ENCORE: the global infrastructure for screening business risks, dependencies and impacts on nature
Abstract
Biodiversity and ecosystem services provide the foundation on which the global economy, and by extension all businesses, depend. ENCORE (Exploring Natural Capital Opportunities, Risks and Exposure) has established itself as a key reference for business and financial institution assessment of exposure to risk stemming from nature degradation. It has over 18,000 users, has been used in over 15 assessments at national scale by central banks and others and is recommended for use by businesses and financial institutions by leading initiatives such as the Taskforce on Nature-related Financial Disclosures (TNFD). ENCORE can also support national decision-makers with screening of nature-related risk exposure, in line with the ambition of Target 15 of the Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework. This paper outlines the theory that underpins nature-related assessments. The resulting structure of the ENCORE knowledge base provides information on dependency and impact pathways through which economic activities link to ecosystem components. Our paper is based on the 2024 update to the ENCORE knowledge base that covers 271 economic activities including key value chain links, aligns with the globally recognised International Standard Industrial Classification of All Economic Activities (ISIC), and integrates both qualitative and quantitative data to underpin materiality ratings for five ecosystem services and seven pressures. For this update, we systematically reviewed over 1,600 sources from the academic and grey literature (e.g., 24 company sustainability-related reports) and consulted with 78 industry experts to assess over 15,000 links between economic activities, ecosystem services and pressures on nature to provide this enhanced ENCORE knowledge base. The analysis presented here cements ENCORE’s position as essential infrastructure for businesses, financial institutions, and regulators to screen their exposure to nature-related risk. ENCORE supports actions to include nature in traditional approaches to risk and actions to deliver the global biodiversity agenda.
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BibTeX
@misc{bekker2026encore,
title = {{ENCORE: the global infrastructure for screening business risks, dependencies and impacts on nature}},
author = {Sebastian Bekker and Frida Arriaga and Andrea Baquero and Jacob Bedford and Hidde Boom and Sharon Brooks and Martin Bruckner and Alena Cierna and Sebastian Dunnett and Ruth Fletcher and Joe Gosling and Annelisa Grigg and Martin Halle and Michael Harfoot and Matt Jones and Steven King and Katie Leach and Mariana Martinez del Rio and Olaoluwa Matemilola and Damien Mittempergher and Anders Nordheim and Brian O'Connor and Lisa Petrovic and Stephan Pfister and Sarah Pickering and Aime Rankin and Alex Ross and Justine Saunders and Felix Tin and Mark van Oorschot and Arnout van Soesbergen and James Vause and Antonin Vergez and Neil Burgess},
howpublished = {EcoEvoRxiv},
year = {2026},
month = sep,
doi = {10.32942/x24x2x},
url = {https://ecoevorxiv.org/repository/view/14794/},
note = {CC BY-SA 4.0},
}
RIS
TY - UNPB
TI - ENCORE: the global infrastructure for screening business risks, dependencies and impacts on nature
AU - Sebastian Bekker
AU - Frida Arriaga
AU - Andrea Baquero
AU - Jacob Bedford
AU - Hidde Boom
AU - Sharon Brooks
AU - Martin Bruckner
AU - Alena Cierna
AU - Sebastian Dunnett
AU - Ruth Fletcher
AU - Joe Gosling
AU - Annelisa Grigg
AU - Martin Halle
AU - Michael Harfoot
AU - Matt Jones
AU - Steven King
AU - Katie Leach
AU - Mariana Martinez del Rio
AU - Olaoluwa Matemilola
AU - Damien Mittempergher
AU - Anders Nordheim
AU - Brian O'Connor
AU - Lisa Petrovic
AU - Stephan Pfister
AU - Sarah Pickering
AU - Aime Rankin
AU - Alex Ross
AU - Justine Saunders
AU - Felix Tin
AU - Mark van Oorschot
AU - Arnout van Soesbergen
AU - James Vause
AU - Antonin Vergez
AU - Neil Burgess
PY - 2026
DA - 2026/09/05
PB - EcoEvoRxiv
DO - 10.32942/x24x2x
UR - https://ecoevorxiv.org/repository/view/14794/
AB - Biodiversity and ecosystem services provide the foundation on which the global economy, and by extension all businesses, depend. ENCORE (Exploring Natural Capital Opportunities, Risks and Exposure) has established itself as a key reference for business and financial institution assessment of exposure to risk stemming from nature degradation. It has over 18,000 users, has been used in over 15 assessments at national scale by central banks and others and is recommended for use by businesses and financial institutions by leading initiatives such as the Taskforce on Nature-related Financial Disclosures (TNFD). ENCORE can also support national decision-makers with screening of nature-related risk exposure, in line with the ambition of Target 15 of the Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework. This paper outlines the theory that underpins nature-related assessments. The resulting structure of the ENCORE knowledge base provides information on dependency and impact pathways through which economic activities link to ecosystem components. Our paper is based on the 2024 update to the ENCORE knowledge base that covers 271 economic activities including key value chain links, aligns with the globally recognised International Standard Industrial Classification of All Economic Activities (ISIC), and integrates both qualitative and quantitative data to underpin materiality ratings for five ecosystem services and seven pressures. For this update, we systematically reviewed over 1,600 sources from the academic and grey literature (e.g., 24 company sustainability-related reports) and consulted with 78 industry experts to assess over 15,000 links between economic activities, ecosystem services and pressures on nature to provide this enhanced ENCORE knowledge base. The analysis presented here cements ENCORE’s position as essential infrastructure for businesses, financial institutions, and regulators to screen their exposure to nature-related risk. ENCORE supports actions to include nature in traditional approaches to risk and actions to deliver the global biodiversity agenda.
ER -