2025 has been a pivotal year for sustainability, and finance is no exception. Natalie Benz, Global Sustainable Finance Sector Lead at Quantis, outlines 3 key topics relevant to financial institutions:
1) Adaptation and resilience
With climate risk assessments largely complete, financial institutions are now turning to adaptation — financing real-world solutions like water management, flood protection and supply chain resilience. Boards are looking more closely at the cost of inaction, with some sectors facing up to a 25% EBITDA impact in a 2°C warming scenario. As boards increasingly consider the cost of inaction, financial institutions have a growing role to play in enabling resilience across infrastructure and physical assets, not just through lending but strategic capital deployment.
2) Nature
Nature-related risks such as biodiversity loss, land degradation and water stress are becoming more visible as financial risks. While most institutions have yet to integrate nature risks as fully as climate risks, this is starting to shift. Many are adopting sector-specific approaches to assess nature impacts and dependencies. Despite data gaps, actionable insights are already possible — and early movers can seize opportunities through nature-based solutions like reforestation or regenerative agriculture.
3) Regulation
Regulatory shifts, such as the EU Omnibus, are pushing institutions to go beyond compliance and embed sustainability into core operations. This shift from reactive to proactive strategy allows firms to build internal capacity, better manage ESG risks and maintain agility amid evolving rules. For financial institutions, leading on sustainability rather than waiting on mandates positions them more favorably in both regulatory and market terms.
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