A practical guide for sustainability teams on the Taskforce on Nature-related Financial Disclosures (TNFD) framework: what it is, whether it is mandatory, how the LEAP approach works, what to disclose, and where the ISSB, TCFD and CSRD fit in after the October 2026 updates.
General information, not legal or financial advice. Requirements differ by jurisdiction and are changing, so check the rules that apply to your reporting entity.
Key takeaways
The TNFD recommendations give companies and financial institutions a framework for reporting nature-related dependencies, impacts, risks and opportunities. They are voluntary today. The ISSB has opened a consultation that draws on them.
- TNFD is voluntary, and the market is moving anyway. 802 organisations are formal TNFD adopters, representing USD 26.6 trillion in assets under management, and more than 1,000 organisations across 56 countries or areas have published at least one TNFD-aligned report. All surveyed investors expressed concern about nature loss’s impact on financial markets, and 59% ranked nature among their top three sustainability topics.[1]
- Four pillars and 14 disclosures connect nature to business decisions. TNFD covers dependencies, impacts, risks and opportunities. Its structure is consistent with TCFD and the ISSB’s IFRS S1, focusing on information investors and other capital providers need. It also accommodates impact reporting aligned with GRI and supports the Global Biodiversity Framework’s Target 15 on corporate reporting of nature-related risks, dependencies and impacts.
- Use LEAP to connect assessment, decisions and disclosure. TNFD’s optional, iterative approach helps teams Locate their interface with nature; Evaluate dependencies and impacts; Assess material risks and opportunities; and Prepare their response, including strategy, targets and disclosure. Version 2.0 was published in October 2026.[6]
- Location is the unit of analysis. Nature-related dependencies, impacts and risks vary by place. Map sites, sourcing areas or portfolio exposures, identify material and sensitive locations, and retain the data and methods behind those assessments.
- State of nature now has a shared measurement framework. The Nature Positive Initiative (NPI), of which TNFD is a member, distilled more than 600 existing metrics into four indicators: ecosystem extent, ecosystem condition, species extinction risk and species populations. Piloted by 29 companies and incorporated into TNFD and SBTN guidance, the framework provides a common basis for assessment. These indicators describe nature’s state; on their own, they do not prove that a company caused a change or is nature positive.[7]
- The proposed ISSB Practice Statement would set requirements for companies claiming compliance with it. It is not an IFRS Standard, but under the proposal, companies asserting compliance would have to provide its specified information when material, alongside IFRS S1 and S2. It would not automatically become mandatory for UK or EU companies: jurisdictions decide whether and when to require it. The October 2026 exposure draft draws on TNFD; its final form and timing remain open. Comments close on 19 February 2027.[4]
- Build one evidence base for every disclosure cycle. The Landbanking Group’s Disclosure Starter Pack (TNFD) combines Landler’s site-level data, portfolio comparisons and landscape context with a guided LEAP workstream and advisory-supported reporting preparation. Retain a dated baseline and update it each year rather than rebuild the assessment. TLG helps interpret the evidence; your team owns materiality, business decisions and approval of the external disclosure.
1. What is TNFD, why sustainability teams own it, and why it matters
TNFD is the Taskforce on Nature-related Financial Disclosures, a market-led, science-based initiative that gives companies and financial institutions a way to identify, assess, manage and, where appropriate, disclose nature-related issues. Its recommendations were published in September 2023 and updated in October 2026. The Taskforce still exists and remains active: it now focuses on encouraging adoption, building capacity and working with standard setters such as the ISSB (see section 8).[2]
The framework asks one question: how do your dependencies and impacts on nature create risks and opportunities for the business? It does not ask you to prove you are good for nature. That distinction decides who in the company has to lead.
Sustainability teams sit between three groups TNFD needs to connect: operations and procurement, where the assets and suppliers are; finance and risk, where material risk is judged; and investor relations, where the disclosure lands. Without someone joining them up, nature stays a policy statement. It never becomes an input to strategy or capital allocation.
