1. Real estate is a major contributor to nature loss
While one asset may feel like it doesn’t impact biodiversity. A whole portfolio tells a very different story.
Zoom out: land use change is consistently cited as the largest direct driver of biodiversity loss globally, according to IPBES. Real estate is part of that story, not just through new development, but through the daily choices that shape what survives in and around cities.
A single asset might only “touch” a few acres, but 500 assets can add up to something closer to a small city. That footprint has consequences. Landscaping standards decide whether a site becomes a living patchwork or a sterile postcard. Night lighting can turn a building into a beacon that disrupts birds, insects, and bats, at scale, across migration routes and seasons, according to DarkSky International. Then there are the quiet inputs that rarely show up in an asset memo: the chemicals used in groundskeeping, rodent control, or even routine cleaning. They do not stay politely on your property line. Nature risk in real estate is not abstract. It is operational, cumulative, and measurable.
2. Major investors are aligning with TNFD, and bringing nature risk into due diligence
This is where it gets real for owners: nature questions are moving into the investment process.
Mitsui has publicly registered as a TNFD Adopter and is working toward TNFD-aligned disclosures. APG has also stated it is affiliated with TNFD and is building common standards and data approaches to assess biodiversity risks across portfolios.
And they are not alone. TNFD has reported adoption surpassing 700 organisations representing around USD 22 trillion in assets under management. That momentum turns into deal friction fast: more DDQs, more “show me the data on nature,” more pressure to prove you understand location-specific impacts and risks before capital gets comfortable.
3. Nature indicators are converging across TNFD, GRESB, CSRD, and building certifications
Nature reporting is becoming reusable work, not extra work. TNFD is increasingly designed to map into the standards landscape, and TNFD itself highlights alignment with other reporting regimes (including European standards). In practice, that means the same set of asset-level nature indicators can support multiple asks: investor disclosure (TNFD), benchmarking (GRESB), and regulatory reporting (CSRD), while also strengthening certification narratives (BREEAM, LEED v5, BOMA, WELL, Fitwel).
We see this pattern already: our customers start with a TNFD desktop assessment for portfolio coverage, then reuse the underlying indicators across CSRD and asset certification workflows.
4. Nature is a strategic tenant narrative
Tenants are asking for it too. Deloitte, PwC, and Standard Chartered are early adopters when it comes to nature and biodiversity, either through TNFD alignment or by embedding nature-related risk into how they think about buildings and operations. These are not fringe occupiers, they are setting expectations.
This is where nature stops being abstract and becomes practical. When you assess how a building affects nature, for example by identifying pollutants that harm local ecosystems, the same insights often apply to people inside the building. What is bad for insects and soil does not stop at the property line, it shows up in air quality, water runoff, and everyday exposure.
We have seen buildings use nature data to reduce those risks and then tell a clearer story to tenants: impacts are understood, choices are deliberate, and the building is managed with both nature and occupants in mind.
