Australian insights
Public consultation on Nature Repair Committee Enhancing Native Vegetation method (Opens in a new tab/window)
The Nature Repair Committee, an independent advisory body supporting the integrity of the Nature Repair Market, is consulting(Opens in a new tab/window) on the draft Enhancing Native Vegetation (ENV) method. This method would support projects in Australia's productive and historically cleared areas.
Under the ENV method, projects could:
- enhance the condition of remnant vegetation
- maintain the condition of moderate to high condition remnant vegetation
- revegetate areas without remnant vegetation through environmental planting and/or facilitated regeneration.
Feedback will inform the committee’s advice to the minister, including whether the method meets the biodiversity integrity standards.
A webinar will be held at 1.00pm (AEST) on Wednesday, 8 July 2026.
Submissions are due by 10:00pm (AEST) on Wednesday, 29 July 2026.
Public engagement on the Reef 2050 Long-Term Sustainability Plan(Opens in a new tab/window)
The Department of Climate Change, Energy, the Environment and Water is consulting(Opens in a new tab/window) on the Reef 2050 Plan to ensure that management actions remain adaptive, continue to build Reef resilience and help maintain the Reef’s Outstanding Universal Value for future generations. The department is seeking views on an engagement paper and initial survey questions by 13 July 2026. Further consultation on an exposure draft of a revised Reef 2050 Plan will occur later in 2026.
Insights from the 2026 Conservation Finance Intensive(Opens in a new tab/window)
The Australian Land Conservation Alliance (ALCA) has shared a summary(Opens in a new tab/window) from its 2026 Conservation Finance Intensive. Australia’s new climate-related financial disclosures are reshaping how businesses understand and manage environmental risk. A key theme from the Intensive is that these same approaches can help bring nature into financial decision-making. Whilst climate frameworks were not designed for biodiversity, tools like the Taskforce on Nature-related Financial Disclosures are helping translate nature into the language of risk, opportunity and materiality. Many of the tools needed to scale investment in nature already exist. Climate reporting frameworks, sustainable finance taxonomies, carbon markets and innovative finance mechanisms are starting to open real pathways for nature too.
Muddy mess: deforestation and the Great Barrier Reef(Opens in a new tab/window)
The Australian Climate and Biodiversity Foundation (ACBF), a not‑for‑profit organisation focused on climate and nature policy and investment, has published(Opens in a new tab/window) a report on how land clearing in Great Barrier Reef catchments is driving sediment pollution that is degrading reef health. The report finds that large‑scale deforestation, primarily for cattle grazing, has cleared over 850,000 hectares between 2018-2023 and contributes millions of tonnes of sediment annually. The report identifies opportunities for the private sector, particularly beef producers and major retailers, to eliminate deforestation from supply chains, ensure compliance with new legal requirements, and invest in sustainable land management practices that improve water quality and reef resilience.
Why the future of natural capital investment depends on best and highest land use(Opens in a new tab/window)
Verterra Ecological Engineering has shared its insights(Opens in a new tab/window) on why the future of natural capital investment depends on landscapes functioning as integrated systems rather than isolated, single‑outcome projects. Verterra noted that long‑term value is created when land delivers diversified revenue streams while improving biodiversity, catchment health, and overall landscape function. It emphasised that ‘best and highest’ land use means strategically aligning the combination of commercial productivity and ecological function that is tailored to the landscape. Rather than only counting trees, Verterra encourages longer term consideration of activities. For example, Verterra recommends asking ‘will this landscape function better in 10 years because of the actions being implemented today?’. Verterra concludes that when land uses are planned together rather than in competition, landscapes become more productive, resilient, and capable of generating multiple forms of value simultaneously.
Circular Business Needs Project(Opens in a new tab/window)
Monash University is seeking participants(Opens in a new tab/window) in a survey as part of the National Environmental Science Program’s work to help operationalise Australia’s Circular Economic Framework. The focus of this project is to transform high‐level policy goals into accessible, easy‐to‐apply resources that support businesses, councils, community organisations and industry partners in their transition to circular practices. The survey will take around 15 minutes to complete, depending on the level of detail provided.
International insights
WBCSD’s Business Breakthrough Barometer 2026(Opens in a new tab/window)
The World Business Council for Sustainable Development (WBCSD), a global member‑led organisation focused on advancing sustainable development, has published(Opens in a new tab/window) the Business Breakthrough Barometer 2026. The Barometer acts as an annual pulse check on business progress in the climate transition. The 2026 edition draws on a wide base of business input, including a survey of over 500 companies, interviews with over 70 senior executives, consultations with sector and business organisations focused on sustainability, and sector-level analysis conducted between February and May 2026.
The report finds that sustainability is now firmly embedded as a driver of competitiveness and resilience, with almost all business leaders expecting it to deliver strategic advantage over the next decade and a vast majority continue to maintain or increase investment. However, the WBCSD report finds that nearly all leaders surveyed consider a disorderly transition to be a risk to their business, with 47% of respondents in East Asia and the Pacific having weak confidence in their preparedness.
The Barometer emphasises that while businesses are scaling solutions such as clean energy, electrification and regenerative agriculture, only a small share feel prepared for the pace and volatility of the transition. A central finding of the report is that stronger, more predictable policy frameworks are critical to unlock private-sector investment, with a large majority of companies calling for clearer long‑term signals and coordinated action between governments and industry. Overall, the report concludes that the transition is entering a more mature phase where sustainability must deliver tangible business value, and that accelerated collaboration and policy alignment are essential to scale implementation across key sectors.
TNFD 2026 Status Report Survey now live(Opens in a new tab/window)
The Taskforce on Nature-related Financial Disclosures (TNFD) has opened a survey(Opens in a new tab/window) of report preparers, report users and report enablers to inform the second TNFD Status Report. The status report, which will be released in September 2026, will track how organisations across sectors and regions are implementing nature-related practices. The survey is open until 14 August 2026.
