The Nature Brief for Business.

The Big Picture

Sustainability reporting is being streamlined in the EU, with a potential two-thirds cut in datapoints under CSRD. Globally, corporates are making major moves embedding climate goals into executive compensation, restoring landscapes at scale, and unlocking innovative finance for nature and carbon removal. Meanwhile, biodiversity credit markets, nature tech, and nature-net-zero strategies are all gaining traction. Although, scrutiny over credibility and ambition remains high.

Key movements this week:

• Corporate reporting is shifting toward simplified yet higher-quality disclosures.
• Sustainability investments now come with clearer ROI frameworks.
• Biodiversity and carbon removal markets are expanding, with new tools and funds.

Market Essentials

Finance: Capital is flowing into climate and nature, with new tools, mega-funds, and government-backed grants.

• Green Climate Fund approves record $1.2B for climate projects. This largest-ever funding round targets green bonds, energy transitions, and food systems, particularly across Asia and Africa, underscoring investor appetite in the Global South.
• Aviva donates £10M to Scottish forest project. The initiative blends philanthropic capital with revenue-generating carbon credits, demonstrating an integrated finance model for long-term restoration.
• Frontier Coalition signs $41M carbon removal deal. The agreement with bioenergy firm Arbor boosts the commercial scale-up of carbon removal, helping de-risk emerging climate technologies.
• The Carbon to Sea Initiative and MEOPAR commit C$4M to ocean carbon removal R&D in Canada. The investment supports marine-based CDR innovations, expanding carbon markets into ocean ecosystems

Reporting: Sustainability disclosure frameworks evolve, with a push to simplify without compromising transparency.

• EFRAG proposes to slash CSRD datapoints by two-thirds. The move aims to ease the reporting burden for companies under the EU’s Corporate Sustainability Reporting Directive, while potentially removing voluntary disclosures to streamline compliance.
• CapitaLand launches a ‘Return on Sustainability’ (RoS) framework. The framework allows the real estate firm to quantify financial returns from sustainability efforts, helping link green investments to asset value creation.
• UL Solutions unveils new tools to support Scope 3 reporting. The solutions help companies better measure and disclose indirect supply chain emissions, addressing a major challenge in full-scope GHG accounting.
• UN endorses Guyana’s REDD+ emission reductions. This technical review affirms the country’s reported progress on forest protection, reinforcing trust in national carbon accounting systems.

Targets: Corporate nature and climate commitments deepen, with scrutiny on the ambition gap.

• Mars commits $250M to sustainability solutions and links exec pay to GHG cuts. The move embeds climate metrics into leadership incentives for 2,000 executives, signaling a significant shift toward climate-aligned corporate governance.
• Critics call SBTi’s nature-based targets “extremely unambitious.” The comment from a carbon marketplace CEO reflects concerns that current frameworks are not aggressive enough to match the scale of the biodiversity crisis.
• EdgeConneX partners to restore 141 hectares of California farmland. The restoration project will plant 80,000 native trees to enhance biodiversity and phase out irrigation, illustrating a corporate-led model for landscape regeneration.
• Philippines to plant 3 million trees in reforestation push. The initiative targets a forest cover increase from 25% to 43% in the Upper Marikina River Basin, linking restoration to climate resilience and water management.

Trend Watch.

Biodiversity Credits

• EU launches biodiversity credit roadmap to 2027. The initiative seeks to close a €37B green funding gap by paying land stewards, though NGOs warn of land access concerns and ecological credibility.
• New report calls biodiversity credits a “powerful financial tool.” The paper argues that these instruments can play a transformative role in bridging nature finance gaps, if integrity is ensured.
• Philanthropy backs Kenya’s seagrass credit pilot. Early interest from non-profits points to a possible funding gap from corporates in niche biodiversity markets.

Nature Tech

• Laser tech enters forest MRV. A Paris-based standards body has introduced 3D laser scanning to improve the accuracy of forest carbon and biodiversity monitoring.
• Pollution cleanup boosts CO2 uptake in rivers. New research shows that healthier aquatic ecosystems can act as more effective carbon sinks, linking water quality to climate mitigation
• Fudan scientists release 30m-resolution habitat maps for 720 Chinese species. The maps offer a high-resolution baseline for conservation planning and extinction risk assessments.
• Innovate UK invests £2M in nature tech pilots. Projects funded include drone-based peatland monitoring, AI for soil carbon, and coastal risk analytics, pushing tech deeper into nature markets.
• ‘Reef Cubes’ deployed to protect offshore wind sites. The recycled-material structures aim to improve marine biodiversity while reinforcing wind turbine foundations.

Nature & Net Zero

• Carbon to anchor UK nature markets. Executives behind the Woodland Carbon Code suggest biodiversity and water credits will be structured around measurable carbon co-benefits.
• Brazil’s Pantanal and Amazon can supply over 1.3B REDD+ credits annually. These figures highlight the country’s central role in global nature-based carbon supply.
• High-quality carbon credits trading at a 65% premium. This reflects growing buyer preference for integrity and durability in voluntary carbon markets.
• Indonesia to finalise Verra agreement for forestry credit exports. The mutual recognition pact will allow cross-border transactions from two national projects, streamlining credit flows.
• FSC study shows certification increases forest cover. New data links FSC certification with measurable forest gains in lower-middle income countries, reinforcing its role in impact investing.

Quick Hits.

Policy:

• EU Parliament votes to weaken deforestation law benchmarking, sparking backlash from NGOs and mixed reactions from industry.
• Tanzania targets $1.5B from carbon and biodiversity markets via its updated biodiversity action plan.
• Land ownership complexities threaten EU Nature Restoration Law rollout.
• NGOs challenge EU carbon removal plans, calling them “not fit for purpose.”
• Pacific nations launch biodiversity finance programme, backed by the GEF

Markets:

• Carbon credit market hits record demand in 2025, driven by quality-focused corporate buyers.
• Brazil’s Piauí state to issue 20M carbon credits by 2030 via jurisdictional REDD+.
• British Columbia fund C$8.3M for ecological corridors to boost wildlife connectivity.

People:

• Concerns over land grabs in EU credit schemes spark calls for more ethical frameworks.
• Amazon credit projects linked to past deforestation fines, raising integrity alarms.
• SpaceX debris threatens sea turtle habitats in Mexico, with over a tonne recovered by local NGOs.

Your Take?

What matters most to your business? What do you want to see next?

📩 Reach out at hello@wildsight.co and let us know.

Your take will shape what we cover next.