Sources: TNFD history[12], TNFD Recommendations (October 2026)[2], TNFD 2026 Status Report[1], IFRS Foundation project page[3].
Why it matters now
Investor interest is already shaping behaviour. In the 2026 Status Report, 100% of investors surveyed said they are concerned about the effect of nature loss on financial markets, and 59% ranked nature among their organisation’s top three sustainability topics. The report says the growth in assessment is largely a response to investor stewardship conversations rather than regulation.[1]
The report also notes that over 70% of survey respondents want mandatory reporting, and prefer it within one to three years. Treat that as a statement of preference, not a regulatory timetable. TNFD adds that only about half of survey respondents said they know it well, so the survey reflects the wider market, not just early movers.
Teams that start now will have an assessment, a location list and a data trail to build on, whatever form the final standards take.
2. Who TNFD applies to and what it covers
TNFD is designed for organisations of all sizes, across all sectors and along value chains. It is not a law and has no regulator. You use it by choice, or because an investor, lender, customer or national rule points you to it.
Report preparers and report users
The recommendations serve two audiences at once. Preparers are corporates and financial institutions that assess and disclose. Users are investors, lenders, regulators, stock exchanges, assurance firms and data providers that read and act on the disclosures.
SMEs are also in scope. TNFD notes that SMEs are often closer to the source of nature-related dependencies and impacts, and need an assessment to answer information requests from customers and lenders.
Adopter or Reporter
TNFD publishes the list of TNFD Adopters and a list of example TNFD reports. The examples are illustrative: each includes one or more TNFD elements, but is not necessarily in line with all 14 recommended disclosures.
Corporates and financial institutions: different centres of gravity
For financial institutions, TNFD states that most dependencies and impacts are generated through portfolios rather than direct operations. Corporates are also more than twice as likely to disclose when financial institutions ask them to.[2]
Sector guidance
Alongside the core global metrics, TNFD has published additional sector guidance with core sector metrics for a range of sectors, including aquaculture, chemicals, electric utilities, food and agriculture, and mining and metals, as well as additional guidance for financial institutions. Start with the guidance for your sector before choosing metrics.
What the framework asks you to cover
TNFD looks at four types of nature-related issues, and expects them to be assessed for both direct operations and value chains: 1. dependencies on nature, 2. impacts on nature, 3. risks and 4. opportunities. It considers them across the four realms of nature: land, ocean, freshwater and atmosphere. Risks can be physical, transition-related or systemic. TNFD treats dependencies and impacts as the inputs that explain the risks and opportunities.
3. The TNFD framework: four pillars, 14 disclosures and materiality
TNFD works through two structures at once. The first is what you disclose: four pillars and 14 recommended disclosures. The second is how you decide what is material.
Lens A: four pillars, 14 disclosures
The pillars are the same as TCFD and the ISSB’s IFRS standards. TNFD keeps all 11 TCFD disclosures and adds three for nature, so a team with a climate report already has most of the structure.
Sources: TNFD Executive Summary[5] and Recommendations[2].
Six general requirements apply across all four pillars: the application of materiality, the scope of disclosures, the location of nature-related issues, integration with other sustainability-related disclosures, the time horizons considered, and engagement with Indigenous Peoples, Local Communities and affected stakeholders. Organisations that publicly state alignment with TNFD are expected to apply them.
Lens B: two materiality approaches
TNFD does not force one definition of materiality. It accommodates two, and tells preparers to follow the approach set by their own reporting jurisdiction where there is one.
One rule holds under both: identify, assess, evaluate and prepare dependencies, impacts, risks and opportunities, and show the links between them when you report.
4. Common TNFD reporting challenges
The 2026 Status Report says quantifying dependencies and impacts, and linking them to financially material risks, remain key challenges, as does confidence in data availability, accessibility and quality. TNFD’s own guidance gives a way through each.[1]
Sources: TNFD 2026 Status Report[1]; TNFD Recommendations (October 2026)[2].
