Your risk team just completed a TNFD assessment. You now know your company depends on pollinators, stable water supplies, and healthy soils. The report is beautiful. The board is impressed.
Now what?
This is the billion-dollar question that nature risk frameworks struggle to answer. TNFD, ENCORE, and SBTN are excellent at helping organizations identify and assess nature-related risks. They are far less helpful at telling you what to do about them.
The result: thousands of companies with detailed nature dependency maps and no clear path to action. Assessment without investment. Disclosure without protection.
the assessment-to-action gap
Nature risk assessment is the process of identifying how your business depends on and impacts natural systems—ecosystems, species, water cycles, climate regulation. Frameworks like TNFD (Taskforce on Nature-related Financial Disclosures) provide structured approaches for this analysis.
The problem is what comes after.
| Framework | What It Does Well | What It Doesn't Do |
|---|---|---|
| TNFD | Disclosure standards, materiality assessment | Investment pathways, funding mechanisms |
| ENCORE | Sector-dependency mapping, risk identification | Specific actions, portfolio allocation |
| SBTN | Target-setting, goal frameworks | Implementation funding, ongoing stewardship |
| LEAP | Location-based assessment | Capital deployment, monitoring systems |
These frameworks assume that once risks are identified, action will follow. But without clear investment pathways, most organizations stall at assessment.
The assessment-to-action gap is why nature-related financial risk remains largely unmanaged—even by companies that know exactly what their exposures are.
what nature risk actually means
Nature-related financial risk comes in three forms:
physical risk
Direct operational impacts from ecosystem degradation:
- Crop failures from pollinator collapse
- Supply chain disruptions from water scarcity
- Infrastructure damage from wetland loss
- Production shutdowns from extreme weather
transition risk
Financial impacts from the shift to nature-positive economy:
- Stranded assets in nature-intensive sectors
- Regulatory compliance costs (TNFD, CSRD, EU Taxonomy)
- Shifting consumer preferences
- Access to capital and insurance
systemic risk
Broad economic instability from nature collapse:
- Cascading failures across interconnected ecosystems
- Regional economic decline from resource degradation
- Global supply chain disruptions
- Insurance market withdrawal from high-risk areas
Over 50% of global GDP—$44 trillion—depends directly on nature. These risks are not theoretical.
the ENCORE dependency matrix
The ENCORE database (Exploring Natural Capital Opportunities, Risks and Exposure) maps how economic sectors depend on ecosystem services. This data underpins most TNFD assessments.
The mapping follows a three-layer structure:
SECTORS → ECOSYSTEM SERVICES → NATURAL CAPITAL STOCKS
(what you do) (what nature provides) (where it comes from)
For example:
| Sector | Depends On | Which Comes From |
|---|---|---|
| Food & Agriculture | Pollination, Healthy Soils, Water | Grasslands, Forests, Wetlands |
| Energy & Power | Water Abundance, Climate Stability | Rivers, Forests, Coastal Systems |
| Finance & Insurance | Everything (via portfolios) | All 15 ecosystem types |
Each dependency has a magnitude (low/moderate/high) indicating how critical that service is to the sector's operations.
visualizing your exposure
Static ENCORE tables are hard to interpret. What you need is a way to see the relationships—which sectors depend on which services, and which ecosystems provide them.
The BASIN exposure map transforms ENCORE dependency data into an interactive Sankey visualization:
- 8 economic sectors on the left
- 19 ecosystem services (flows) in the middle
- 15 ecosystem types (stocks) on the right
- Connection strength showing dependency magnitude
Select any node to see its connections. Click a sector to see all the ecosystem services it depends on. Click an ecosystem service to see which sectors rely on it and which ecosystem types provide it.
This is what nature risk looks like when you can actually see it.
Explore the interactive nature risk map →
from visualization to investment
Here is where most frameworks stop. You have identified your dependencies. You can see the connections. Now what?
Ensurance bridges the assessment-to-action gap. Instead of just documenting risks, ensurance provides mechanisms to actively invest in the ecosystems your business depends on.
the ensurance approach
| Step | What It Is | How It Works |
|---|---|---|
| 1. Assess | Map your dependencies | Use /exposure or custom analysis |
| 2. Identify | Find critical ecosystems | Which stocks feed your key flows? |
| 3. Invest | Fund protection | Purchase ensurance certificates |
| 4. Monitor | Track outcomes | MRV systems verify ecosystem health |
| 5. Disclose | Report action | TNFD-aligned reporting with real investments |
Assessment without investment is just documentation. Investment without assessment is just hope. You need both.
sector-specific pathways
The exposure map connects directly to action pathways for each sector:
food & agriculture
Highest nature dependency of any sector. Depends critically on pollination, soil health, water regulation, and pest control.
