Australian insights
Australian Government: Enhancing Native Vegetation Method commences under the Nature Repair Market(Opens in a new tab/window)
The Nature Repair Market’s Enhancing Native Vegetation method became operational on 30 October 2026. It establishes requirements for projects that improve and protect native biodiversity across modified landscapes in eastern, southern and south-western Australia. The method enables activities involving enhancement of remnant vegetation and revegetation of cleared areas. The framework supports stacking opportunities where proponents may register both biodiversity and ACCU projects on the same area of land, subject to method requirements. Under this method, proponents can plan for their project to be offset-capable. Access the legislative instrument and the explanatory statement at Nature Repair (Enhancing Native Vegetation) Methodology Determination 2026(Opens in a new tab/window).
NRM Regions Australia: Nature as infrastructure discussion paper(Opens in a new tab/window)
The NRM Regions Australia’ discussion paper makes the case for natural infrastructure as a cost-effective approach to disaster risk reduction for climate resilience. As climate-related disasters continue to increase in frequency and cost across Australia, this discussion paper argues that natural infrastructure should be recognised and funded alongside traditional built infrastructure as a core component of national resilience. The report presents evidence that healthy ecosystems can reduce disaster risks while delivering environmental, social and economic benefits. The authors identify five priority actions to unlock greater investment and deployment of natural infrastructure:
- increasing First Nations leadership in land and water stewardship,
- incorporating natural values into government financial decision-making,
- catalysing private sector investment frameworks,
- strengthening project delivery capacity through regional organisations and Indigenous land management groups, and
- investing in improved knowledge and evidence.
For corporates and financial institutions, the paper reinforces a growing shift toward viewing nature not solely as an environmental asset, but as essential infrastructure that underpins long-term economic resilience and risk management.
RIAA: Why climate disclosures matter(Opens in a new tab/window)
The Responsible Investment Association Australasia (RIAA) has published a statement from a coalition of leading investor and financial sector organisations. The statement reaffirms the coalitions support for Australia's climate-related financial disclosures. It highlights the value of consistent, transparent and comparable sustainability reporting aligned with international standards. The statement notes that comprehensive, transparent and comparable climate disclosures are fundamental to a well-functioning financial system and have quickly become an important pillar of Australia's finance architecture. It argues that climate disclosures support improved investment decisions, stronger risk management and a more resilient financial system by giving investors, lenders and insurers better information about material risks and opportunities. The signatories note that reporting information is increasingly being used for valuation, asset allocation, lending, underwriting, stewardship and due diligence activities.
The University of Melbourne: Nature economics in Australia(Opens in a new tab/window)
The University of Melbourne and Melbourne Climate Futures has published a discussion paper on nature economics in Australia, which summarises key findings from the Nature Economics Symposium convened through the University's Sustainable Finance Hub in October 2026.The paper highlights the growing importance of natural capital, ecosystem services and economic approaches that reflect the benefits nature provides to businesses, communities and the broader economy.
A key theme is the need to move beyond viewing nature as an externality and instead integrate nature-related considerations into financial, corporate and policy decisions. Discussions explored the role of data, natural capital accounting, valuation methodologies, investment frameworks and market mechanisms in supporting better outcomes for nature and the economy. The paper also identifies opportunities for collaboration between government, business, finance and research institutions to strengthen Australia's capability in this rapidly developing field.
EIANZ: Nature Repair Market webinar series(Opens in a new tab/window)
The Environment Institute of Australia and New Zealand (EIANZ) Inc is hosting a webinar series to give environmental practitioners a practical grounding in Australia's Nature Repair Market, the national biodiversity certificate scheme. The final webinar in the series, on 9 December, will be on the Enhancing Native Vegetation Method, Offsets in the Market and Threatened Species. It will provide a closer look at the method: design of projects, biodiversity assessment, monitoring and reporting, and offset-capable projects.
International insights
WBCSD: Nature on the road to net zero(Opens in a new tab/window)
The World Business Council for Sustainable Development (WBCSD) has published an article on why businesses should look again at nature-based carbon credits. The authors noted that COP17 has highlighted the growing gap between global biodiversity commitments and the finance needed to achieve them, shifting attention from what needs to be done for nature to how those actions will be funded.
Businesses have an important role to play, with nature-based carbon credits providing one potential source of finance for projects that protect, restore and manage natural ecosystems while also supporting broader business objectives such as supply chain resilience, ecosystem health and community outcomes. Frameworks, including the Science Based Targets initiative's Corporate Net-Zero Standard V2 and Ongoing Emissions Responsibility framework, are providing greater clarity on the role of high-integrity carbon credits in corporate climate strategies, alongside emissions reduction efforts. While concerns about permanence, quality and project integrity remain important, improved standards, assessment tools and risk-management mechanisms are helping companies make more informed decisions about participation in carbon markets.
