Overview
The Task Force on Nature-related Financial Disclosures (TNFD) is a global framework that helps organizations understand and disclose how their operations affect and depend on nature. It provides a structured approach for identifying nature-related risks and opportunities, so companies can make informed decisions that protect both business value and biodiversity.
Just as the TCFD made climate risks a core part of financial reporting, the TNFD is doing the same for nature and ecosystems, helping shift finance and corporate action toward a nature-positive economy.
Purpose and Objectives
The TNFD was created to help redirect global financial flows away from activities that harm nature and toward those that protect and restore it. It aims to integrate nature-related risk management into mainstream business strategy and decision-making.
For businesses, adopting the TNFD means understanding how factors like deforestation, water scarcity, soil degradation, and ecosystem loss can directly affect their supply chains, operations, and long-term resilience. Investors, regulators, and customers are increasingly demanding this level of transparency — making TNFD both a strategic and compliance imperative.
TNFD Framework
The TNFD framework builds on the same four pillars as the TCFD, ensuring consistency and comparability across ESG disclosures:
- Governance: How the board and management oversee nature-related issues.
- Strategy: How dependencies and impacts on nature influence business plans and resilience.
- Risk & Impact Management: Processes to identify, assess, and manage nature-related risks.
- Metrics & Targets: Indicators and goals used to measure progress toward nature-positive outcomes.
To apply the framework effectively, TNFD recommends the LEAP approach:
Locate where your business interacts with nature → Evaluate dependencies and impacts → Assess risks and opportunities → Prepare to respond and disclose.
This method helps companies translate complex environmental data into actionable business insights.
Relationship with Other Frameworks
The TNFD complements other major sustainability standards:
- It mirrors the TCFD’s structure, making it easier for organizations already reporting on climate to expand into nature.
- It aligns with CSRD, ISSB, and GRI frameworks, allowing for integrated reporting across environmental and financial disclosures.
- It also supports global biodiversity goals such as the Kunming–Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework, helping businesses align with emerging international commitments.
By harmonizing with these frameworks, TNFD helps companies avoid duplication and build a single, consistent sustainability reporting system.
Key Concepts
Nature-related dependencies and impacts
Every organization depends on nature — whether it’s clean water, fertile soil, or raw materials. These are called dependencies. At the same time, businesses can also affect nature through activities like land conversion, emissions, and waste — known as impacts.
Understanding both is crucial for assessing operational and reputational risks tied to environmental degradation.
Nature-related risks and opportunities
- Risks: Physical (e.g., floods, droughts, soil loss) or transition risks (e.g., policy shifts, investor expectations).
- Opportunities: Innovation in sustainable materials, circular design, or investments that restore ecosystems.
Recognizing these helps businesses anticipate change and position themselves as leaders in the transition to a nature-positive economy.
Implementation for Organizations
Adopting TNFD doesn’t have to be complex. Companies can begin by:
- Mapping where they interact with nature across their operations and supply chains.
- Assessing risks and dependencies using the LEAP framework.
- Integrating nature data into ESG systems and governance structures.
- Disclosing transparently through sustainability reports or annual filings.
Different sectors will apply TNFD differently — for instance:
- Agriculture focuses on soil, water, and pollination.
- Manufacturing examines material sourcing and waste management.
- Finance evaluates nature-related exposure in lending and investment portfolios.
The goal is to create a clear link between nature health and business health.
Benefits and Challenges
Benefits
- Improves risk management and long-term resilience.
- Builds trust with investors and regulators through transparent disclosures.
- Supports regulatory readiness for evolving biodiversity mandates.
- Enhances brand credibility as part of a nature-positive transition.
Challenges
Implementing TNFD can be demanding — particularly in gathering reliable biodiversity data, integrating new metrics, or aligning cross-departmental reporting. However, technology-driven ESG platforms like Credibl make it easier by automating data collection, validation, and framework alignment.
Conclusion
The TNFD is reshaping how businesses view their relationship with nature — turning environmental dependencies into measurable, reportable factors that drive smarter, more sustainable decisions.
At Credibl, we make this transformation seamless. Our AI-powered ESG platform helps organizations capture, manage, and disclose nature-related data in alignment with TNFD, CSRD, and other global standards.
Start building your nature-positive reporting foundation today with Credibl. Book a demo to see how we can help your business integrate TNFD and lead with transparency.