Special Report: The Business Case for Aligning Nature with Decarbonization and Resilience
AUTHORS: CARLI EWERT, VANESSA VLASAK, AND GABE JOHN
REVIEWERS: JAMIE BEMIS, KIMBERLY GARCIA, KRISTEN WERNICK, AND DANA WEISSSEPTEMBER 30, 2026Summary
This report explores how commercial real estate (CRE) owners can align nature, decarbonization, and resilience strategies to strengthen asset performance. As climate and nature risks accelerate, organizations face rising costs, investor scrutiny, and reputational and market risks. Nature-based solutions can simultaneously reduce emissions, strengthen resilience, and enhance ecosystem health, while also lowering operating costs and increasing property value. By prioritizing nature-based strategies, owners can avoid duplicative investments and position portfolios for evolving market expectations.
Highlights
Nature and climate risks are accelerating, creating material risk exposure for CRE portfolios, including asset damage, fines, reputational impacts, devaluation, and insurance premium increases.
New global frameworks are formalizing nature and biodiversity as governance, risk management, and disclosure priorities.
An integrated strategy that prioritizes nature-based solutions can simultaneously advance decarbonization, resilience, and financial performance.
Verdani recommends seven nature-based solutions that cost effectively deliver benefits across nature, resilience, and emissions reduction goals.
Introduction: The Financial Connection Between Nature and Climate Risk
The interconnection between nature and climate change is central to long-term business strategy for CRE. Recent corporate surveys show that many companies perceive climate and nature to be so closely intertwined that prioritizing climate risks without considering nature is inappropriate.
According to a landmark 2017 study in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences®, “natural climate solutions” (actions that protect, manage, or restore ecosystems to reduce emissions and increase carbon storage) could provide over one third of the global emissions reductions needed between now and 2030 to reduce warming to below 2°C.
Several recent studies reveal that nature-based solutions — such as forest restoration, constructed wetlands, and green roofs — can strengthen resilience to extreme weather (e.g., flooding, extreme heat) while delivering lower lifetime costs and higher returns than conventional engineered (i.e., gray) infrastructure.
Copyright © 2026 Verdani LLC. All rights reserved. The information contained within this publication was developed using Verdani’s general professional judgment. This publication was prepared without reference to any specific property or scenario and is not intended to substitute for the professional advice of an attorney, engineer, or other climate change professional. Content and data subject to change. Similar outcomes are not guaranteed based on prior results. Neither Verdani LLC nor its employees or agents can be held responsible for the use or misuse of the information contained herein, and Verdani LLC hereby disclaims any liability for damages arising from the use of this information, including without limitation, direct, indirect, or consequential damages including personal injury, property loss, loss of revenue, loss of opportunity, or other loss.
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