The Taskforce on Nature-related Financial Disclosures (TNFD) has called for the establishment of a facility for collecting nature-based data, in a bid to make data on biodiversity loss more accessible.
Access to accurate nature-related data is essential to address nature loss and to help organisations become more resilient in the face of nature-related risks, a TNFD report published in Brazil earlier this year argued.
Feedback from pilot testing of the draft TNFD framework by over 200 organisations showed that ‘state of nature’ data is often inconsistent, out of date, and difficult for many data users to access.
Tony Goldner, executive director at the TNFD, said: “Government, business, finance and civil society can’t take effective action on nature and climate challenges without high-quality, comparable and easily accessible data.
“A lot of progress has been made since the Paris Agreement to upgrade the quality and accessibility of climate-related data. We now need a step change in focus and funding to enhance a global baseline of nature-related data.”
Tools for corporate reporting on nature-based data are due to be released later this year. This includes the forthcoming TNFD framework and the SBTN methods for Montreal-aligned target setting.
Interest in global solutions to nature-related data has progressed since the creation of the Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework at the CBD COP15 meeting in Montreal in December 2022.
Earlier this year, Aviva Investors stated that that reversing nature loss is part of the company’s 2023 stewardship priorities, and it would expect firms to begin reporting along the lines of the TNFD framework once published. Scottish Widows has also called for TNFD reporting to become mandatory in the UK.
TNFD is made up of taskforce members representing financial institutions and corporates, collectively holding $20 trillion in assets. Its goal is to develop a disclosure framework for organisations to report and act on nature-related risks, and ultimately shifting capital to nature-positive outcomes.
