Introduction of Nuveen’s Nature Stewardship Initiative: Natural Capital and the Financial Markets
“Our economies, livelihoods and well-being all depend on our most precious asset: Nature.”
This was the headline message in a recent review on the economics of biodiversity.[1]
It is estimated that US $58 trillion of economic value (just over half of global GDP) is moderately or highly dependent on nature and its related services[2], and that half of the market value of listed companies on 19 major stock exchanges is exposed to material nature-related risks. At the same time, nature-based investment must more than double by 2025 to US $384bn and reach US $674bn by 2050 to meet global goals of limiting climate change to below 1.5°C, halting biodiversity loss and achieving land degradation neutrality[3]. The economic benefits nature provides, known as ecosystem services, are crucial to our livelihoods. They provide natural capital like clean air and water, healthy soil, raw materials, pollination, and ingredients in life saving medicines.
Nuveen’s Nature Stewardship Initiative emphasises natural capital considerations in investment processes. The initiative focuses on a selection of companies operating in sectors with high environmental impacts and aims to advance nature-related financial disclosures aligned with global frameworks.
Do you want to find out more about our Nature Stewardship Initiative? Head over to our website to explore how:
- Economic activity has a direct, and often unpriced effect on global biodiversity.
- Given the interconnected nature of biodiversity, Nuveen’s nature risk initiative intentionally takes a market cross-section, emphasizing the sectors with the largest negative impacts on nature and the highest potential impact to the value of assets under management.
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[1] The Economics of Biodiversity: The Dasgupta Review, final report, August 2021
[2] Half of the World’s GDP Moderately or Highly Dependent on Nature, WEF, January 19, 2020
[3] United Nations Environment Programme (2022). State of Finance for Nature 2022
