This World Environment Day we investigate the business and ethical cases for reducing air pollution, and present a tool that clears the smog for the finance sector – showing just how much businesses both rely upon and affect the environment. Take a moment and imagine biking through traffic. You pedal briskly on the edge of […]

Few weeks pass without scientists reporting new knowledge of how badly humans are treating our planet, and the consequences for our common future. With the launch of the IPBES report summary for policymakers and a whole host of new and old facts and statistics, one may ask what is different this time? The Intergovernmental Science-Policy […]

Just days after the French and UK central banks issued an urgent warning that climate change constitutes an existential threat to the financial system, the Natural Capital Finance Alliance (NCFA) has launched analysis based on its ground-breaking ENCORE tool. The report analyses the FTSE All-Share Index to see how dependent UK-listed companies are on natural […]

The agricultural sector is one of the sectors most exposed to environmental risk caused by climate change and human degradation of ecosystems. A new template that enables financial institutions to conduct natural capital credit risk assessment across different agricultural sectors and geographies, taking into account factors such as water availability, use and quality; soil health; […]

When Madeleine Ronquest attended the Johannesburg launch of an innovative guide designed to help banks assess their exposure to environmental degradation, a quick look around the room proved it was no longer business as usual in the financial sector. “When I started out there weren’t any environmental or sustainability people in the banks, and (at the launch) […]

A week before the World Economic Forum in Davos, where global financial leaders will discuss society’s most pressing issues, the Natural Capital Finance Alliance (NCFA) has launched the world’s first step-by-step guide to help financial institutions conduct a rapid natural capital risk assessment.  The Natural Capital Finance Alliance engaged with PwC to produce the guide. […]

The world’s first comprehensive tool linking environmental change with its consequences for the economy has been launched by the Natural Capital Finance Alliance (NCFA). The web-based tool, called ENCORE (Exploring Natural Capital Opportunities, Risks and Exposure), will help global banks, investors and insurance firms assess the risks that environmental degradation, such as the pollution of oceans […]

    Part of UNEP FI’s work in ecosystems management includes creating investable models for investors, as well as providing knowledge, and imparting insight for private finance to contribute to sustainable land use projects. Côte d’Ivoire has the fastest rate of deforestation in the world, much of which is caused by the cultivation of cocoa, a commodity that is a big contributor to the economy. Thomas Yapo, UNEP FI’s Economics and Finance Consultant for Africa writes about […]

Launched today, in Hong Kong, ‘Connecting Finance and Natural Capital: A Supplement to the Natural Capital Protocol’ is a tool for financial institutions to assess how their business is impacted by, and depends upon the natural world. The Natural Capital Protocol has created a globally recognized and standardized framework for business. This supplement to the Protocol, aims […]

  According to the capitals framework, there are five types of capital that enable our society and economy. Human and social capital enable productive and organized societies. Manufactured capital enables production processes, and financial capital allows for trade and ownership. Enabling all these other capitals is natural capital – the stock or flow of energy […]

UNEP FI is joining forces with the world’s largest conservation, development and finance organizations to catalyze the sustainable transformation of global commodity supply chains around the world.

On World Day to Combat Desertification and Drought, Raj Singh of the Natural Capital Finance Alliance looks at how the global finance sector is dependent on water, and what the new drought stress testing tool can reveal about the exposure of banks’ portfolios to the effects of drought. As the planet heats up, rainfall is expected […]

May 2017 We are pleased to announce an exciting opportunity to contribute to the development of the Finance Sector Supplement to the Natural Capital Protocol, by sharing your financial institution’s experience, knowledge and expertise in a pilot phase. The supplement aims to provide comprehensive, integrated guidance and insight for financial institutions to integrate natural capital […]

LONDON, 5th April, 2017 A ground-breaking, open source tool which allows banks to test their loan portfolios for vulnerability to major droughts is being launched today in London. Financial institutions are often ill equipped to understand the impact of environment-related risks on their clients and portfolios. The ‘Drought Stress Testing Tool’ enables banks to assess if […]

