Inside the IPBES report: Nature collapse presents a systemic financial risk, but we have tools to fix it

I recently returned from an intensive week in Manchester. In the last 3 years, I worked part-time in my personal capacity for the Intergovernmental Science-Policy Platform on Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services (IPBES), sometimes referred to as IPCC for biodiversity. I wasn’t able to talk about the contents until now. Following a week of intensive negotiations among representatives from more than 150 countries — culminating at midnight on Saturday — the delegates have formally approved our report, and it can be finally shared with the world.

The topline message is clear. The prevailing methods of conducting business worldwide are actively eroding the ecological foundations of our economy (Fig. 1). All businesses both depend on and impact nature in various ways. As nature continues to be degraded, this presents a systemic risk and undermines financial stability.

Figure 1. Erosion of Natural Capital as a source of systemic risk. Source: Anthesis

However, there is also good news. The assessment is not merely a warning. It provides a technical framework for a transition that is already underway.

1. The methods gap

We are currently seeing a significant increase in the availability of nature-related data and metrics, which can help to guide business decisions. While this proliferation signals a maturing market, it has led to a critical execution error: the confusion and the application of metrics without a clear strategic purpose.

Our report provides the necessary methodological rigour to move beyond "measurement for its own sake" towards data that informs business decisions. This means that specific combinations of metrics and methods need to be applied with a specific purpose in mind, taking into account their characteristics (Fig. 2). To map your purpose, we introduced levels of decision making (portfolio, corporate, value chain and operations) and groups of business purposes (screening, tracking change, comparing options, observing changes in nature). The correct choice of the method depends on the business purpose and needs to take into account certain minimum criteria:

• Accuracy - does the method allow you to accurately measure what you need to measure?

• Coverage - does the method include elements that are important for your assessment?

• Responsiveness - is the method able to pick up the differences between the situations that we are trying to compare?

Figure 2. Guideline for businesses and financial institutions to choose the right measurement method for the right business purpose. Source: IPBES (2026). 

2. A pragmatic toolkit: 100+ actions available now

A common narrative suggests that the transition to a better state of nature is too complex for immediate implementation. The data suggests otherwise. Our assessment identified over 100 actionable steps that businesses, financial institutions, governments, and civil society can act on today.

For Businesses, these include:

• Supply Chain Accountability: Large corporates can — and should — mandate nature-related disclosures from suppliers. Sharing this data across the value chain allows for informed capital allocation and risk mitigation.

• Investing in Resilience: Deploying capital into nature-based and technological solutions is a pragmatic way to secure essential ecosystem services — such as water security, flood protection, and soil health — that are critical to regional operational continuity.

• Engaging in Partnerships with the goal to improve the state of nature, locally and globally: with peers, experts, local governments, and Indigenous People and Local Communities.

For Financial Institutions:

• Measuring Impacts and Dependencies of portfolios (using appropriate methods) and integrating appropriate measurement approaches in investment research, insurance underwriting, risk management, and client reporting.

• Developing Financial Instruments and Products that reduce the cost of capital for nature transition. Whether these are green loans, green bonds, or sustainable funds. Also, choose these products for your clients.

• Setting up Nature-related Targets and tracking and reporting on the progress.

3. The enabling environment: Leveling the market

Our report provides clear evidence that individual, voluntary corporate action, while necessary, cannot fix a distorted market. To scale these solutions, we must address the enabling environment. Currently, market structures often penalize leaders while protecting "free riders" who externalize the costs of nature loss.

For a successful transition, the public sector must intervene to level the playing field. This can be done through

• Regulatory Enforcement: Enforcing and strengthening existing environmental laws is essential to ensure that no business gains a competitive advantage through ecological destruction.

• Subsidy Reform: Over USD 7 trillion in public and private financing currently support nature-negative activities, while only around USD 200 billion support activities that help to restore nature. These funds must be redirected to incentivize the protection and restoration of natural capital.

• Standardization: Governments must encourage pragmatic, standardized approaches to reporting that integrate nature into capital allocation decisions.

Our report confirms that while the risks of nature collapse are systemic and severe, the solutions are technically viable and ready for deployment. We provided a menu card of over 100 actions. We have the methods, and we have the actions. What is now required is a coordinated effort: Financial institutions must measure and price risks and opportunities accurately, Businesses must innovate for resilience, invest, and report on their efforts. Governments must ensure that the market rewards preservation over extraction through appropriate laws and regulations. Civil society needs to keep the business and government entities accountable for their actions.

The tools are on the table. It is time for the business and financial community to use them.

The author served as a Coordinating Lead Author for the newly released IPBES report: IPBES (2026). Summary for Policymakers of the Methodological Assessment Report on the Impact and Dependence of Business on Biodiversity and Nature’s Contributions to People. Jones M., Polasky S., Rueda X., Brooks S., Carter Ingram J., Egoh B. N., von Hase A., Kohsaka R., Kulak M., Leach K., Loyola R., Mandle L., Rodriguez-Osuna V., Schaafsma M. and Sonter L. J. (eds.). IPBES secretariat, Bonn, Germany. DOI: https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.15369060

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