S1E107: Saving nature: Have we found the magic formula?

  • 18 Sep 2023

Businesses have often paid little heed to nature in the race for profits. A new framework will help companies realise that damaging nature is risky business.

Synopsis: Every first and third Monday of the month, The Straits Times analyses the beat of the changing environment, from biodiversity conservation to climate change.

Who doesn’t enjoy a walk in a park or forest, breathing clean air, or watching wildlife?Yet, humanity has done a pretty good job in destroying nature, such as deforestation, pollution and over extraction of resources. 

Part of the problem is that we've taken nature for granted and treated its bounty as free. And for many of us, the problem can seem far away from big cities. 

Today’s episode of Green Pulse has some nature-positive news. There’s now a way to help companies make better choices to protect nature and better understand their impacts on the natural world. 

A global framework, or guide, to help firms measure and report their nature-related risks and impacts has been developed and it is being released this week. Called the Taskforce for Nature-Related Financial Disclosures, or TNFD, it could soon be adopted by regulators to drive better protection of nature. 

To tell us more about this is Mr Tony Goldner, executive director of the TNFD, who is based in London. 

Highlights (click/tap above):

1:54 Why is nature so important to society?

5:43 How urgent is the need to tackle the crisis of nature loss?

10:01 How did the TNFD framework come about and what are nature-related risks?

17:03 Nature is very complex. How can companies measure their impacts?

24:02 There have been many efforts in the past to tackle nature loss. Is the TNFD the magic formula we're all been looking for?

Produced by: David Fogarty (dfogarty@sph.com.sg), Ernest Luis, Hadyu Rahim & Paxton Pang

Edited by:  Hadyu Rahim

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