Geneva-based think tank NatureFinance has developed tailored guidance to help financial institutions identify and assess nature-related dependencies, impacts, risks, and opportunities arising from sovereign debt exposures. The guidance for disclosing nature-related issues for sovereign debt is aligned with the recently released final recommendations of the Taskforce on Nature-related Financial Disclosures (TNFD), but also seeks to provide “complementary granularity of specific relevance to sovereign debt investors”. Largely focused on the TNFD’s LEAP approach to identifying nature issues, NatureFinance said the report aims to facilitate the disclosure by financial institutions of nature-related information that is “both meaningful and feasible” with respect to sovereign debt holdings. “All stakeholders in the sovereign debt landscape stand to gain from efforts by sovereign issuers to measure and publicly communicate their nature-related issues,” it said. To develop the guidance, NatureFinance gathered perspectives from multiple stakeholders including financial institutions via calls and a questionnaire, with aggregate responses included in the report. NatureFinance acknowledged the complexities of measuring nature-related dependencies and impacts, but said that the large and growing number of available tools and resources meant “it is easier than ever before” for investors to understand both underlying dependencies and impacts, and financially-material risks and opportunities. “By aligning themselves with TNFD guidance, financial firms will be in a stronger position to drive investments towards nature-positive solutions, including via sustainability-linked instruments,” said the report.
