The World Federation of Exchanges (WFE) has published a position paper on the pivotal role that public markets will play in the long-term challenge of tackling nature degradation. 'Amplifying Climate Action and the Power of Nature' provides expert analysis on the foundations that exchanges, working with others in the financial ecosystem, are beginning to put in place for this major strand of environmental finance. 

As nature-related risks are becoming financially material, the paper identifies several new opportunities which are emerging for exchanges and issuers to drive innovation, mobilise capital, and build long-term value including:

• Developing access to new financial products such as biodiversity bonds, green designations, nature-linked indices and helping to support the development of nature credits. These products amongst others will help to channel investment toward ecosystem protection and restoration.
• Strengthening issuer capacity through offering guidance, training, and case studies to help issuers build nature into their transition planning and prepare for emerging global standards. 
• Enhancing market transparency through the development of listing rules or voluntary frameworks that encourage nature-related disclosures and reward early movers.
• Attracting sustainable investment with high-quality nature data and reporting that can differentiate issuers and exchanges, attracting capital from investors focused on long-term environmental risk management.
• Building regional leadership by sharing best practices, spotlighting local solutions, and working collaboratively to align international sustainability ambitions with local market realities.

To enable exchanges and issuers to unlock the full potential of nature-related opportunities, the WFE calls on policymakers and regulators to:

• Identify national nature priorities: publish jurisdiction-specific risks and investment needs to guide market-led action and help exchanges develop products aligned with national transition goals.
• Promote international alignment: support the convergence of reporting frameworks to ensure comparability while recognising that the cost and complexity of compliance must be proportionate - especially for SMEs and issuers in developing markets.
• Balance requirements with capacity: design policies that are sensitive to differing levels of maturity and resourcing across jurisdictions, avoiding one-size-fits-all mandates.
• Partner with exchanges on product design: work alongside exchanges to develop scalable, outcome-driven nature-based financial products that deliver measurable returns and real-world impact.
• Showcase progress: maintain momentum through regular feedback and by promoting successful examples of issuers and exchanges leading the way on nature.

Nandini Sukumar, CEO of the WFE, said, “Exchanges and their listed issuers are uniquely positioned to turn nature-related risk into a market-driven opportunity that supplements their existing efforts to address climate change and support the transition to a more sustainable global economy. This isn’t just about avoiding loss - critical as that is - it’s about attracting sustainability-conscious capital and creating new markets that strengthen resilience at scale and that put nature and biodiversity upon which we all rely, at the very heart of it. This transition is vital to achieving our climate goals and requires full ecosystem support and collaboration to achieve scale at speed.”

Read the full paper here.