In this episode, Nathan Fabian, Chief Sustainable Systems Officer at the PRI, explores the deep interconnection between climate and nature and what it means for investors. Joining him are Laura Bosch, Senior Engagement Specialist at Robeco and member of the Advisory Committee for the PRI’s Spring Initiative, and Graham Stock, Managing Director at RBC BlueBay Asset Management and co-chair of the Investor Policy Dialogue on Deforestation (IPDD). Together, they unpack the financial and systemic risks of biodiversity loss, the emerging opportunities in sustainable investment, and the growing need for investors to act on the climate–nature nexus during COP30 and beyond.

Overview

The conversation begins by defining the climate-nature nexus as more than a conceptual link it’s an integrated system of feedback loops that shape economies, markets, and societies. Graham explains how deforestation and ecosystem degradation feed directly into sovereign credit risk, citing Brazil’s forests as a clear example of natural capital underpinning national economic stability. Laura expands on how biodiversity loss and climate change are mutually reinforcing crises that require investors to tackle transition and physical risks together.

Both guests highlight a shift in the industry: from separate approaches to climate and nature, to joint strategies that embed nature-based metrics within climate targets and net-zero roadmaps.

Detailed Coverage

• Risks and Opportunities: Investors must assess both the risks of ecosystem degradation and the opportunities from nature-positive transitions. Integrating climate and nature goals is becoming standard in frameworks such as the Net Zero Investment Framework and GFANZ guidance.
• Portfolio Application: Graham outlines how sovereign bond investors now evaluate nature-related risks such as water stress and deforestation alongside traditional macroeconomic indicators, using these insights to shape portfolio exposure and engagement priorities.
• Corporate Action: Laura details Robeco’s approach to assessing corporate transition readiness for both climate and biodiversity, combining financial materiality with forward-looking analytics. Their “traffic light” model identifies leaders and laggards, informing investment decisions and stewardship priorities.
• Balancing Trade-offs: The discussion explores how investors can navigate trade-offs between climate and nature goals - for instance, balancing the climate benefits of electric vehicle production with the biodiversity impacts of mining.
• Reversing Negative Impacts: Case studies highlight solutions such as regenerative agriculture, silvopasture, and precision farming to restore land and reduce emissions while sustaining productivity.
• Collaborative Engagement: Graham and Laura describe the impact of large-scale initiatives such as the IPDD, Nature Action 100, and the PRI’s Spring Initiative—each mobilizing investors to engage with governments and corporations on deforestation and biodiversity loss.
• COP30 and Beyond: Both guests underscore the importance of the upcoming COP30 in Brazil, where the Tropical Forest Financing Facility (TFFF) could redefine climate finance by channeling $125 billion to forest protection.

Find out more about the PRI at COP30 by visiting www.unpri.org/responsible-investment/road-to-cop30

Chapters

00:00 – Introduction: The climate–nature nexus

02:32 – Graham Stock on integrating nature risk into sovereign...

Extreme weather events are reshaping the investment landscape. How can investors protect portfolios—and communities—from the rising physical risks of climate change? In this episode, Kate Webber, Chief Solutions and Technology Officer at the PRI, speaks with Dr Calvin Lee Kwan of Link Asset Management and Simon Whistler, PRI’s Head of Real Assets, to explore how investors can turn climate resilience into both risk management and value creation.

Overview

Physical climate risk is no longer theoretical—it’s here. Floods, fires, and black-rain events are increasing in frequency and intensity, with real financial consequences. Simon Whistler outlines how investors are beginning to quantify and address these risks, yet highlights that fewer than one-third of PRI signatories currently report on physical climate risk metrics. Calvin Lee Kwan shares how Link Asset Management has moved from reactive recovery to proactive resilience—reducing insurance premiums by 11.7% and strengthening investor confidence in the process.

Detailed Coverage

• Physical climate risk today: More frequent and severe events—from typhoons in Hong Kong to floods in Europe—are causing major financial and operational losses.
• Investor action gap: Only 29% of investors report on physical climate risk, compared with 50% in the real-assets space, showing the need for broader engagement.
• Value protection and creation: Link’s sustainability strategy is built on two pillars—protecting existing value through resilience and creating new value through efficiency and stakeholder alignment.
• From risk to return: Engaging insurers with clear, data-driven resilience metrics translated into measurable financial results, proving sustainability can deliver bottom-line benefits.
• Community resilience: Floodwaters don’t stop at property boundaries. Link’s team now collaborates with neighbors, local authorities, and infrastructure managers to build district-level resilience—an approach that benefits whole communities.
• Industry-wide change: Collaboration between investors, insurers, and policymakers is key to building consistent models, pricing resilience into valuations, and driving systemic adaptation.
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• Communication as a catalyst: For Calvin Lee Kwan, sustainability comes down to translating resilience into stakeholder-specific value—from stable returns for investors to safety and reliability for tenants.

