Thought leadership
The tale of two COPs
We arrived in Belém with the echoes of President Lula’s opening remarks, declaring that this COP was the “COP of truth.” Standing in the gateway to the Amazon, the truth was impossible to ignore. This summit was a moment to finally bridge the gap between promises and reality. While that shift has certainly started, it is clear we still have a long way to go.
Recognizing nature within the central banks’ core mandate – Naoko Ishii in conversation with Deputy Governor of the Bank of France, Agnès Bénassy-Quéré
Based on the recent research by Campiglio et al. (2025), central banks are increasingly discussing climate-related issues such as ‘green finance’ and ‘climate-related risks’, with the study revealing that these actions are driven more by institutional factors such as supervisory responsibilities, membership frameworks (NGFS, for example), rather than their country’s direct exposure to climate risks. In parallel, though slower, discussions around nature-related risks are emerging, with central banks viewed as key influencers in this space.
From ambition to action: how the UAE is embedding natural capital into business decision-making
In a world where nature is often treated as invisible, the UAE is charting a new path, one where environmental stewardship and economic resilience walk hand in hand. At the heart of this shift is the Natural Capital for Business Decision-Making: On the Path to Nature Positive and NetZero Flagship Programme, a joint initiative by the Abu Dhabi Sustainability Group (ADSG), the Capitals Coalition, and Sustainability to Action (STA), designed to embed natural capital thinking into the DNA of institutions across sectors.
The Missing Line Item: Why Nature Belongs on Every Investor’s Ledger
Every major financial crash has its blind spot. In 2008, it was hidden leverage in mortgage securities. Today, it’s hidden leverage in ecosystems. For decades, financial markets have treated nature as an externality—a free, limitless resource with no line item on the balance sheet. But in 2025, that paradigm is collapsing. The intersection of climate change, biodiversity loss, economic instability, and ever-growing claims on nature, has forced investors to confront a stark reality: natural capital—the world’s stocks of water, soil, air, and living systems—is not just an environmental concern; it is a core economic asset.
Moving from nature as a risk to nature as an opportunity
Driving a significant share of global assets under management, financial institutions at the Building Bridges event were waking up to the nature’s critical role in our financial system. The Capitals Coalition brought the global conversation on nature-related risks—and opportunities—directly to this influential group of financial actors, who have the power to shape the future of our economic system.
NYC Climate Week: are we doing the work?
Was New York Climate Week a triumph or a warning? It was both. Amidst geopolitical pushback, the climate conversation has reached a new maturity, successfully transitioning action from a moral responsibility to a competitive condition.
When profit is no longer enough: purpose of impact accounting
How do you value a business’s success? For years, a company’s success has been measured by a single metric: profit. However, with the critical issues of climate change and social inequality gaining momentum, this metric feels incomplete.
How good salsa supports an update of the economic system
Negotiations are like a dance, sometimes a rigid kind of sort, where everyone jumps up and down like in a rave, each one in their own world. In a way, the negotiations of COP16 (16th Conference of the Parties by the Convention on Biological Diversity) have been like that. They largely didn’t bring the outcomes or agreements we had hoped for the implementation of the Global Biodiversity Framework.
Ankles, limits and systems
We all live in systems. A couple is a system, a family is a system, a city is a system, a nation is a system. Our society is a system – a complex one – and so is our economy. And systems are always changing. Today, our economic system is creaking at the seams. After centuries of continuous growth, we are learning that we cannot indefinitely borrow natural resources from other geographies and future generations.
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