The Secretariat of the Convention on Biological Diversity [CBD], together with the Government of Mexico, is inviting businesses to become a signatory to the Business and Biodiversity Pledge. The Pledge provides an opportunity for business leaders to express the importance of biodiversity and ecosystem services for businesses, and to state their commitment towards taking positive […]

The Natural Capital Finance Alliance is working alongside the Natural Capital Coalition (NCC) and the Dutch Association of Investors for Sustainable Development (VBDO) to create the first draft of the Finance Sector Supplement (FSS). The FSS will serve as an introduction to natural capital issues and provide a framework for measuring and integrating natural capital […]

New name for Natural Capital Declaration The Natural Capital Declaration (NCD), the leading global finance-led initiative convened by the Global Canopy Programme (GCP) and the UN Environment Programme Finance Initiative (UNEP FI) announced at UNEP FI’s Global Roundtable in Dubai in October that its name is changing to the Natural Capital Finance Alliance (NCFA), with […]

The ERISC project, short for Environmental Risk Integration in Sovereign Credit Analysis, aims to help financial institutions to integrate environmental risks in their risk assessments and investment decisions by identifying and quantifying how they can affect countries’ economic performance and thereby their cost of credit in the sovereign debt market. The project’s premise is that […]

Join this Responsible Investor webinar to find out how investors are assessing ocean risks like acidification, biodiversity loss, and plastics pollution, and how leaders plan to align their portfolios with principles for a sustainable blue economy.

Human activities are causing accelerating environmental change, notably in the form of climate change, pollution, and habitat loss. These changes are increasingly disrupting businesses’ operations and bottom line, with real implications for financial institutions’ portfolios. Join us for a breakfast briefing in London to discover why natural capital risk is a material concern for financial institutions as we launch our natural capital risk assessment guide developed under the Natural Capital Finance Alliance, in collaboration with PwC.

The Natural Capital Finance Alliance will launch a new report: Natural Capital Credit Risk Assessment in Agricultural Lending on the first day of the Third Oxford Meeting on Food System Impact Valuation.

Johannesburg will see the African launch of the world’s first step-by-step guide to help banks conduct a rapid natural capital risk assessment by the Natural Capital Finance Alliance (NCFA).  The guide is produced in collaboration with global audit firm PricewaterhouseCoopers. The guide has already been piloted by five banks, including FirstRand Group and the Development Bank of Southern Africa and promotes the use of the […]

The Natural Capital Finance Alliance, funded by the Swiss State Secretariat for Economic Affairs (SECO) and the MAVA Foundation, has come up with tools and insights to help practitioners identify material natural capital risks and opportunities within their portfolios and integrate these considerations into financial decision making. The webinar will provide an overview of the recently launched ENCORE tool (Exploring Natural Capital Opportunities, Risks and Exposure). It also marks the official online launch of the NCFA’s latest report produced by PwC, which applies the ENCORE tool to develop a natural capital assessment framework for enhanced portfolio risk management in banks.

Join us for the official launch of the Advancing Environmental Risk Management (AERM) project in Zurich. Find out more about practical tools and methodologies to incorporate natural capital assessment into existing finance sector risk management frameworks.

In a pilot project on Environmental Stress Testing, the Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit (GIZ) GmbH and the Natural Capital Finance Alliance (NCFA), have developed an analytical framework and tool that allows banks to quantify and assess the potential impact of drought events on the performance of their corporate loan portfolio. The project has been funded by Germany’s Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development (BMZ).

The tool will be launched at a series of events: 7th March in Mexico City, 10th March in Sao Paulo, Brazil, 14th March in Beijing, China, 17th March in New York, USA and 5th April in London, UK.