The article concludes that businesses can begin building capability now by strengthening procurement knowledge, engaging with project developers, considering biodiversity and community co-benefits, and gaining practical experience that helps translate nature and climate ambitions into long-term investment.
UK government: Maps pathway to scale investment in natural capital(Opens in a new tab/window)
The UK government has published an independent report that recognises natural capital is transitioning from an undervalued public good to a strategic asset class capable of supporting long-term economic resilience, climate adaptation and ecosystem recovery. The authors highlight the UK's progress in establishing foundational market mechanisms, including mandatory Biodiversity Net Gain, woodland and peatland carbon markets, blended-finance programs and nature investment standards. However, the report concludes that the principal constraint to scaling investment is not a lack of investor interest but a shortage of investable projects, reliable revenue streams, underwriting challenges, inconsistency with monitoring, legal rights and claims language. To address these barriers, the report recommends developing aggregation platforms, blended finance structures, encouraging longer-duration buyers and anchoring contracts, monitoring and attribution rules.
Impact Valuation Hub: Attribution in Impact Valuation white paper(Opens in a new tab/window)
The Impact Valuation Hub has published a white paper written by investors for investors providing insights on approaches to making claims on impact investment. The white paper examines two critical challenges in impact measurement: attribution and additionality. Attribution considers how environmental and social outcomes should be allocated across multiple actors involved in creating an impact, including companies within a value chain and investors providing capital. Additionality examines whether an outcome would have occurred in the absence of a specific intervention or investment.
The authors note that inconsistent approaches can result in multiple organisations claiming the same impact, reducing comparability and increasing the risk of overclaiming. Rather than prescribing a single methodology, the paper presents a range of attribution approaches and outlines their strengths, limitations and appropriate use cases. The authors recommend transparency in methodology selection and disclosure, enabling investors and businesses to make more credible and defensible impact claims while supporting greater consistency across the impact investing ecosystem. The paper is particularly relevant to organisations seeking to quantify nature-positive outcomes, biodiversity investments, natural capital projects and sustainability-linked investment strategies.
IIGCC: Consultation on Nature Investment Toolkit(Opens in a new tab/window)
The Institutional Investors Group on Climate Change (IIGCC) has released a Nature Investment Toolkit for consultation, providing investors with an approach to describing nature investments and scrutinising their risk, either at the asset or portfolio level, and across all asset classes. Developed to address market frictions around terminology, categorisation and risk visibility, the toolkit includes an overarching guidance document on nature investments and supporting documents that outline how investors can describe nature investments and flag relevant nature-specific risks. The toolkit aligns with existing frameworks, including the Taskforce on Nature-related Financial Disclosures typology and the Multilateral Development Bank Common Finance Taxonomy. Consultation on the toolkit is open until the end of 2026.
TNFD: Asking better questions on nature for asset manager CIOs and investment committees(Opens in a new tab/window)
The Taskforce on Nature-related Financial Disclosures (TNFD) has published guidance in its Asking Better Questions series for senior decision makers in business and finance. Developed in partnership with Principles for Responsible Investment and Finance for Biodiversity Foundation, the paper is directed at asset manager chief investment officers (CIOs) and investment committees. The paper presents 16 guiding questions to help develop a robust approach to considering nature-related issues.
The guide highlights that the key issue for CIOs to consider with senior management colleagues is not just whether the organisation identifies nature risks, but whether your valuation and risk models actually adjust for them and whether that translates into portfolio allocation adjustments. The resource encourages CIOs and investment committees to assess whether portfolios are exposed to material nature-related risks, understand how investee companies are managing dependencies on ecosystems, and identify opportunities arising from nature-positive transitions. The guidance also highlights that it is critical for CIOs and investment committee members to be confident that their organisations have appropriate reporting, compliance and communications infrastructure to meet the information needs and expectations of clients and regulators.
Finance for Biodiversity Foundation: COP17 progresses incentive reform and transition planning(Opens in a new tab/window)
Finance for Biodiversity (FfB) Foundation has released a roundup of finance-related decisions and observations from COP17. The article highlights the adoption of the Yerevan Pathway, which sets priorities for accelerating implementation of the Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework, including reform of nature-harmful incentives, alignment of public spending with biodiversity objectives, and stronger accountability measures. FfB observed growing support among financial institutions for incentive reform and increasing uptake of transition planning. It also noted that the effectiveness of implementation will determine whether decisions made at COP17 deliver measurable progress by 2030.
Eurazeo: Lighthouse Initiative mobilises capital for nature and biodiversity(Opens in a new tab/window)
Eurazeo has announced the launch of the Lighthouse Initiative by the Sustainable Markets Initiative and Bank of America. The recently launched Lighthouse Initiative aims to accelerate private investment in nature and biodiversity by providing growth capital to companies developing solutions across ecosystem restoration, biodiversity, sustainable industries and nature-positive technologies. The initiative has secured an initial US$40 million in capital commitments. The initiative seeks to demonstrate that investments in nature can deliver both positive environmental outcomes and long-term economic value.