A new report by the World Wide Fund (WWF) South Africa has found that South African corporates are making slow progress in reporting how their businesses depend on and impact nature, with only one out of 20 large JSE-listed companies formally adopting the Taskforce on Nature-related Financial Disclosures (TNFD).
The study, which focused on firms in financial services, consumer goods, and telecommunications, also shows that by the end of 2025, only four companies had committed to aligning their disclosures with TNFD recommendations.
Pavitray Pillay, head of business development and marketing at WWF South Africa, said this remains far behind global peers, where hundreds of organisations have already incorporated nature-related risks into mainstream financial reporting.
The findings suggest that while climate reporting has become more established, companies still do not treat nature as a core business issue.
This situation is despite growing evidence that environmental degradation can directly affect costs, supply chains, and long-term profitability.
“South African companies have work to do when it comes to understanding and disclosing their full impact on nature,” Pillay said.
“While good strides have been made on climate disclosures, there is a lack of understanding and attention given to business impacts on nature. Yet without nature, there simply is no business.
“Nature underpins the physical, operational, and financial foundations of every business value chain. To do business, companies rely on ecosystem services such as safe and sufficient water, healthy soils, pollination, raw materials and biomass, and a stable climate.”
Awareness not translating into action
When these systems are disrupted, Pillay said, the impacts include immediate higher input costs, reduced productivity, operational interruptions, and lower yields.
Globally, biodiversity loss is increasingly being viewed as a financial risk. The Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework has set a 2030 deadline to halt and reverse nature loss, adding pressure on companies and investors to respond.
However, the WWF report indicates that local companies have yet to translate awareness into action.
Many firms do not clearly disclose how they govern or manage nature-related risks, and measurement remains limited across sectors.
While climate targets increasingly shape performance metrics, Pillay said nature-related indicators are not yet linked to pay.
“Remuneration committees are approving KPIs for climate action, but not a single company has tied executive pay to nature-related metrics. That tells you everything about where nature sits in the corporate priority list,” said Pillay.
She said the lack of progress comes as regulatory and investor expectations begin to shift.
South Africa is preparing to adopt IFRS (Intaernational Finance Reporting Standards) S1 and S2, which will require companies to disclose how sustainability risks affect financial performance.
The King V Code on Corporate Governance further places responsibility on boards to oversee such risks.
Natural world must be recognised
Pillay said companies that act early could benefit from improved investor confidence and better access to capital, while those that delay may face rising costs and regulatory pressure.
“There is no shortage of tools to help businesses act. Consistent public disclosure transforms sustainability from a narrative into decision-useful information, enabling investors to price risk accurately and allowing customers, regulators, and communities to scrutinise claims.
“It also marks a shift away from typical corporate social investment storytelling toward robust business risk management,” Pillay said.
She added that companies can build on existing climate frameworks to accelerate progress on nature-related disclosures.
“We need a financial system that recognises the natural world not as an externality but as a foundational asset on which all economic prosperity depends.
“By acting on, managing, and disclosing nature-related risks, South African companies can support a shift in global finance flows away from nature-negative outcomes and toward nature-positive ones,” she said.
- A WWF South Africa report reveals slow progress among South African corporates in reporting their dependence on and impact to nature, with only 1 in 20 large JSE-listed companies adopting the Taskforce on Nature-related Financial Disclosures (TNFD).
- By the end of 2025, only four companies have committed to aligning their disclosures with TNFD recommendations, lagging behind global peers where hundreds have integrated nature-related risks into financial reporting.
- Despite advancements in climate-related disclosures, companies lack understanding and attention to nature as a core business issue, even as environmental degradation poses direct risks to costs, supply chains, and profitability.
- South African firms often fail to disclose governance or management of nature-related risks, and no companies have linked executive pay to nature-related performance indicators, highlighting low corporate priority for nature.
- Regulatory changes such as IFRS S1 and S2 and the King V Code will require better sustainability risk disclosures, with early acting companies likely to gain investor confidence, while delays may increase costs and regulatory pressures.