12 October 2016 | Webinar Find out which sovereign bonds are most exposed to the additional risks posed by environmental constraints and climate change, according to a recent report published by UNEP FI and Global Footprint Network. Join the next ERISC webinar on 12th October: 4:00 PM CEST / 10:00 AM EDT / 7:00 AM […]

18 May 2016 | London, UK Environmental Risk and Sovereign Bonds: Beyond Climate ChangeReport Launch and Panel Discussion Global Footprint Network, UNEP Finance Initiative, and Standard & Poor’s Ratings Services would like to invite you to a launch event in London on Wednesday, May 18, 2016, to announce the results of new research on the […]

November 23-24 | Edinburgh, Scotland Over two days, delegates have a unique opportunity to engage in high-level discussions and examine how natural capital relates to their own long-term strategy. Breakout sessions focus on understanding and managing risk, innovation and tools, focus on finance and investment, and policy dialogues, exploring how risk can be turned into […]

7-11 September 2015 | Durban, South Africa UNEP FI will be presenting an early draft of ‘Demystifying Private REDD+ Finance’, the second publication in the UNEP FI ‘Demystifying’ series, at the World Forestry Congress, taking place in Durban, South Africa. The report, which is planned to be formally launched at the COP21 in Paris in […]

16 October 2014 | Geneva, Switzerland The Natural Capital Declaration (NCD) is a global finance-led initiative to integrate natural capital considerations into financial products and services, and to work towards their inclusion in in financial accounting, disclosure and reporting. Signatories to the Declaration work towards this goal through a number of innovative pilot projects in […]

Relevant Materials   E-Risc         ,“A New Angle on Sovereign Credit Risk” The E-RISC (Environmental Risk in Sovereign Credit analysis) project investigated sovereign credit risk from an angle that has been largely overlooked by bond markets to date: natural resource risks and environmental impacts. The project explored to what extent natural resource […]

19 November | 14.00 – 18.00 followed by a reception| Bloomberg London Auditorium UNEP FI and Global Footprint Network cordially invite you to join us at the launch of the E-RISC report, hosted by Bloomberg, which focused on assessing the materiality of natural resource and environmental risks for sovereign credit risk models. Sovereign bonds have […]

UNEP FI, Global Footprint Network and National Australia Bank cordially invite you to join us at the Australia / New Zealand launch of the E-RISC Report, which focused on assessing the materiality of natural resource and environmental risks for sovereign credit risk models. Sovereign bonds have generally been considered safe securities, however, the unabated attention […]

30 October | 14.00 – 18.00 | Societe Generale | Paris Although the sovereign debt crisis is still reverberating throughout Europe, and justifiably demands a lot of immediate attention, it is also important to look beyond the current crisis to identify what drives economic growth in a 21st century. While the second half of the […]

Press releases   NCD press release (English) , Videos   Press Briefing for the Launch of the Natural Capital Declaration – Perspectives from Senior Finance Executives High-level Dialogue on Natural Capital , Related links   Natural Capital Declaration micro website Rio+20 website Corporate Sustainability Forum website ,The Natural Capital Declaration (NCD) will be launched at […]

Webinar | 6 March, 9:00 AM CET and 7 March, 3:00 PM CET UNEP FI, the Global Canopy Program (GCP) and The Center for Sustainability Studies of the Business Administration School of the Getulio Vargas Foundation (FGV) would like to invite you to attend a one-hour webinar to understand the nuts and bolts of the […]

Brochure, 21 October 2011, 13.30 – 17.30 | Washington, D.C. UNEP FI in collaboration with the WWF, the Equator Principles and BBOP (the Business and Biodiversity Offset Programme) are hosting a half-day training workshop on biodiversity and ecosystem service (BES) risks for lenders and investors – directly after the UNEP FI Global Roundtable. The workshop […]

Brochure, 21 October 2011, 8:30 – 12:30 | Washington, D.C.             UNEP FI, the Alliance for Global Water Adaptation (AGWA), the World Bank and Conservation International will be hosting a half-day training workshop on water and finance directly after the UNEP FI Global Roundtable. The workshop aims to raise awareness […]

20 October 2011, 6:30 pm – 9:00 pm | Washington, D.C. Venue: L’Enfant Plaza Hotel, 480 L’Enfant Plaza SW, Washington D.C. 20024 The Natural Value Initiative (NVI) – a collaboration between UNEP Finance Initiative, Dutch social investment NGO VBDO and international environmental group Fauna & Flora International – invites you to come to the launch […]

