Sustainability is shifting from carbon-focused goals to nature-centric accountability, where businesses assess both their impact on and dependence on ecosystems. Frameworks formalise this dual view, and APAC is leading global adoption. Discover how technology can help with data-driven sustainability.
Sustainability is expanding beyond carbon reduction to include broader ecological dependencies like water, land, and biodiversity
With 86% of companies aligning to TNFD, the APAC region is outpacing global peers, driven by regulation, investor expectations, and its deep reliance on natural ecosystems.
Real-time sensing, intelligent networks, and AI-driven analytics are redefining conservation, helping enterprises measure nature impacts with the same precision as carbon accounting, making tech-driven sustainability the foundation of future accountability.
The end of carbon comfort
The sustainability conversation is shifting. The net zero era gave businesses a clear structure through a single anchor in carbon reduction, measurable targets, and standardised reporting. But climate action can’t be contained by carbon alone. The World Economic Forum’s Global Risk Report 2025 identifies biodiversity loss and ecosystem collapse as the second-greatest global risk of the next decade, right after climate change itself.1
From carbon-centric sustainability to nature-centric accountability
The next nature-positive era lies in understanding how businesses intersect with natural systems through land use, water cycles, and biodiversity dependencies. Climate action that focuses solely on carbon offers an incomplete picture of how value is created, and how it can be lost.
Nature reporting also introduces: double materiality. It describes how climate-related issues affect their financial performance (“outside-in”) and how their activities impact people and the planet (“inside-out”). A drought can disrupt production. A factory’s wastewater can destroy local ecosystems (and the livelihoods that depend on them). Biodiversity loss can destabilise entire sectors.
Enterprises must assess impacts and dependencies in parallel. Frameworks like the Taskforce on Nature-related Financial Disclosures (TNFD) are formalising this shift. By identifying, assessing, and disclosing both sides of the equation2, TNFD helps enterprises move from reactive compliance to strategic action. The International Financial Reporting Standards (IFRS) consulting on aligning its standards with TNFD shows that nature reporting is on the same regulatory path carbon once took.2
The APAC acceleration
According to TNFD’s 2024 data, 86% of companies in the APAC region are now aligning with TNFD frameworks, outpacing both Europe and Latin America.3 Regulatory pressure and investor scrutiny are key drivers. But so is the region’s deep ecological dependency, from agriculture and fisheries to urban infrastructure built on fragile coastlines.
Across the region, the momentum is visible:
Australia: 23 companies and financial institutions have committed to voluntary TNFD-aligned disclosure.4
China: The Bank of China has joined the TNFD, and new local consultation groups are engaging domestic institutions in nature risk reporting.5
Japan: The government is funding TNFD, and more than 130 companies and financial institutions are now conducting TNFD-aligned assessments and disclosures.6
How do businesses measure the unmeasurable
Unlike carbon, nature reporting doesn’t come with a single, standardised unit. Businesses are grappling with how to quantify pollinator decline, soil erosion, or wetland loss in a way investors and regulators can understand. Many organisations stall at this point.
The lack of reliable, real-time biodiversity data makes target-setting difficult, disclosures inconsistent, and reporting costly. Unlike emissions, nature impacts are highly localised, interconnected, and dynamic; what’s measurable in one ecosystem may not translate in another.
This data gap is why nature targets often remain aspirational rather than operational. Technology helps businesses move from intent to execution with ways to detect, monitor, and model ecosystem change with the same precision they bring to carbon accounting.
Tech as the new conservation tool
Measuring, monitoring, and managing ecological systems at scale demands real-time intelligence, and that’s where digital infrastructure becomes indispensable.
IoT sensors can track soil moisture, air quality, and species activity at the source.
Satellite-linked networks offer macro-level visibility into deforestation, coral bleaching, and water stress across entire regions.
AI analytics stitch these fragmented data streams together, translating ecological signals into decision-grade insights and disclosure-ready reporting that accelerate TNFD alignment.
But none of this would work without connectivity. Telcos play a pivotal role in building the networks that link devices, standardise data flows, and extend coverage to remote ecosystems. In this model, technology acts as a conservation tool. It gives enterprises the clarity to act faster, intervene smarter, and make nature risk visible before it turns into financial loss.
Carbon gave us a starting point. Nature will give us direction.
As enterprises move from net zero to nature positive, their ability to thrive will depend on how well they can connect, sense, and interpret the natural world. Nature is complex, dynamic, and deeply intertwined with every sector of the economy. Managing that complexity requires tools that can translate ecological change into actionable intelligence. Technology makes it possible. Real-time sensing, intelligent networks, and advanced analytics turn complex ecological signals into insights leaders can act on.
Ready for tech-driven sustainability?
References:
OMFIF, No net zero without nature-positive outcomes, 2025
SLR consulting, Taskforce on Nature-related Financial Disclosures (TNFD): What is it, why it matters and how we can help, 2025
World Economic Forum, Asia Pacific companies lead the world in adopting nature reporting framework: TNFD, 2025
TNFD, Number of Australian TNFD Adopters rises to 23, including some of Australia’s leading ASX-listed companies, 2024
TNFD, TNFD engagement deepens in China as Bank of China joins the Taskforce, 2025
TNFD, TNFD secures funding from the Government of Japan, 2024
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