ERM, the world’s largest specialist sustainability consultancy, has assisted Nippon Life Insurance Company in creating the “Nippon Life Nature Finance Approach” to integrate biodiversity and ecosystem considerations into investment and financing decisions.
The framework draws on the Planetary Boundaries concept developed by the Stockholm Resilience Centre, aiming to align corporate activity with the transition to a nature-positive economy. It assesses companies’ impacts on biodiversity and nature against the Earth’s ecological thresholds, using indicators such as:
- Net Primary Production (NPP) – the fundamental energy source for all living organisms.
- Human Appropriation of NPP (HANPP) – a measure included in the Global Biodiversity Framework’s Target 14 to integrate biodiversity into decision-making.
- Species population data, including counts of endangered species.
The approach also applies the Do No Significant Harm (DNSH) principle to ensure corporate actions do not cause other material environmental or social harm.
Yasutoshi Miyamoto, General Manager of the Responsible Investment Strategy Office at Nippon Life, said: “As a long-term institutional investor, we believe it is important that the global environment be maintained within a safe and stable operating space. Building on our climate transition finance methodology developed last year, this new nature finance approach introduces evaluation indicators for nature recovery informed by planetary boundaries and international agreements such as the GBF. We will refine and expand its use in investment and financing through dialogue with stakeholders across industry, government, and academia.”
Kosuke Kanematsu, Sustainable Finance Partner at ERM, added: “We developed this framework in line with the latest scientific guidance on nature. Nippon Life’s vision for nature restoration and regeneration has the potential to inspire greater action among companies, financial institutions, and investors committed to a nature-positive future.”