17 October, 2011, Time: 1:00 pm – 5:00 pm | Washington D.C. Venue: UN Foundation, 1615 M Street, Washington D.C. 20036 UNEP FI, Global Footprint Network and a number of leading financial institutions are collaborating on a potentially transformational project to investigate the linkages between ecological risk and country level risk in sovereign bonds. Registration […]

4 April, 2011 | Munich, Germany UNEP FI, HypoVereinsbanks and the Verein für Umweltmanagement und Nachhaltigkeit (VfU) held a regional workshop to discuss environmental and ecological risks and opportunities in the finance sector, why this is an important issue for the sector, and the rationale behind the development of a ‘Natural Capital Statement for Financial […]

Webinar | 29 November 2010, 4:00-5:00 PM GMT The Natural Value Initiative’s Ecosystem Services Benchmark – evaluating impacts and dependence on ecosystem services The Natural Value Initiative aims to raise awareness within the private sector on the risks associated with corporate impacts and dependence on ecosystem services, and catalyse action to address them. It has […]

, UNEP FI, PRI, and Natural Value Initiative joint Webinar: “Engaging on ecosystem services in the mining and energy sectors” ,,Register here., Paul McNamara presentation (MP3: 15:55 minutes) Niclas Svenningsen presentation (MP3: 14:59 minutes) Louise Ellison presentation (MP3: 19:25 minutes) Questions and Answers (MP3: 13:14 minutes)

,UNEP FI side event during the Convention on Biological Diversity, convention of the Parties (CBD COP 10) 27 October 2010 | Nagoya, Japan 2010 has been marked as a make or break year for biodiversity, with the 10th Conference of the Parties to the Convention on Biological Diversity in Nagoya as a corner stone in […]

UNEP FI – PRI webinar: Pavan Sukhdev on The Economics of Ecosystems and Biodiversity (TEEB) for Business – Implications for Financial Institutions – 19 July

, UNEP FI – PRI webinar: Pavan Sukhdev on The Economics of Ecosystems and Biodiversity (TEEB) for Business – Implications for Financial Institutions ,, Presentations TEEB Webinar Minutes (PDF: 185 KB) TEEB for Business (PDF: 587 KB)Pavan Sukhdev, UNEP, Study Leader, TEEB TEEB: an investor perspective (PDF: 361 KB)Sagarika Chatterjee, Governance & Sustainable Investment, F&C […]

Webinar | Monday, 19 July 2010, 5:00 PM – 6:00 PM CET The long awaited high-level United Nations report has come out. The Economics of Ecosystems and Biodiversity (TEEB) for Business was launched on 13 July at the First Global Business of Biodiversity Symposium. On 19 July, 5pm CET, hear firsthand from the leader of […]

22 June 2010 | 5pm-6pm CET This joint UNEP FI PRI webinar aims to raise awareness to investors and bankers about the risks from deforestation due to cattle ranching, soy plantations and other forest risk commodities. On 22 June 5pm-6pm CET, hear first hand from the Forest Footprint Disclosure (FFD), Weyerhauser, Strategic Environmental Consulting and […]

18 August 2009 | 5:45 – 6:45 pm | World Water Week Side Event | Stockholm, Sweden In collaboration with This UNEP FI Side Event, co-organised with the German Development Agency (GTZ) will address the core question of what is needed to transform the water sector into a strategic opportunity for responsible investment in order […]

6 October 2008 | Barcelona, Spain Panel discussion at the IUCN World Conservation Congress Financial institutions are increasingly engaging on environmental issues. However, at an initial scoping meeting of UNEP FI’s Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services workstream, a number of barriers to the serious engagement of the finance world – and therefore companies more generally – […]

08 September 2008 | London, UK The key deliverable of the project will be a report providing an overview of both the universal ownership hypothesis – including a description of its origins and how it has been applied in the past – and an overview of the global water problem and the extent to which […]

20 August 2008 | World Water Week Side Event | Stockholm, Sweden In collaboration with Concretely, this event will brought together water service providers and project developers with water financiers (from both small-scale water funds, project finance and capital market institutions) to discuss progress in accessing market-based finance for sustainable water solutions. The session shared […]

