In this episode of The Nature Pledge podcast, we dive into the upcoming flagship report from UNDP, the 2026 Human Development Report (HDR), with Pedro Conceição, the Director of the Human Development Report Office. Together we explore what might result if business and society invested in a more constructive, mutually beneficial relationship between people and nature.

UNDP’s flagship report aims to shift our global dialoguetoward “constructive agency” to promote a reconnection between people and the planet. But just how feasible is this? And are we asking too much from business and society in this time of armed conflict and economic uncertainty?

Today, the degradation of our ecosystems is increasingly recognized as an economic, public health and national security priority. A recent security assessment by the British government has explored how environmental degradation can disrupt food, water, health and supply chains, and trigger wider geopolitical instability. A recently released assessment by the Intergovernmental Science-Policy Platform on Biodiversity and Ecosystems or IPBES outlines how economies are being undermined by the rapid deterioration of natural capital.

How can these new understandings intensify nature performance in Asia and the Pacific Region? Helping us to clarify the challenge and the solutions, we speak to the UK's FCDO Regional Director on Climate, Nature and Energy, and the Regional Director on Health.

In this episode of The Nature Pledge, we consider the power of corporate benchmarking in nudging us towards a nature positive economy. Benchmarking the biodiversity performance of large enterprises can help us understand progress and incentivize further action. And as importantly, corporate rankings and indexes can tell us a great deal about how further there is left to go in mitigating the drivers of biodiversity loss.

Recently, the World Benchmarking Alliance – or WBA – released its 2026 Nature Benchmark report. Perhaps, unsurprisingly, WBA’s 2026 assessment of the world's most influential companies produced some rather alarming results: Only 14% of companies in their overall survey reported on their nature impacts. Of these, the global average score for the quality of their nature reporting was a paltry 17.3 out of 100.

What accounts for these failing grades? And how do we shrink the vast distance between corporate reporting, action and the global biodiversity goals?

Listen in to our latest episode to find out!

In this 2025 recap episode, we revisit the key themes andmost valuable reflections from our guest speakers. Over 12 episodes, our guests had a lot to say about the changing political and economic environment impacting on overseas development assistance and our work on nature and sustainable development. We also spoke at length about to the tensions between regional economic growth ambitions and the goals articulated in national biodiversity strategies and action plans. Lastly, our guest speakers spent significant time detailing the importance but also the challenges of multistakeholder engagement.

Listen in and hear the highlights from our inaugural season!

To address biodiversity loss, climate change, poverty and inequality, trillions of dollars in public and private financing are required. And yet the world seems to be churning faster than ever before with daily setbacks at both national and international levels.

Some observers say that meeting our sustainable development ambitions are increasingly unlikely under current political and economic circumstances. Is a full-fledged revolution in sustainable financing needed? The private sector has NOT been sitting on the sidelines, but can it do more? Can it afford not to?

Join us for Episode 12, "Financing Sustainability in a Time of Uncertainty" and hear from Sebnem Sener, UNDP’s Head of Private Finance for the SDGs, as she answers the most difficult questions:

1. Are we simply tinkering at the edges of the triple planetary crisis with sustainable finance, or addressing systemic risks?

2. If sustainable finance is both profitable and important, why does it need to be promoted?

3. With trade tensions and economic certainty running so high, are the best days for sustainable finance behind us?

Social entrepreneurship has taken off in the region, including in China, with remarkable energy and results. Governments and private organizations are taking note and increasingly supporting this sector through funding and enabling policies.

How might impact-focused entrepreneurs change the shape of nature conservation and sustainable use in China and elsewhere? What does their rise mean for the “sustainability recession” we seem to be going through?

In Episode 11, we will hear from Richard Brubaker, an influential voice in both sustainability and social entrepreneurship circles in the region, but especially in China.

As the Managing Director of Collective Responsibility, a Shanghai-based consultancy, Richard has worked in Asia for the last 30 years with a diverse range of stakeholders on sustainability—from governments and multinational corporations to startups and academic institutions.

Malaysia is a study in contrasts: a mega-diverse country at the verge of reaching advanced economy status. Unsurprisingly, perhaps, the country has transformed in more ways than one over the course of its development journey.

Edmund Bon, the Chair and Malaysia representative to the ASEAN Intergovernmental Committee on Human Rights provides insights into how attitudes in his country have changed towards nature, IPLCs and human rights, and how businesses have adapted. Evidencing a value-shift, the country has recently adopted a National Action Plan on Business and Human Rights (NAPBHR) which contains strong environmental provisions. How can this NAPBHR instrument be used to halt and reverse biodiversity loss? What role does ASEAN have to play? And how do bring human rights and environmental sustainability work closer together?

Join us for an illuminating discussion with Edmund Bon, on these and other issues, on the newest episode of the Nature Pledge.

A recent World Economic Forum survey ranks biodiversity loss as one of the top threats to our global economy over the next ten years. Yet, a 700 billion USD annual financing gap to halt and reserve nature loss persists. Why the disconnect between the recognition of the risks to our economies and the rate and size of investments made in nature?

Are the returns on investment in nature too small? Is the opportunity to invest in nature misunderstood?

To help clarify the picture, Matteo Marinelli, the Asia Pacific Lead for Sustainable Finance at the World Wildlife Fund (WWF) based in Singapore, provides a wide range of insights on the complex landscape of biodiversity finance.