Executive Summary: Prioritising Nature and Biodiversity in Sustainability Strategies
In this paper, the World Federation of Exchanges (WFE) addresses a pressing question: Is now the right time to prioritise nature alongside climate issues? Our answer is unequivocal — nature cannot wait. Despite a growing scepticism about sustainability and nature-related issues in some jurisdictions, maintaining momentum on nature is important for the following reasons:
1. Amplifying Climate Impact: Nature degradation exacerbates the effects of climate change effects. Ignoring biodiversity risks undermines existing efforts and creates cascading systemic challenges.
2. Financial Exposure: Nature-related risks are becoming increasingly financially material, and financial markets are currently failing to price those nature-related risks effectively. This misalignment leaves institutions vulnerable and weakens the global response to environmental crises.
3. Frameworks Have Evolved: Advances by the TNFD, ISSB, GRI and CDP have made it feasible to integrate nature into sustainability strategies without disrupting current frameworks and have found a balance to ensure convergence and therefore secured sufficient compatibility to make it decision useful.
