LocationsAuthor: Frida Frans, Bernadette Shivute- BIOFIN Namibia
Namibia Gears Up for the Taskforce on Nature-related Financial Disclosures (TNFD) towards a Nature Positive Economy
October 13, 2025
Unlocking the potential of green finance is not straightforward, as nations and institutions are often presented with a wide and sometimes overwhelming array of tools to accede to unlock some meaningful benefits. From guidelines and voluntary standards to comprehensive frameworks which set mandatory industry benchmarks for integrating nature into financial operations. Each of these instruments is designed to help organizations measure, manage, and mitigate the risks and opportunities associated with natural capital.
As a signatory to the United Nations Convention on Biological Diversity (UNCBD), Namibia is committed to aligning its national systems with emerging global frameworks for nature-positive finance. Building on this commitment, the country now finds itself at a pivotal stage, ready to elevate biodiversity from a traditional environmental concern to a central pillar of its economic and financial strategy.
To do so effectively, Namibia must first undertake a Nature Financial Disclosure Readiness and Institutional Review Study to assess its institutional capacity, data systems, and policy environment before fully integrating the Taskforce on Nature-related Financial Disclosures (TNFD) framework.
What is TNFD and Why It Matters for Namibia
The Taskforce on Nature-related Financial Disclosures (TNFD) is an international framework that helps institutions understand and act on their dependencies, impacts, risks, and opportunities related to nature. Modelled after the successful Taskforce on Climate-related Financial Disclosures (TCFD), the TNFD shifts focus toward biodiversity, ecosystems, and natural capital. Its LEAP (Locate–Evaluate–Assess–Prepare) approach guides organizations to identify where nature matters most, engage relevant stakeholders, quantify dependencies and impacts, and integrate these insights into strategy and reporting.
For Namibia, where much of the economy and employment are intertwined with natural systems, the TNFD is more than a reporting tool it’s a strategic shield against future economic shocks. The tourism, mining, fisheries, and agriculture sectors all depend on healthy ecosystems. Yet these sectors are also highly vulnerable to droughts, land degradation, and biodiversity loss. As of September 2025, for example, wildfires in the Etosha area disrupted tourism flows, demonstrating how ecological risks can swiftly translate into fiscal and livelihood crises.
Adopting TNFD will help Namibia assess such dependencies systematically and provide data to manage them. This aligns closely with the goals of BIOFIN , which seeks to identify and scale financing solutions that sustain biodiversity while fostering inclusive economic growth.
“This is merely not about reporting, it’s about resilience and building an economy that understands the true cost of losing nature.”
Lessons from BIOFIN Countries Embracing TNFD
Namibia is not alone in this journey. Several BIOFIN partner countries have already begun aligning with TNFD principles, offering valuable lessons:
In Kenya, the Kenya Bankers Association and WWF trained banks to map nature-related risks within their loan portfolios for instance, identifying exposure to agriculture or water-intensive industries. The country’s TNFD launch created a formal collaboration among the Kenya Bankers Association, the African Natural Capital Alliance, and the Kenya Private Sector Alliance (KEPSA).
In Zambia and Ghana, Financial Sector Development (FSD) Africa’s nature-risk stress testing projects helped central banks understand how droughts, floods, or deforestation can destabilize credit and insurance markets. Zambia’s nature-risk dialogues under BIOFIN bridged the gap between conservation experts and financial policymakers.
In South Africa, UNDP and the Banking Association of South Africa used TNFD-based tools to support financial regulators and ministries in aligning biodiversity and fiscal policy. South Africa’s TNFD trainings prompted institutions to create internal teams for sustainability data tracking. The country now serves as a training hub for other countries exploring TNFD integration.
Egypt’s Biodiversity Finance Plan (BFP), aligned with TNFD concepts, introduced performance-based budgeting and biodiversity offsets, enabling ministries to track nature-related investments more transparently.
Uganda developed an ecosystem services index that feeds into fiscal transfers between local governments effectively turning biodiversity metrics into fiscal policy tools.
BIOFIN Peru applied TNFD’s LEAP approach to map financial sector dependencies on water and forest ecosystems. This led to the integration of biodiversity criteria in public and private finance mechanisms, enabling banks to support microfinance for conservation efforts (BIOFIN Peru, 2023).
Colombia incorporated nature-risk assessment into agricultural financing and public expenditure reviews. This evidence influenced government reforms that redirected subsidies toward biodiversity-positive outcomes (UNDP-BIOFIN, 2023).
Philippines TNFD-inspired approaches, BIOFIN Philippines supported the private sector in quantifying environmental risks, leading to the creation of biodiversity bonds and insurance products for nature-based tourism enterprises
Australia government-led TNFD pilot studies showed how disclosure frameworks can inform environmental supervision and corporate reporting an approach Namibia can emulate for public enterprises in sectors like mining and infrastructure (Australian TNFD Pilot Report, 2023).
These cases demonstrate that TNFD does not merely promote transparency it changes decision-making. Countries that adopt TNFD early have seen improved coordination between environment and finance ministries, better risk management by banks, and enhanced trust between investors and communities.
It is worth noting that, for the first time in 2025, the International Organization for Standardization (ISO) has introduced a global biodiversity standard ISO 17298:2025 aimed at supporting a broad range of stakeholders, including SMEs, large corporations, public institutions, and cities. The standard enables the generation of credible and comparable biodiversity data to guide investment decisions, strengthen disclosures, and promote the transition toward a nature-positive economy (ISO, 2025).
A key question: How Prepared is Namibia for Nature Financial Disclosure??
Every journey begins with a first step, and for Namibia, that step is understanding its starting point. Through BIOFIN, Namibia is launching a Nature Financial Disclosure Readiness and Institutional Review Study to ensure the country is prepared to make nature a measurable and investable asset under the TNFD framework.
The Nature Financial Disclosure Readiness and Institutional Review Study will be led by Dr. Donald L. Sparks, an international consultant with extensive experience in sustainable finance and natural capital assessment, who will guide Namibia’s process of aligning its financial systems with the TNFD framework. The study will evaluate national institutions, data systems, and policies, identifying both strengths and gaps. More than a technical exercise, it adopts a whole-of-society approach, bringing together policymakers, financial actors, conservationists, and community representatives in nationwide consultation workshops. These forums will foster dialogue, co-creation, and collaboration, ensuring all voices shape Namibia’s nature-positive financial future.
This initiative is not a mere tick-box exercise. It offers an opportunity to integrate biodiversity into budgets, balance sheets, and lending decisions, reframing national development priorities. By addressing data gaps, piloting the LEAP approach in high-priority sectors, and engaging stakeholders, Namibia can translate its conservation leadership into economic resilience and new finance flows.
Evidence from other BIOFIN countries shows that combining finance planning with TNFD adoption yields concrete policy and investment outcomes. Namibia’s rich conservation heritage and decentralized conservancy model position it well to lead by example in Africa provided it starts with the right partnerships, and political commitment.
Keep watching this space: Namibia’s path toward TNFD readiness has just begun, and your participation will help shape a future where nature and economy thrive together.
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