more than half of global GDP is moderately or highly dependent on nature. As biodiversity declines, those dependencies become sources of risk for businesses, investors and economies.
With more than 830 organisations committed and reporting doubling year on year, the TNFD framework is becoming a de facto global standard for how businesses account for their relationship with the natural world. The next test will be whether disclosure translates into changes in how capital is allocated and how companies operate.