29 May 2008 | Bonn, Germany UNEP Finance Initiative and Fauna & Flora International (FFI) co-hosted a side event at the 9th Conference of the Parties (COP) to the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD). The event addressed the issue of integrating biodiversity and ecosystem services (BES) into financial decision-making and convened a panel of experts […]

3 September 2007 | Sao Paulo, Brazil Following on from a similar workshop held in London in August 2007, UNEP FI in collaboration with Flora & Fauna International and Fundação Getulio Vargas (FGV), joint partners in the Natural Value Initiative (NVI), held a workshop in Sao Paulo to share examples of best practice management of […]

World Water Week 2007, 14 August | Stockholm, Sweden This year’s Founders’ Seminar, co-convened by the Stockholm Water Foundation, SIWI, ITT Corporation, UNEP FI, the WBCSD and Siemens, focused on how to make sustainable water use everybody’s business, linking the financial sector, business and other stakeholders in the water sector. It discussed and explored issues […]

World Water Week 2007, 14 August | Stockholm, Sweden One of the key recommendations for steps forward that resulted from last year’s Workshop on “Risks and Opportunities for Financial Institutions in Water” at World Water Week was to develop a set of Water-Related Risk Management Guidelines for Financial Institutions. The idea was to provide to […]

8 August 2007, London, UK A joint project of UNEP FI and Fauna & Flora International (FFI), the Natural Value Initiative aims to develop a benchmark tool for companies with agricultural supply chains – food and drink growers, processors and retailers – and companies with operations in China, South Africa, Brazil, USA and UK. The […]

5 April 2007 | London, UK About 30 delegates representing financial institutions, inter-governmental organisations as well as NGOs met together at a workshop organised by UNEP Finance Initiative in London. The workshop, which aimed to brief participants on biodiversity and ecosystem services, identify current barriers to understanding and assessing biodiversity risks, and the tools available […]

The World Water Week 23 August 2006 | Stockholm UNEP FI and the Global Programme of Action for the Protection of the Marine Environment from Land-based Activities (UNEP GPA) convened a seminar for the presentation of an issues paper “Financing Water: Risks and Opportunities”, a platform for developing a set of risk management guidelines for […]

19-20 April 2006, Davos The workshop that UNEP FI will be convening jointly with the Stockholm International Water Institute (SIWI) and the UNEP Global Programme of Action for the Protection of the Marine Environment from Land-Based Activities (UNEP GPA), is inviting financial institutions, policy makers and experts within the water arena to contribute their expertise […]

21 March 2006 | Curitiba, Brazil Overview Recent years have seen increasing pressure on the finance sector to address environmental risks within their investment portfolios. Well-publicized cases such as the Three Gorges Dam and Asia Pulp and Paper have led to scrutiny of banking practices with respect to biodiversity issues. The launch of the Equator […]

26 August 2005 | Stockholm, Sweden Innovative mechanisms are needed to finance development in the water and sanitation sector, in order to achieve the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs). That was the main message from a World Water Week in Stockholm seminar entitled “Finance for Water Solutions.” The seminar was organised by the United Nations Environment […]

,17 August, 2004 | Stockholm, Sweden The main drive behind this meeting was to present the preliminary findings of the study, Risks of Water Scarcity: a business case for financial institutions which was carried out in a collaboration between the Stockholm International Water Institute (SIWI) and UNEP FI. Some of the conclusion in the report […]

The Good Growth Partnership convenes a wide range of stakeholders and initiatives throughout soy, beef and palm oil supply chains to reduce deforestation and enable sustainable development. Since its inception in 2017, the Good Growth Partnership has brought together a growing coalition of committed changemakers to achieve greater results throughout its focal commodity supply chains […]

The report, ‘Natural Capital Credit Risk Assessment in Agricultural Lending’ is a new template that enables financial institutions to conduct natural capital credit risk assessment across different agricultural sectors and geographies, taking into account factors such as water availability, use and quality; soil health; biodiversity; energy use and greenhouse gas emissions. The new sector-specific guide […]