None of these is a reason to wait. TNFD’s recommendations are designed so that organisations can start with what they have and raise ambition over time.
5. Writing TNFD disclosures: from ambition to evidence
Many nature statements read as commitments and values: “we protect biodiversity”, “we are nature positive”. TNFD asks for something plainer. It wants to know where you touch nature, what you depend on, what could go wrong financially, and what you are doing about it.
A disclosure written this way reads less like a pledge and more like a risk note. That is not dull. It gives investors something they can test.
Compare:
“We are committed to protecting nature across our operations.”
with an illustrative TNFD-style statement:
“[X] of our [Y] sites sit in or near sensitive locations. At [Z] of them we depend on freshwater from catchments assessed as water-stressed, using [method] and data from [date]. We report on these sites as priority locations and describe our response.”
The second statement uses placeholders on purpose. Every bracket is something the team must be able to produce and defend before publishing.
The disclosure test
TNFD builds on the ISSB’s general requirements, including fair presentation and connected information, and asks organisations to describe where they cannot yet measure an effect. The test below turns those ideas into questions a reviewer can ask. It is our editorial checklist, not TNFD wording.
A result can be real and still not support the broader story a headline implies.
6. The TNFD LEAP approach in practice
LEAP is TNFD’s optional, iterative approach to assessing nature-related dependencies, impacts, risks and opportunities and preparing a response. Its four phases help teams locate their interface with nature, evaluate dependencies and impacts, assess which risks and opportunities are material, and prepare decisions on governance, strategy, resources, targets and disclosure. Version 2.0 was published in October 2026. LEAP supports TNFD-aligned reporting; using it, or a dashboard organised around it, does not by itself establish alignment with all 14 recommended disclosures. In the 2026 Status Report, 76% of survey respondents said they had conducted or were undertaking a LEAP assessment.[1][6]
Source: TNFD LEAP guidance v2.0[6].
LEAP v2.0 adds guidance on how to track and measure state of nature and invasive alien species thanks to newly defined indicators and metrics. It also provides more support on risk and opportunity assessment, environmental crime, nature in transition planning, multi-stakeholder landscape and seascape approaches, assessments for financial institution portfolios, and interoperability with SBTN guidance for science-based targets.
Priority locations: the heart of Strategy D
TNFD asks you to disclose priority locations. A location qualifies if it is material, sensitive, or both.
- Material locations are where you have identified material nature-related dependencies, impacts, risks or opportunities in your operations and value chain.
- Sensitive locations are where your assets or activities interface with nature in areas important for biodiversity, areas of high ecosystem integrity, areas of rapid decline in ecosystem integrity, areas of high physical water risk, or areas important for ecosystem services, including benefits to Indigenous Peoples, Local Communities and stakeholders.
For Strategy D, TNFD expects a list or spatial map of these locations, a description of how you defined sensitive locations (tools, data sources, indicators), how you identified priority locations, and the level of geographic detail and any aggregation. Since October 2026 it also expects you to flag material uncertainty arising from known or potential exposure to environmental crime.
Before and after: translating common statements
These are directions, not approved wording. Each real statement needs your own data and review in the context of the reporting you use.
7. TNFD metrics, tools and data: from data to report
The hardest part is keeping a clear line between a data point, the location it describes, and the sentence in your report. This path works for most teams.
- Map the business to places. Start with sites, sourcing areas or portfolio holdings, and mark where dependencies and impacts are moderate or high (LEAP L1 to L3).
- Screen for sensitive locations. Check those places against the criteria for sensitive locations (LEAP L4) and record the tools and data you used.
- Assess dependencies, impacts, risks and opportunities. Measure what you can, and write down what you could not (LEAP E and A).
- Select metrics. Use the TNFD core global metrics as the starting point, then add sector and additional metrics where they describe your exposure better.
- Test the draft against the 14 disclosures. Note which are fully, partly or not yet covered, and why.
- Record the evidence trail. For each disclosed figure, keep the source, method, boundary, date and owner.
