Atkins has become a member of the Forum of the Taskforce on Nature-related Financial Disclosure (TNFD). The international initiative has been recently established to support a shift in global finance towards more nature-positive outcomes.

Atkins joins the forum along with world-leading organisations in sectors such as finance and energy as well as government departments and environment specialists. Membership of the Forum, which supports the Taskforce’s work and TNFD’s mission in general, will not only enable Atkins to contribute its expertise and knowledge, but also build on that expertise to support its clients.

Claire Wansbury, associate director for ecology at Atkins, said membership of the Forum enables Atkins to ensure it is well positioned to make a difference in how it operates and its impact on nature.

She said: “Through membership of this forum Atkins is now contributing to a global and multi-disciplinary Taskforce addressing a global emergency, where we are able to share our expertise and insights into the issue, and be a part of a consultative network of over 400 supporters of the TNFD. It really places Atkins at the forefront of the conversation, which informs how we advise our customers accordingly.

“It’s an important position to be in and brings together our combined knowledge and expertise of valuing, and assessing impacts on, the natural world, our delivery excellence in nature-based opportunities, and our experience in relation to the Taskforce for Climate-related Financial Disclosure (TCFD) framework.

“It's also about the impact we can have on what we're doing as a business. Approaches such as natural flood management for example have a better impact on the environment, and enable us to understand the implications of what we're doing and how it all fits together in terms of the natural balance of the landscape you’re working in. Ultimately, we will be helping businesses including our clients, make better decisions about their impact on nature.”

The TNFD was set up in recognition that damage to the natural world through business activity creates a number of long-term risks. However, financial institutions and companies don’t necessarily have the information they need to understand how nature impacts its financial performance.

According to the TNFD better information will ‘allow financial institutions and companies to incorporate nature-related risks and opportunities into their strategic planning, risk management and asset allocation decisions.’