The Sustainable Finance Research Forum, set up by the Joint Research Centre (JRC) of the European Commission, will hold a one-day workshop on nature finance, bringing together researchers, policymakers, financial supervisors, practitioners and data providers. The event will be held on 17 September 2026 in Brussels. Both in-person and remote participation will be possible.

Register here for the workshop

General publications3 July 2026 Programme | Nature Finance - Science for Policy

The workshop will feature two keynote speeches

• an academic keynote by Andreas Hoepner (University College Dublin, Nature-3B)
• a policy keynote by Lucia Marin (European Commission, Directorate-General for the Environment)

The four following sessions will complement the programme

• Policy panel
• Nature finance research – Physical risks
• Data panel
• Nature finance research – Transition risks and circular economy

The event is intended for scientists and policy officers working at public and international institutions, as well as private-sector experts active in the field of nature and sustainable finance.

Beyond the climate transition, nature finance is rapidly gaining interest among researchers, policymakers and investors. Environmental degradation and biodiversity loss represent key risk factors for financial institutions, while mobilising investment to preserve nature and ecosystem services has become a significant challenge to which the financial sector can help respond. Translating nature-related risks into credible, decision-useful evidence requires robust science: measuring exposures, pricing risks and building the data foundations on which sound analysis depends.

The workshop is structured to facilitate cross-fertilisation between science and policy. It combines academic keynotes, policy dialogue and presentations of ongoing JRC and academic research, organised around three thematic strands: physical risks, including the exposure of bank lending to water stress and the broader question of nature at risk; transition risks and the circular economy; and the data and measurement challenge, from integrated natural capital accounting to corporate disclosures and market data.

A policy panel will gather perspectives from across the European supervisory and institutional landscape, with contributions from ESMA, the EBA, EIOPA, the European Environment Agency, the ECB-SSM and the European Investment Bank. A dedicated data panel will examine the practical foundations of nature finance analysis, with contributions from public institutions and leading data providers. Keynote interventions from academia and the Commission will frame the scientific and policy stakes.

By exposing researchers to the most demanding issues faced by supervisors and the financial industry, and by providing independent scientific advice to policy, the event reaffirms the role of research in informing policy-making. The day will close with a networking reception.

The event is intended for scientists and policy officers working at public and international institutions, as well as private-sector experts active in the field of nature and sustainable finance.