A new national report, Nature Enters the Boardroom, produced in collaboration with the Australian Institute of Company Directors and the University of Sydney Business School, offers the first comprehensive look at how Australian directors are starting to address nature as a governance agenda.
The findings signal a meaningful shift. According to the study, more than four in five surveyed directors now agree that nature-related risks matter to their organisations. This aligns with the reality that about half of Australia’s GDP relies on nature and its flourishing. Nature is increasingly being recognised not as an externality but as a foundation of economic resilience and long-term value creation.
Professor Clinton Free, the project’s co-lead, noted the significance of this development. “Nature has traditionally been treated as external to business decision-making,” he said. “But directors are increasingly recognising that nature underpins economic activity in fundamental ways, from the security of supply chains to long-term asset values. As these dependencies become more visible, governance expectations will continue to shift.”
PhD candidate and co-lead Darya Boukata emphasised the growing relevance of these issues for oversight and strategy. “Nature is the bedrock of our economy, the essential infrastructure that quietly sustains supply chains and underpins asset values,” she said. “When nature degrades, those impacts cascade up the supply chain and create financially material risks for business.”
The report, co-led and supported by Sydney Environment Institute members, shows that many boards are responding by expanding their existing climate governance processes. Directors are updating risk frameworks, seeking external expertise and beginning to integrate nature into discussions of resilience, operations and financial exposure. However, clear gaps remain. Oversight structures vary widely, nature-related disclosure readiness is uneven, and policy uncertainty continues to act as a brake on progress. Internal organisational constraints also play a role, including capability gaps and competing priorities.
Yet the report also highlights a group of active boards that are moving ahead. These directors are setting targets, embedding expertise and elevating nature within strategic conversations. Their work offers a glimpse of where governance practice is heading and demonstrates the benefits of engaging early as nature becomes an increasingly central factor in decision-making.
Key findings from the survey include:
• 81% agree nature-related risks are important for their organisation
• Four in five directors say stakeholder expectations are shaping their approach
• 51% cite unclear policy settings as a barrier - particularly the lack of environmental standards (76%) and slow environmental approvals (35%)
• 52% have updated risk frameworks to include nature-related risks
• Among listed organisations, 24% have integrated nature into their climate strategy, and 53% plan to.
• One-third of organisations make no nature-related disclosures
• 41% report full-board oversight of nature issues; 22% rely on committees, most commonly Audit and Risk
In a landscape where environmental stability is inseparable from economic performance, this joint study provides a timely baseline and a clear signal that nature is now on the boardroom agenda. For a deeper understanding of the findings access the full report here.