Action: Fund ensurance for pollinator habitat, watershed protection, and soil regeneration in your supply regions.
See food & agriculture nature dependencies →
energy & power
Depends on water abundance for generation, climate stability for operations, and erosion control for infrastructure.
Action: Invest in headwater forest protection, transmission corridor fuel reduction, and watershed ensurance.
See energy & power nature dependencies →
finance & insurance
Exposed to nature risk across entire portfolios. Every sector dependency is a finance sector dependency.
Action: Assess portfolio-level exposure, fund proactive risk mitigation, access ensurance instruments for nature-positive allocation.
See finance & insurance nature dependencies →
manufacturing & materials
Depends on raw materials, water for processing, and stable supply chains—all nature-dependent.
Action: Map supply chain ecosystem dependencies, invest in source-region protection, build natural infrastructure resilience.
See manufacturing & materials nature dependencies →
what makes ensurance different
Traditional approaches to nature risk are reactive:
- Insurance pays after damage occurs
- Offsets compensate for harm elsewhere
- Disclosure documents problems without solving them
Ensurance is proactive:
- Funds ongoing protection before damage
- Invests in specific ecosystems you depend on
- Creates continuous stewardship, not one-time payments
- Generates verifiable outcomes for disclosure
| Approach | Timing | Action | Outcome |
|---|---|---|---|
| TNFD Disclosure | After assessment | Report | Documentation |
| Carbon Offsets | After emissions | Compensate elsewhere | Questionable additionality |
| Insurance | After damage | Pay claims | Compensation |
| Ensurance | Before damage | Fund protection | Prevention |
the instruments that fund action
Ensurance provides two types of instruments for nature investment:
general ensurance (coins)
$ENSURE and similar coins provide broad ecosystem support. Trading and holding these instruments funds natural capital protection across the protocol.
Best for: General nature-positive allocation, liquidity, portfolio diversification.
specific ensurance (certificates)
Certificates tied to individual natural assets—a specific wetland, forest, or watershed. Your investment directly funds that asset's protection with traceable, verifiable outcomes.
Best for: Supply chain resilience, specific dependency mitigation, impact verification.
frequently asked questions
what is nature risk assessment?
Nature risk assessment is the process of identifying, analyzing, and evaluating how an organization depends on and impacts natural systems. It typically examines physical risks (operational impacts from ecosystem degradation), transition risks (costs from shifting to nature-positive economy), and systemic risks (broad economic instability from nature collapse).
what is the difference between TNFD and TCFD?
TCFD (Task Force on Climate-related Financial Disclosures) focuses specifically on climate risks. TNFD (Taskforce on Nature-related Financial Disclosures) covers the broader scope of nature-related risks including biodiversity, ecosystem services, and natural capital. TNFD explicitly builds on and extends TCFD frameworks.
what is ENCORE?
ENCORE (Exploring Natural Capital Opportunities, Risks and Exposure) is a database developed by UNEP-WCMC and partners that maps how economic sectors depend on and impact ecosystem services. It provides the foundation data for most nature risk assessments.
how do I use the exposure map?
Go to /exposure. Click any sector, ecosystem service, or ecosystem type to see its connections. The side panel shows detailed dependency relationships. Use the data to identify which ecosystems are most critical to your operations.
what's the difference between assessment and action?
Assessment tells you what your risks are. Action means investing in the ecosystems that reduce those risks. Most frameworks excel at assessment but provide limited guidance on action. Ensurance bridges this gap by creating investable pathways from identified dependencies to funded protection.
the bottom line
TNFD, ENCORE, and SBTN have done essential work making nature risk visible. Without these frameworks, most organizations would not know they had nature dependencies at all.
But visibility is not enough. The $1 trillion biodiversity funding gap exists because assessment rarely converts to investment. Organizations complete their TNFD reports, file them with regulators, and continue operating without meaningful changes to how they interact with natural capital.
Ensurance closes this gap:
- Visualize your dependencies with the exposure map
- Identify critical ecosystems in your value chain
- Invest in protection through ensurance instruments
- Monitor outcomes with continuous MRV
- Report real action, not just documentation
Nature risk is real. The frameworks for assessing it are mature. What's been missing is the bridge from assessment to investment.
That bridge exists now.
Explore the interactive nature risk map →
See how this applies to your sector →