Chapters

• 00:43 – Welcome and introductions
• 02:08 – Why investors must act on physical climate risk
• 05:07 – How far investors have come—and how far to go
• 07:23 – The cost versus opportunity debate
• 08:43 – Link Asset Management’s practical approach
• 11:48 – A watershed moment: floods and recovery
• 13:34 – Turning resilience into measurable value
• 15:23 – Black-rain events and extreme weather
• 16:59 – Challenges for other investors
• 20:23 – Partnering with insurers to price resilience
• 25:00 – From property-level to community-level resilience
• 27:28 – How resilience links to property valuation
• 30:50 – Final reflections: communication, focus, and leadership
• 32:44 – What is the responsibility of investing

For more details, visit: https://www.unpri.org/climate-change-for-private-markets/assessing-physical-climate-risk-in-private-markets-a-technical-guide/13135.article

Keywords

responsible investment, physical climate risk, resilience investing, PRI podcast, Link Asset Management, insurance and sustainability, real assets, climate adaptation, community...

Is the transition to a sustainable economy happening to us or because of us? Associate Professor Ioannis Ioannou (London Business School) joins host Kate Webber to unpack the recent ESG backlash and why today’s “disorderly transition” must become an orderly one. We explore how investors can push markets toward aligned capitalism - a system that lives within planetary and social boundaries - while unlocking “trapped competencies” and long-term value.

Overview

Ioannou argues we don’t choose whether to transition—the system is already shifting amid climate change, biodiversity loss, and widening social inequalities. The real choice is whether that transition is orderly (policy-led, long-term, and integrated) or disorderly (reactive, crisis-driven). He outlines how investors can re-center long-termism, integrate sustainability into core strategy (not a side product), and restore the original purpose of capital markets: scaling real-economy solutions.

Detailed coverage

• Orderly vs. disorderly transition: Planetary boundaries are breached; social stress is rising. An orderly path minimises harm and plans within ecological and social limits.
• Aligned capitalism: Capitalism is a human-made system that can be re-ruled to fit reality. Policy, incentives, and investment practices should align with science and society.
• From stranded assets to “trapped competencies”: Future-fit capabilities (circularity, regeneration, inclusion) remain undervalued until the system aligns—creating alpha for first movers.
• Investor playbook: Reframe metrics beyond short-term profits; deploy patient capital toward companies building system-shifting capabilities; advocate for rules that unlock these competencies.
• Integration, not silos: Sustainability must hold authority inside firms; RI can’t be a niche fund while the rest ignores impacts.
• Capital markets’ role: Finance the next industrial transformation (energy, transport, food). Prioritise scaling real solutions over purely financial engineering.
• Beyond shareholder primacy: Re-balance to a “team production” model that values natural and human capital alongside financial capital.
• Long-termism & multilateralism: Global problems need global collaboration; regionalism can’t substitute. Impacts are already “now,” not just long term.
• Why the ESG backlash can help: It forces clearer, evidence-based narrative infrastructure (not just technical standards) that connects with citizens and beneficiaries.
• Agency & communication: Engage end-investors better (including with AI-enabled tools); reflect their values in products; compound positive choices over time.
• Responsibility redefined: Don’t just align—restore and regenerate ecological and social capital.

Chapters

• 00:01 – Welcome & series context
• 00:52 – Guest intro and PRI’s Investment Case database
• 02:11 – Orderly vs. disorderly transition
• 05:38 – Defining “aligned capitalism”
• 07:37 – Future-fit capabilities & trapped competencies
• 10:51 – Investor incentives for alpha & impact
• 14:12 – Making RI core (authority, integration, structure)
• 18:17 – Capital markets’ original purpose
• 21:08 – Shareholder primacy & governance rethink
• 25:30 – Long-termism, regionalism, and global coordination
• 29:02 – Why the ESG backlash might be good
• 31:18 – From technical to narrative infrastructure
• 36:53 –...