Frank Elderson: Taking action for nature – investing in economic resilience and prosperity

For supervised banks and wider financial firms, the practical message is that biodiversity loss, water stress and other nature-related dependencies should be treated alongside climate risk in governance, strategy, risk appetite and prudential risk management. Compliance teams should expect increasing supervisory attention to how nature risks are identified, measured and disclosed, particularly where exposures concentrate in real estate, agriculture, utilities, insurance and supply chains. A speech alone does not create immediate new obligations, but it is a signal to prepare for evolving expectations.

Actionable steps: map material nature dependencies and impacts across lending and investment portfolios; integrate nature into existing climate and enterprise risk frameworks; strengthen board oversight and management information; review data sources and scenario capabilities; align disclosures with emerging global and EU nature-related reporting standards; and engage clients on transition and resilience plans. Firms that move early can reduce physical and transition risk, avoid greenwashing and supervisory challenge, and identify financing opportunities in nature-positive investment, adaptation and resilient infrastructure. No specific deadlines are set in the provided text, so prioritisation should be risk-based and proportionate.