Tools and data for the assessment
Most teams combine a few free screening tools before investing in site-level measurement. TNFD’s Tools Catalogue lists nature-related data tools mapped to LEAP. Useful starting points:
The LEAP column is our suggested starting point, not TNFD’s own mapping of these tools.
Screening tools give a first, often modelled, view. They help you decide where to look more closely; they do not replace site-level measurement for priority locations. Record which tool, version and date you used for each finding.
Core global metrics: comply or explain
TNFD’s core global metrics are organised around 18 core global indicators. Thirteen cover dependencies and impacts on nature, and the rest cover nature-related risks and opportunities. They apply on a comply-or-explain basis. If you do not report one, give a short reason: it is not relevant or material, or it is material but you cannot yet measure it. In the second case TNFD asks you to explain how you plan to address it in future reporting periods. It does not expect every organisation to report every core metric immediately.[2]
Risk and opportunity metrics should be reported at organisational level and, where possible, split by direct operations, upstream and downstream so readers can see where the exposure sits.
State of nature: four indicators
The Nature Positive Initiative’s State of Nature Indicators and Metrics (October 2026) narrowed more than 600 existing metrics to four core indicators, applied at the site and at the surrounding landscape or seascape. TNFD’s October 2026 Recommendations include final metrics for the state of nature as core global metrics C5.0, 5.1 and 5.2 and, for invasive alien species, C4.0.[7][2]
Source: Nature Positive Initiative[8], State of Nature Indicators and Metrics Framework (October 2026)[7]; TNFD Recommendations (October 2026)[2].
Each metric can be delivered at one of the three granularity levels, from preparatory to high, so teams with limited data can start and improve.
An indicator describes the state of nature. By itself it does not show that your activity caused a change, or that the business is nature positive. Keep attribution evidence separate.
8. TNFD, the ISSB and other frameworks: what happens next
The ISSB published its Exposure Draft, IFRS Sustainability Disclosure Practice Statement 1 Nature-related Disclosures, in October 2026. Comments are open for 120 days and close on 19 February 2027, according to the IFRS Foundation project page.[4][3]
This is a proposal, not a requirement. The ISSB will decide after feedback whether to confirm the Practice Statement form or issue nature-related requirements in a different form, and the content may change. It is also not an “IFRS S3”: the ISSB’s issued standards remain IFRS S1 (general requirements) and IFRS S2 (climate), and the proposed nature requirements would sit alongside them.
Sources: IFRS Foundation project page[3]; TNFD Recommendations (October 2026)[2].
How TNFD fits with other frameworks
Source: TNFD standards alignment[9].
Check the detailed requirements that apply to your entity, because they differ in scope, timing and content.
What this means for your planning
These are our editorial suggestions, not TNFD or ISSB guidance.
- Keep working with LEAP and the 14 disclosures. The ISSB has said it is drawing on them, but the final text may differ, so treat the exposure draft as a proposal and not as a settled requirement.
- Read the exposure draft against your own draft disclosures. Note the gaps.
- Consider responding by 19 February 2027. Submissions are made through the IFRS Foundation’s consultation page.
- Keep a record of how each disclosure was built. Assurance and regulators will ask for it.
9. How The Landbanking Group can support you
The Compliance & Disclosure Module combines Landler’s location-specific nature data evidence with advisory support to help your sustainability teams move from scattered site data to a repeatable disclosure process. Bring selected owned, operated, supplier or financed locations into one record, compare sites and review the surrounding landscape to identify where deeper assessment is needed.
Build once, update each reporting cycle. Retain site boundaries, a dated baseline, selected indicator results, methods and supporting evidence in Landler. Future assessments can build on that record, with changes in methods or coverage documented, rather than start from scratch each year.
Connect evidence to decisions and reporting. A TNFD Workstream guides the engagement through LEAP. Our team helps interpret location-level findings and assembles a Disclosure Report with scope, methods, results, assumptions, limitations and evidence gaps. These materials support the client’s preparation of its external disclosures across the four TNFD pillars; they are not an automatically generated or approved external report.
