Asia’s Exposure – and Opportunity

Reading this through an Asia lens, the message is especially stark: no region is more exposed to nature risk, and no region stands to gain more from leading the response. The Asian Development Bank’s Asia-Pacific Climate Report 2025 finds that three-quarters of the region’s economic output comes from sectors that are “moderately” or “heavily” dependent on nature, including agriculture, fisheries, tourism, and forestry. This is the foundational fact underpinning Asia’s unique exposure. From the fertile deltas that feed nations, to the mangroves that protect coastal cities and the forests that regulate our climate, nature is not just a backdrop, it’s our most critical infrastructure. Yet, as the IPBES highlights, the activities of businesses, from SMEs to conglomerates, remain the leading cause of biodiversity loss. The very foundation of our prosperity is being quietly eroded by the activities that generate this growth.

Nature on the Balance Sheet

The impact that a business has on nature isn’t just an environmental concern, it’s a fundamental business risk. When fisheries collapse, supply chains break. When soils degrade, commodity prices surge. When water systems fail, operations halt. For example, in South Asia and Northeast Asia rice production systems, that are the backbone of food security and rural livelihoods, depend entirely on water provisioning and water quality regulation. Disrupt those, and both harvests and economies suffer. The report moves beyond theory, framing nature as material to financial stability and long-term viability.

Crucially, this report dismantles a common excuse to act: “But we don’t know how to do it.” It outlines over 100 concrete actions tailored for governments, financial actors, and businesses themselves. For leaders and investors across Asia, it provides the most authoritative and actionable science yet to show that our economic future is inseparable from our ecological one. It is based on the current scientific consensus, pulling together available data to underpin its recommendations.

The report released is the Summary for Policymakers, the distilled, government-endorsed synthesis of the full assessment, which contains the core findings and the concrete actions referenced throughout this piece. It evaluates approaches for measuring impacts and dependencies of businesses on biodiversity, and discusses how such information can be used to improve outcomes for biodiversity and nature’s contributions to people.

From “Doing Less Harm” to Contributing to Nature’s Recovery

The IPBES assessment is ultimately a call for transformation, not just mitigation. For forward-thinking leaders across the globe, three priorities emerge:

1. Measure What Matters: We can no longer afford to treat nature as an invisible, free asset. Understanding businesses’ dependencies and impacts on ecosystems through guiding frameworks such as the TNFD, is the new baseline for smart management and disclosure. In Hong Kong, Swire Properties has piloted nature-related assessments for commercial buildings, mapping dependencies and identifying nature-positive strategies. In 2026, the Hong Kong University for Science and Technology (HKUST) partnered with Gammon Construction, Swire, and AXA Climate on “a pioneering initiative to apply the TNFD framework to commercial premises,” demonstrating how local companies can measure and manage nature risk in Asia.

2. Shift from Extract to Regenerate: The goal must evolve from “doing less harm” to actively contributing to nature’s recovery. Across Asia, this opens enormous opportunities in regenerative agriculture, sustainable forestry, green infrastructure, and circular models that turn waste into value. For Hong Kong, the Northern Metropolis presents a defining opportunity to embed green infrastructure at scale. The government’s plan includes the 338-hectare Sam Po Shue Wetland Conservation Park and Robin’s Nest Country Park, forming an ecological corridor with Shenzhen. The Nature Conservancy and Civic Exchange have urged Hong Kong to use the Northern Metropolis as a flagship for nature-based solutions—wetland restoration, reforestation, and urban greening as essential infrastructure for climate resilience.

3. Collaborate for an Enabling Environment: Real change requires more than individual action. The report underscores the need for businesses to actively engage with governments, financial institutions, and civil society to co-create a supportive enabling environment. This means advocating for smart policies, supporting standards that level the playing field, and partnering on blended finance models for large-scale restoration. Hong Kong’s updated Biodiversity Strategy and Action Plan (BSAP) 2035, released in late 2025, provides the policy backbone for this whole-of-society approach. Adopting public participation, ecological primacy, and innovative collaboration as its core principles, the BSAP explicitly aims to integrate biodiversity across sectors. This creates an enabling environment for businesses to engage and address nature risk in Asia. The opportunity is for Hong Kong’s private sector to step into that framework, co-designing solutions with government and civil society.

A Defining Moment for Asia’s Future

Stakes for Asia are high. As one of the most biodiverse regions in the world, we stand at a crossroads: continue on a path that draws down our critical natural capital, or pivot decisively toward a model that invests in and restores it. The latter isn’t just about mitigating nature risks in Asia, it’s about securing competitive advantage, fostering innovation, and building resilient economies fit for the future in a part of the world that has much to lose – but also much to gain.

This IPBES report is a must-read, providing the science and the toolkit. Now, we need the strategy and the will. The question for the Asian private sector is no longer whether to act, but how swiftly and how boldly. The nature bill has arrived. Let’s ensure our response is one of investment, not insolvency.