There is a growing recognition of the pivotal role insurance can play in a nature positive future. Insurance can facilitate capital transfer to nature positive activities and support increased resilience of ecosystems and communities.

Over the past decade, Principles for Sustainable Insurance Initiative (PSI) has undertaken many projects to address nature-related risks—from tackling illegal, unreported, and unregulated (IUU) fishing, environmental pollution liability, plastic pollution and high-impact hydropower projects; to protecting UNESCO World Heritage Sites and building climate resilience by protecting ecosystems such as coral reefs and mangrove forests. This work culminated in the agenda-setting PSI Nature-Positive Insurance Series in 2021 co-organised by the UN Convention on Biological Diversity, as well as the development of the first-ever environmental, social and governance (ESG) guides for non-life insurance (2020) and life & health insurance (2022) produced by the PSI.

What is Insurance for Nature Positive?

Insurance for Nature Positive can be defined as risk management and insurance strategies, approaches, practices, products, services and solutions that address nature-related dependencies, impacts, risks and opportunities in order to value, conserve, restore and wisely use biodiversity and ecosystem services; and to promote economic, social and environmental sustainability. Insurance for Nature Positive aims to actively contribute to achieving the mission of the Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework to halt and reverse nature loss by 2030, and its vision of a world living in harmony with nature by 2050.

PSI Work on Nature-Positive

In September 2023 the PSI published a briefing paper entitled “Nature-Positive Insurance: Evolving Thinking and Practices” which endorsed the need for a collective roadmap for the insurance sector to develop skills and capacity on nature through a collaborative working group.

Building on that recommendation, in May 2024 the PSI has formed the PSI Working Group for Nature (WGN).

The working group is a multistakeholder platform involving insurers, reinsurers, brokers, nature finance initiatives, environmental organizations, academic institutions, insurance regulators and supervisors, and insurance associations which aims to support the industry and key stakeholders in advancing risk management, underwriting and insurance strategies, approaches, practices, products, services and solutions that address nature-related dependencies, impacts, risks and opportunities (DIROs).

In December 2024, the PSI Working Group for Nature launched its inaugural report providing the first global guide for insurers on setting priority actions for nature. In June 2025 the working group launched launched “Rooted in Risk: Framing nature-related assessments for insurers”, the first in a series of foundational guidance documents for the global insurance industry focused on nature-related dependencies, impacts, risks and opportunities in underwriting portfolios. The “Nature Uncovered for Insurers” series aims to address a critical gap in guidance on nature-related assessments by providing tailored guidance for insurance underwriting portfolios.

The resources developed by the PSI Working Group for Nature will be available to all PSI members. For more information on the PSI’s work on nature-positive insurance please contact: Verena Kraus, Senior Manager – UNEP FI Nature Capacity Building and Insurance.

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