Be clear about measurement coverage. The four state of nature indicators describe the wider state-of-nature framework, not a promise that Landler currently supplies all four for every site. The pack uses EII as an ecosystem-condition proxy within its state-of-nature assessment, alongside selected available indicators. EII alone does not cover ecosystem extent, species extinction risk and species populations. Coverage, resolution and suitability must be confirmed for each geography and ecosystem; additional measurement may be needed.
Keep responsibilities explicit. Landler provides strong evidence support for Locate and Evaluate and inputs to Assess and Prepare. TLG helps interpret findings and prepare reporting materials; the client supplies business and financial context and owns financial materiality, risk appetite, governance, strategy, targets, capital allocation and final approval and publication. Independent assurance, certification and legal review remain separate.
10. The pre-publication checklist
Before approving a TNFD-aligned disclosure, confirm:
- We have a LEAP assessment, or a documented equivalent, and know its scope and date.
- Our location list identifies priority locations: material locations, sensitive locations, or both.
- We say how we defined sensitive locations, with the tools, data sources and indicators used.
- Dependencies, impacts, risks and opportunities are shown separately, and the links between them are explained.
- We state whether each disclosure covers direct operations, upstream and downstream value chain, or a portfolio.
- We follow the materiality approach set by our reporting jurisdiction, or the TNFD baseline where none exists.
- Each of the 14 recommended disclosures is marked as covered, partly covered or not covered, with a reason.
- Core global metrics are reported, or we explain why not and how we will address the gap.
- Any state-of-nature figure names the indicator, area, period, method and granularity level.
- Gaps in data or methods are disclosed where they are material.
- Where we cannot measure an effect, we say so and give our best estimate.
- Environmental crime exposure is considered where it creates material uncertainty.
- Each figure has a source, a method, a boundary, a date and an owner.
- Sustainability, finance or risk, legal and operations reviewed the same final wording.
- Climate and nature disclosures are consistent with each other.
- We have checked the exposure draft and the rules that apply to our reporting entity.
Further reading
- TNFD Recommendations (October 2026)
- TNFD LEAP guidance v2.0 (October 2026)
- TNFD 2026 Status Report
- IFRS Foundation: Nature-related Disclosures project page
- IFRS Foundation: Exposure Draft and comment letters
- Nature Positive Initiative: State of Nature Indicators and Metrics Framework (October 2026)
- TNFD Tools Catalogue
- TNFD additional sector guidance
- TNFD Adopters list
- Example TNFD reporting
- TNFD standards alignment, including ESRS, GRI and CDP mappings
Frequently asked questions
Does TNFD still exist?
Yes. TNFD published updated Recommendations and LEAP v2.0 in October 2026 and continues to run its adopter programme. Its Recommendations say the Taskforce is shifting its focus to encouraging adoption, building capacity and working with standard-setting partners, including the ISSB, which is now developing nature-related requirements that draw on TNFD.
Is TNFD mandatory?
No. TNFD is a voluntary, market-led framework. TNFD’s Recommendations note that some jurisdictions, including the EU and India, have introduced mandatory requirements that cover nature-related issues aligned with TNFD, and the ISSB has an open consultation. Check which rules apply to your entity.[2]
Is TNFD mandatory in the UK?
No. There is no UK requirement to report against TNFD today. The 2023 Green Finance Strategy said the government would “explore how best the final … TNFD framework … should be incorporated into UK policy and legislative architecture, in line with Target 15 of the Global Biodiversity Framework”.[10] The UK Sustainability Reporting Standards, published on 25 February 2026, are the UK versions of IFRS S1 and S2: S1 covers sustainability-related information, which can include nature, and S2 covers climate. Neither requires TNFD-aligned nature disclosure.[11] Check the latest UK government and FCA position before you report.
What is the difference between TNFD and TCFD?
