Australian insights
Nature Repair Market Consultation: Enhancing Native Vegetation method(Opens in a new tab/window)
The Department of Climate Change, Energy, the Environment and Water’s consultation(Opens in a new tab/window) on the design of the Enhancing Native Vegetation method for the Nature Repair Market(Opens in a new tab/window) is open until 4 November 2025. A public webinar providing an overview of the Nature Repair Market and the proposed method was held on Wednesday, 15 October 2025. A recording of the webinar is available on the consultation page(Opens in a new tab/window).
NAB challenged by investors on deforestation risk in agri-lending(Opens in a new tab/window)
The Australian Financial Review has reported(Opens in a new tab/window) on the National Australia Bank (NAB) becoming the first big lender to face an annual general meeting resolution on nature-related risks in its lending activity. The resolution will call on NAB to disclose how much it lends to customers involved in deforestation and set a strategy to stop financing deforestation in line with global standards. The shareholder resolution, which will go to NAB’s annual meeting on 12 December, was coordinated by the Australian Conservation Foundation and co-filed by SIX Invest, Australian Ethical, Melior Investment Management and more than 100 shareholders.
Business, biodiversity & the future of sustainable finance(Opens in a new tab/window)
The UN Global Compact Network Australia (UNGCNA) – with support from the Principles for Responsible Investment (PRI) and The GPT Group – hosted a discussion(Opens in a new tab/window) on the past, present and future of sustainable finance. A panel discussion – moderated by UNGCNA Executive Director Kate Dundas and featuring PRI CEO David Atkin and UNGCNA Board Chair and former PRI CEO, Fiona Reynolds – called for ESG to move beyond compliance to value creation, with an increased focus on long-term value; effective capital allocation; simpler and less burdensome sustainability frameworks; and redesigning financial systems to capture non-financial risks. Simplifying sustainability frameworks, aligning incentives for long-term performance, and addressing short-termism in asset management were seen as essential steps. In addition, partnerships and collaboration were noted as key breaking silos, fostering trust, and recognising that profitability and planetary protection can coexist.
KPMG launches 2025 Nature Positive Challenge(Opens in a new tab/window)
KPMG Australia has launched(Opens in a new tab/window) the KPMG Nature Positive Challenge 2025 to champion and support innovative eco startups to build scalable businesses that have a positive impact on nature and the environment. The Challenge is open to startups in Australia, Fiji and Papua New Guinea (PNG) and includes a dedicated Australian First Nations Category to highlight the ongoing and significant contribution that Indigenous knowledge brings to natural ecosystems. This year's challenge focuses on two fast-growing sectors within the nature-positive ecosystem: AI enabled solutions and startups supporting the circular economy. Applications will be open from 13 October until 9 November 2025, with the KPMG Nature Positive Prize to be awarded in early 2026.
International insights
CISL’s new primer on Scaling Finance for Nature(Opens in a new tab/window)
The University of Cambridge Institute for Sustainability Leadership (CISL) and A-Track have published a primer(Opens in a new tab/window) on scaling finance for nature. The primer highlights that nature finance is often narrowly perceived as conservation finance with low returns, making it unattractive for private commercial capital. It focuses on “greening finance” — embedding nature considerations into mainstream financial activities — as a scalable approach. The primer identifies one prerequisite step (assessing finance portfolios’ relationship with nature) and four levers of change: corporate stewardship, financial decision-making, opportunities to incentivise change, and engagement with policymakers. These are illustrated with practical, real-world examples from financial institutions. The report aims to inspire and empower practitioners to act for nature today through mainstream finance. It builds on previous work and lays the foundation for future outputs including policy briefings and a practical handbook.
ISO publishes standard on biodiversity(Opens in a new tab/window)
The International Standards Organisation (ISO), an independent, non-government body that publishes voluntary international standards across a range of industry activities, has released(Opens in a new tab/window) a standard to help organisations take action for nature. Developed by ISO’s expert committee on biodiversity, the standard offers a scalable, practical framework that organisations of any size or sector can apply to embed biodiversity into strategy, operations, and decision‑making. It provides a structured, practical roadmap to assess dependencies, impacts, risks and opportunities, develop a context-specific biodiversity action plan, and align with global goals and emerging disclosure requirements. A sample of the first three chapters is available online.
Physical Risk and Resilience in Value Chains(Opens in a new tab/window)
The World Business Council for Sustainable Development and the Boston Consulting Group have published a CEO Guide(Opens in a new tab/window) on Physical Risk and Resilience in Value Chains that positions value chain resilience as a strategic imperative for CEOs, driven by intensifying physical risks and rising stakeholder expectations. To support and inform executive-level dialogue the handbook introduces a structured set of guiding questions, provides case studies to showcase approaches from companies to support peer learning, and provides foundational, intermediate and advance actions to cultivate leadership culture rooted in acceptance, agility, collaboration and preparedness.
Environmental Finance Sustainable Loans Insight 2025(Opens in a new tab/window)
Environmental Finance (EF) has published(Opens in a new tab/window) its third edition of its sustainable loans insight. EF’s insight finds that there has been a shift from quantity to quality. Sustainability-linked loans (SLLs) are receiving increased attention as market participants look to close the ‘credibility gap’ – whether real or perceived – for the performance-based instrument. With more than $6 in every $10 of sustainable loans signed during 2025 being through sustainability-linked loans. This has been supported by increased regulatory action. For example, Japan tightened its sustainability-linked debt guidance in December to address concerns related to ‘poorly’ designed metrics as well as targets that ‘lack relevance and materiality’. Meanwhile, the UK regulator reported in August that SLLs had made “important” improvements to become “more robust” in the two years since it raised “market integrity concerns”.
Making Natural Capital Count(Opens in a new tab/window)
SYSTEMIQ, a sustainability-focused consulting and investment firm, in collaboration with the Independent High‑Level Expert Group on Climate Finance has released(Opens in a new tab/window) a report presenting a global roadmap for better integrating nature into economic and financial decision-making and mobilising investment at scale. The report aims to show how policies, institutions, accounting systems, financial instruments, investment pathways, and other enablers can incorporate natural capital in decision-making. It highlights how governments can integrate natural assets into public accounting and fiscal management, how private companies can incorporate natural capital into financial reporting and risk assessments, and the financial sector’s critical role in mobilising capital through innovative products, risk pricing, and regulatory reforms.
Natural Capital: A guide for institutional investors(Opens in a new tab/window)
Kana Earth in collaboration with Aberdeen Investments, Gresham House, and Rebalance Earth, has produced(Opens in a new tab/window) a structured framework for institutional investors considering allocations to natural capital. It highlights growing alignment between sustainable land use and long-term value strategy for institutional capital. This shift is driven by rising awareness of environmental risk and disclosure frameworks such as Taskforce on Nature-related Financial Disclosures, which are embedding nature into financial oversight. The report sets out how institutional investors can allocate capital to natural assets across private markets, including real estate, infrastructure, private equity, and alternatives, and explains how these strategies can deliver both financial returns and nature-positive outcomes. It emphasises that acting now can position investors ahead of rising costs, tightening supply and growing compliance pressure.