Finance is beginning to grasp the scale of the risk posed by nature loss. Ecosystem collapse—from pollinator decline to deforestation—is no longer just an environmental concern but a growing liability for financial services and regulators. Supply chain disruption, loan defaults and uninsurable assets are fast becoming lived realities.

Yet nature-related risk remains hard to see, let alone manage. Unlike carbon, nature has remained stubbornly outside the core risk frameworks of global finance. That is now changing.

New tools e.g. geospatial imaging and AI, scenario modelling and asset-level biodiversity screening, make it possible to map where economic activity depends on nature and the consequences when nature fails to fulfil those expectations. For example, a company’s reliance on healthy ecosystems for water, climate regulation or raw materials—and what exposure they face if those systems degrade.

Investors and regulators are beginning to respond. New European sustainability reporting requirements push companies to disclose nature-related impacts and dependencies. Globally, financial supervisors are assessing how ecosystem decline could trigger market instability or sovereign credit stress. Swiss financial regulator FINMA, has already identified nature loss as a priority emerging risk and is exploring how it could affect the soundness of banks and insurers.

As nature risk becomes measurable, it will become actionable, inaction will carry consequences. Risk committees, boards and fiduciaries will be expected to understand and act on their exposure: by re-pricing risk, adapting strategies and reallocating capital.

To manage nature-related risk, first you must see it. Once it’s in view, the real test is who moves—and who is left behind by risks they can no longer ignore.

– Author: Vian Sharif, Founder & President, NatureAlpha

– This contribution is brought to you by NatureAlpha, a valued platinum event partner of Building Bridges 2025