Session title: How can businesses build resilience by adapting to climate and nature-related risks?

Businesses and investors are increasingly exposed to physical climate and nature-related risks that disrupt operations, damage assets, and undermine long-term value creation. The degradation of ecosystems – such as forests, soils, and water systems – is amplifying these risks by reducing the natural services on which many value chains depend.

For companies operating in agriculture, food, forestry, and other nature-dependent sectors, these risks are already material. For investors, they translate into higher portfolio volatility, asset impairment, and rising capital and insurance costs. Addressing adaptation is therefore no longer optional: it is a strategic imperative for competitiveness, resilience, and long-term returns.

This foundational session is part 1 of 4 that introduces climate and nature adaptation as a core business and investment strategy. It explains how ecosystem degradation translates into physical and financial risk, outlines the main adaptation options available to businesses, and highlights how collaborative, landscape-level approaches – including nature-based solutions – can turn risk into resilience.