The report, ‘Integrating Natural Capital in Risk Assessments’ is a step-by-step guide to help financial institutions conduct a rapid natural capital risk assessment. The guide has already been piloted by five banks, and complements the recently launched ENCORE tool (Exploring Natural Capital Opportunities, Risks and Exposure), which enables financial institutions to understand and assess their exposure to natural capital risks. The guide helps banks […]

The world’s first comprehensive tool linking environmental change with its consequences for the economy has been launched by the Natural Capital Finance Alliance (NCFA). The web-based tool, called ENCORE (Exploring Natural Capital Opportunities, Risks and Exposure), will help global banks, investors and insurance firms assess the risks that environmental degradation, such as the pollution of oceans or destruction of […]

Launched in April, in Hong Kong, ‘Connecting Finance and Natural Capital: A Supplement to the Natural Capital Protocol’ is a tool for financial institutions to assess how their business is impacted by, and depends upon the natural world. The Natural Capital Protocol has created a globally recognized and standardized framework for business. This supplement to […]

The ‘Drought Stress Testing Tool’ enables banks to assess if a client may be at risk from drought and how drought can affect a sector or region. A clearer understanding of the risk associated with droughts can help build more resilient financial institutions, and by shifting finance to less vulnerable sectors and regions, economies can become […]

Environmental Risk Integration in Sovereign Credit Analysis

State of play and the way forward

Benchmarking companies in three sectors – Summary and guidance

This report provides preliminary guidance on how the four commitments in the Natural Capital Declaration can be implemented by the finance industry.
Executive Summary

The report investigates sovereign credit risk in terms of natural resource risks and environmental impacts.

The third issue of the Chief Liquidity Series focuses on a number of sub-sectors within the broader extractive sector. The first part of the briefing displays how water risks may manifest themselves in different types of extractive sub-sectors and how this in turn could affect the finance sector. Within the realm of this publication we […]

A new UNEP-WCMC and UNEP FI report – “Biodiversity Offsets: Voluntary and Compliance Regimes” – provides an overview of voluntary biodiversity offset initiatives by businesses as well as compliance regimes of governments that are requiring companies to offset their impact on biodiversity and ecosystems. It also highlights existing challenges and opportunities for such schemes. Published: […]

A commitment by the finance sector to integrate natural capital criteria into their products and services

Biodiversity is becoming financially material beyond reputation
English French German Japanese Spanish Portuguese

The Biodiversity Principles for sustainable finance
German version

Biodiversity and ecosystem services risk and opportunity management within the extractive industry

Suggestions by the financial sector on an effective forest-based climate change mitigation policy.
Executive Summary

Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services degradation and loss has gained business’ attention in recent years, but not that of the finance sector.

Opportunities for financial actors and governments in the budding forest carbon markets

Published: 2010 | by: UNEP FI Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services: Investment Insight 1.1 (46 KB | 4 pages)

Published: 2010 | by: UNEP FI Water and Finance: Investment Insight 1.1 (56 KB | 3 pages)

Water-related materiality briefings for financial institutions

Published: 2010 | by: UNEP FI Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services: Investment Insight 1.0 (179 KB | 4 pages)

Published: 2010 | by: UNEP FI Water and Finance: Investment Insight 1.0 (196 KB | 3 pages)

A review of the business case, loan conditions and current practice in financial institutions

A tool enabling institutional investors to understand the impacts and dependency of their investments on biodiversity and ecosystem services

Results achieved in the first application of the Ecosystem Services Benchmark tool on the global Food, Beverage and Tobacco sectors
Executive summary

Concrete guidance at the local level – The questions financial institutions should ask to better handle water challenges facing agribusiness actors throughout the world

Ecological balance is one of the key pillars of sustainable development.

Guidance on water risks and opportunities for lenders and investors.

Biodiversity and business opportunity

What areas of tangible water-related risk are financial institutions exposed to when dealing with businesses, from water-intensive users to those that have a water footprint along the supply chain? How can financial institutions manage and mitigate water-related risk effectively?

Key Findings from the issues paper, “Financing Water: Risks and Opportunities”

The importance of private sector participation in the water sector for the benefit of water sustainability.

An overview of water scarcity issues and case studies from Latin America and Africa.