TCFD covers climate-related financial disclosure; TNFD covers nature, of which climate change is one driver of change. Both use the same four pillars, and TNFD keeps all 11 TCFD disclosures. It adds three: engagement with Indigenous Peoples, Local Communities and affected stakeholders (Governance C), the locations of priority assets and activities (Strategy D), and value-chain dependencies and impacts (Risk and impact management A(ii)). TNFD also asks you to assess dependencies and impacts, not only risks and opportunities, and treats location as central. The TCFD itself disbanded in October 2023.
Does TNFD replace TCFD or the ISSB climate standard?
No. TNFD keeps all 11 TCFD recommended disclosures and adds three for nature, so climate and nature can be reported together. The ISSB’s IFRS S1 and S2 are separate standards, and TNFD’s materiality baseline follows IFRS S1.
Do we have to report all 14 disclosures at once?
TNFD supports increasing the breadth and depth of disclosure over time. In the 2026 Status Report, the average organisation reported more than 8 of the 14 disclosures, and disclosure grew with each year of reporting. Be open about which disclosures you cover and what is still to come.[1]
Is LEAP only for large companies?
No. LEAP is designed for organisations of all sizes. A small company may interface with nature in a few locations. Large multinationals and financial institutions may interface in thousands, and TNFD notes that checking every location every year, with assurance, may be impossible for many of them.
Can we say we are nature positive if we use TNFD?
Using TNFD does not make a company nature positive. TNFD is a framework for assessing and disclosing nature-related issues. Nature Positive is a global goal, defined by the Nature Positive Initiative as halting and reversing nature loss by 2030 on a 2020 baseline and achieving full recovery by 2050. If you use the term, say exactly what you measured and against what baseline.
Are the four state-of-nature indicators enough on their own?
They give a common way to describe the state of nature. They do not by themselves show that your activity caused a change, or that your business is covered end to end. Pair them with location, boundary and attribution evidence.
Who should own TNFD work?
TNFD itself does not prescribe an owner. In practice, the team needs one accountable lead, with input from operations and procurement for locations, finance and risk for materiality, and investor relations or reporting for the final disclosure. Senior management should resolve gaps in data, ownership or resources early.
How does TNFD relate to CSRD and ESRS E4?
CSRD is EU law, and ESRS are the standards companies in scope report against; ESRS E4 covers biodiversity and ecosystems. ESRS uses double materiality, so it requires impact materiality as well as financial materiality. TNFD and EFRAG have published a correspondence mapping between the two, so work done with LEAP and the 14 disclosures can support ESRS E4 reporting. It does not replace ESRS requirements.
Which four realms of nature does TNFD recognise?
Land, ocean, freshwater and atmosphere. TNFD uses these realms to describe where and how an organisation interfaces with nature.
Is there a TNFD certification?
No. TNFD does not certify organisations, reports or individuals. Becoming a TNFD Adopter is a public commitment to report, not an endorsement. TNFD publishes free learning materials, and training offered by third parties is not TNFD certification. Assurance of a TNFD-aligned disclosure comes from independent assurance providers.
References
[1] TNFD, TNFD 2026 Status Report.
[2] TNFD, Recommendations of the Taskforce on Nature-related Financial Disclosures, October 2026.
[3] IFRS Foundation, Biodiversity, ecosystems and ecosystem services: project page.
[4] IFRS Foundation, Exposure Draft: IFRS Sustainability Disclosure Practice Statement 1 Nature-related Disclosures, October 2026.
[5] TNFD, Executive Summary.
[6] TNFD, Additional guidance on assessment of nature-related issues: the LEAP approach, version 2.0, October 2026.
[7] Nature Positive Initiative, State of Nature Indicators and Metrics Framework, October 2026.
[8] Nature Positive Initiative, Metrics.
[9] TNFD, Standards alignment.
[10] UK Government, Mobilising Green Investment: 2023 Green Finance Strategy, annexes.
[11] UK Government, UK Sustainability Reporting Standards: UK SRS S1 and UK SRS S2, 25 February 2026.
[12] TNFD, Our history.