TNFD’s Asking better questions on nature - Chief Legal Officers(Opens in a new tab/window)
The Taskforce on Nature-related Financial Disclosures (TNFD) has published(Opens in a new tab/window) its fourth guide in its Asking better questions on nature series, with this guide being designed for Chief Legal Officers and Offices of the General Counsel (OSG). Through 13 guiding questions, the guide supports the OGC with surfacing the decision-useful information needed to ensure nature-related issues are appropriately incorporated into the company’s legal risk management, compliance programmes and strategic transactions. The guide calls for legal teams to have functional fluency on nature-related issues. It contains case studies from counsels globally that provide indicative benchmarking and practical learnings.
New cohort of companies steps up for nature(Opens in a new tab/window)
The Science Based Targets Network (SBTN) has shared details(Opens in a new tab/window) of a new cohort of companies stepping up and signalling their intended progress toward science-based targets for nature. Between June and September 8 companies, including Adidas AG, Danone and H&M Group, will prepare to set freshwater targets using SBTN’s updated technical guidance. Nine additional companies will participate as observers to prepare for their own target setting journeys. In addition, four new companies have recently disclosed validated progress, demonstrating credible progress toward science-based nature action.
Advancing nature-based insurance to protect people and nature(Opens in a new tab/window)
An article published(Opens in a new tab/window) in the journal Communications Earth & Environment discusses how nature-based insurance can accelerate action for risk reduction. The article notes the emergence of nature-based insurance solutions, which combine physical risk-reduction benefits of nature-based solutions with the financial risk-transfer function of insurance. The article shares five frontiers in nature-based insurance, which can be actionable steps to accelerate uptake: modelling nature and risks better in insurance industry models, accounting for nature’s benefits in the pricing of insurance, de-risking investments in nature, insuring damages to nature, and working with insurers to advance these practices. It also notes that mainstreaming nature-based insurance will require considered coordination across entities, such as insurers, reinsurers and regulators.
How to align capital markets to benefit climate and nature(Opens in a new tab/window)
The World Economic Forum has published(Opens in a new tab/window) an article by André Hoffman, Vice-Chairman of Roche Holdings and Co-Chair of the World Economic Forum. Hoffman notes economic decisions have long been made on the assumption that natural resources are stable, resilient and replaceable, but that this logic is reaching its limits as climate change and nature loss impact markets, supply chains and business models. Instead, respecting planetary boundaries is a prerequisite for long-term value creation.
Ecosystems perform comparable functions to critical infrastructure - forests stabilise climate and soils, wetlands regulate water, and biodiversity underpins long-term productivity - yet they have long been undervalued in economic systems. Hoffman calls for a radical shift in business and economic decision-making, embedding the stability of natural ecosystems, sharing responsibility across value chains and mobilising catalytic capital towards high-impact initiatives that drive positive tipping points for a sustainable future. Hoffman concludes that the ability to transform economic systems will depend on whether we begin to treat nature as a fundamental prerequisite for economic activity and whether capital is directed in ways that strengthens long-term stability and resilience.
10 challenges sustainability teams face with biodiversity data(Opens in a new tab/window)
The Integrated Biodiversity Assessment Tool team has released(Opens in a new tab/window) an article describing ten challenges that corporate sustainability teams consistently face with biodiversity data. The ten issues, compiled after consultation with sustainability leaders across a range of industries, span from the absence of a biodiversity equivalent to the CO2-e measure for carbon, to how best to frame biodiversity risk to increase engagement from other functions within the organisation. The article notes that gathering data is important but must be done alongside building an internal business case, using the right language, and integrating biodiversity into governance and business as usual decision-making.
Biodiversity Credit Quick Scan(Opens in a new tab/window)
The Landscape Finance Lab, an independent global not-for-profit aiming to test best approaches for attracting finance for landscapes at scale, has developed(Opens in a new tab/window) a self-assessment tool to support early-stage project development. The tool is designed to help potential project proponents understand how to develop high-integrity biodiversity credit projects through 21 questions covering legal and social, biodiversity, market, and operational considerations. By identifying key gaps and barriers, the tool provides a practical starting point for assessing feasibility and prioritising further scoping, research and project design.
Working across landscapes: an investor guide to managing nature risk at scale(Opens in a new tab/window)
Ceres, a US based non-profit advocacy organisation, has published(Opens in a new tab/window) an investor guide to provide a practical framework for engaging companies on landscape initiatives: what to look for, what to ask, and how to distinguish credible participation. The report highlights that investors have a key role to play. Sustained investor engagement and evolving regulatory expectations have prompted many companies across agriculture and forestry sectors to reduce their exposure to deforestation and land conversion. Ceres encourages landscape scale programs requiring collaborative multi-stakeholder programs to holistically manage complex, interconnected environmental, economic and social risks across a landscape. Landscape initiatives provide a platform for companies to share the cost associated with addressing climate and nature risks.
Barclays and Earth Capital Nexus partner to advance nature finance(Opens in a new tab/window)
Barclays has announced(Opens in a new tab/window) a new partnership with Earth Capital Nexus, a global research initiative at the London School of Economics and Political Science, to help accelerate the integration of nature into financial decision making with the aim of supporting a more resilient, nature positive economy and unlocking new opportunities for growth.
The partnership will work on developing ways to identify and measure how nature related risks, such as water shortages or land degradation, affect businesses. It will explore how these risks show up in financial performance and lending decisions, how economic activities can restore and regenerate ecosystems, and how investment in adaptation can reduce risk and support long-term performance, while advancing the understanding of nature related opportunities to drive a more resilient economy.