Nippon Life, ERM Launch Nature Finance Approach

ERM, a sustainability consultancy, has supported Nippon Life Insurance Company in developing the Nippon Life Nature Finance Approach, to guide investment and financing practices toward conservation and restoration of nature. The framework incorporates the Planetary Boundaries concept proposed by the Stockholm Resilience Centre into corporate finance strategies, with the aim of aligning business activity with a transition to a nature-positive economy.

The approach assesses a company’s impact on nature and biodiversity through several indicators. These include Net Primary Production (NPP), which measures the energy available for living organisms in ecosystems; human appropriation of global terrestrial NPP (HANPP), an indicator tied to the Global Biodiversity Framework’s Target 14 on integrating biodiversity into decision-making; and the status of species populations, including the number of endangered species.

To prevent unintended consequences, the framework also applies the Do No Significant Harm (DNSH) principles, ensuring that corporate activities do not create other major environmental or social impacts.

Yasutoshi Miyamoto, General Manager of the Responsible Investment Strategy Office, Nippon Life, said the initiative builds on the company’s prior work on transition finance, developed with ERM, and expands its scope to biodiversity and nature recovery. “Using this approach as a starting point, through dialogue and research with various stakeholders in industry, government, and academia, we intend to refine the approach to make it more robust and expand its application to investment and financing practices,” Miyamoto said.

Kosuke Kanematsu, Sustainable Finance Partner, ERM, said the framework was designed in line with the latest scientific guidance on nature. He added that Nippon Life’s initiative could help advance broader dialogue and action among financial institutions and companies working toward a nature-positive future.