all guides
natural capital·3 min read

nature as a department: the cfo's guide to ecosystem services

if nature were a supplier, your procurement team would have fired them years ago. here is how to fix the contract.

Imagine your CFO reports that 80% of your raw materials come from a single supplier you've never contracted with, never paid, and who is now showing visible signs of failure.

photo by Carlos Moral Reis on unsplash
photo by Carlos Moral Reis on Unsplash

That supplier is nature. And according to the latest UNEP data, the global economy is currently spending $7 trillion a year actively undermining that supplier's ability to deliver.

the hidden supplier risk

Most businesses treat nature as an externality—a "nice to have" or a line item for the ESG report. But for sectors like utilities, basic materials, and energy, nature is the primary infrastructure.

Nature's "Department"Business EquivalentThe Risk
WatershedsWater Supply & Filtration$1.7T in harmful subsidies are currently nature-negative
Coastal MangrovesStorm Surge ProtectionInsurance premiums rising as natural buffers disappear
Soil MicrobesNutrient Cycling & Waste MgmtAgricultural subsidies are undermining long-term soil health

When you don't pay your suppliers, they stop delivering. The UNEP State of Finance for Nature report calls this the "maintenance bill." If you aren't paying it, you're just accruing debt.

why disclosure isn't enough

Over 730 major institutions have now committed to the Taskforce on Nature-related Financial Disclosures (TNFD). They are documenting their dependencies on nature. But disclosure without investment is just a list of ways your company might fail.

The problem is that traditional finance lacks a "contract" for nature. You can't just send a wire transfer to a forest.

entering the contract: natural asset ensurance

This is where ensurance changes the math. We provide the missing financial instrument that allows you to treat nature like a department with a budget, rather than a charity with a bowl.

  • Ensurance Certificates (ERC-1155): These are direct contracts for the protection of specific natural assets in your supply chain. You fund the protection, and the protocol verifies the ecological performance.
  • Ensurance Coins (ERC-20): These provide protocol-wide liquidity, allowing you to hedge against regional nature risks while funding broad ecosystem resilience.

the 30:1 opportunity

The world is currently spending 30x more on harming nature than helping it. For the forward-thinking CFO, this is a massive arbitrage opportunity. By investing in proactive protection (which the UNEP report notes is the most cost-effective intervention), you are securing your supply chain at a fraction of the cost your competitors will pay when the system fails.

See how to underwrite natural infrastructure like an asset class

agree? disagree? discuss

have questions?

we'd love to help you understand how ensurance applies to your situation.