As corporates and clients increasingly come under scrutiny around nature-related risks, lawyers worldwide now get vital support in the form of dedicated practical guidance from their foremost professional body.
The International Bar Association (IBA), known as the global voice of the legal profession, has launched the Nature-Intelligent Legal Services series, a world-first dedicated framework to help and guide practitioners.
This landmark initiative is designed to help lawyers and law firms understand, assess and respond to nature-related risks and opportunities arising from the accelerating biodiversity and ecosystem crisis.
The threat is real. Not only do biodiversity loss and ecosystem collapse rank among the greatest risks facing humanity over the next decade, but more than half of global GDP is fundamentally dependent on nature.
As a consequence, companies, financial institutions and governments are increasingly recognising nature-related risks and opportunities as financially material. As much a cultural step-change as an economic one, this shift has critical implications for legal advice, risk management and client value creation.
Comprehensive three-part framework
Released last month, the Nature-Intelligent Legal Services series provides the first comprehensive framework specifically tailored for the legal profession. It has been created to enable lawyers and law firms to embed nature considerations into legal services, strategic positioning and client advisory work.
Designed for lawyers, law firm leaders and business development teams, the practical new guide for the legal profession is structured around three complementary components:
- Legal Nature Risk and Opportunity: A Business Case Guide — Why legal service providers should act —
an examination of nature-related risks and opportunities, plus strategic and commercial benefits; - Nature-Intelligent Legal Services Toolkit— How to assess — a practical tool enabling law firms to evaluate client nature exposures and develop informed strategic positioning; plus
- Nature-Intelligent Advisory and Clause Guide — How to implement — guidance on embedding nature considerations into legal advice, transactions and contractual drafting.
Originally designed and co-authored by corporate and nature lawyer, Jenni Ramos, the series was developed in collaboration with the IBA Environment, Health and Safety Law Committee and the IBA Law Firm Management Committee, with support from the IBA Legal Policy & Research Unit (LPRU).
It equips lawyers and legal professionals with the real-world tools they need, explains Jenni Ramos:
“Nature literacy is fundamental to professional competency, but many lawyers see it as niche or overwhelming. This series translates complex nature frameworks into practical tools, enabling lawyers from any practice area to engage confidently as strategic advisors on nature-related risks within their core work.”
The series also incorporates expert input from biodiversity law specialists and IBA committees, with sectoral nature-exposure methodology developed by the sustainability consultancy, Nature Positive.
Finance and infrastructure, to human rights
The launch bolsters accountability, says James Cameron, Senior Advisor at Arden Climate Law and Policy and Honorary Fellow at the Grantham Institute – Climate and Environment, Imperial College London:
“This series will help lawyers, and decision-makers bound by law, to properly value nature and natural systems in their work. Nature needs a voice in our legal order and this work will help find and amplify it.”
Lawyers can play a key role in helping clients address their responsibilities, suggests Geoff Summerhayes, Chair of Zurich Australia and Former Board Member of the Australian Prudential Regulation Authority:
“Ignoring nature risk is no longer a neutral option for boards and their legal advisors. Legal opinions now treat biodiversity loss as a foreseeable and material financial risk that directors must actively manage.”
Use-cases can be found across all sectors, including the likes of infrastructure, real estate and agribusiness, comments Kleber Zanchim, Chair of the IBA Water Law Committee and Partner at SABZ Advogados:
“Extreme heat and drought are impacting water supply and consumption across industries and regions. I am delighted to have contributed to the series, which includes practical guidance to address water scarcity using contract clauses that incentivise water efficiency, water recycling and local watershed protection initiatives.”
Financial institutions are also impacted, adds Emmanuelle Mousel, Subcommittee Vice-Chair on the IBA Banking and Financial Law Committee and a Partner and ESG Specialist at Arendt & Medernach:
“Today, we are seeing commercial banks assess their portfolio dependencies on nature, embed biodiversity risks into lending decisions and begin to align their portfolios to priorities such as halting deforestation, minimising water pollution and restoring degraded ecosystems. We’re also seeing investors ask more questions of companies.”
Emerging risks mean there is also a need to help futureproof business interests, argues Julio Reyes, Vice-Chair of the IBA Water Law Committee and Legal and Environmental Manager at Aguas Nuevas:
“I am seeing how climate change, nature degradation and water pollution are impacting our water, power and agricultural systems, and how this disrupts client operations and supply chains. Companies expect their lawyers to help them be aware, navigate these challenges and find opportunities for building resilience.”
People are impacted too, with social sustainability issues an intrinsic risk factor, says Sarah Ellington, Partner at Watson Farley & Williams, and Officer of the IBA Business Human Rights Committee:
‘Many human rights, including the rights to life, food, water and sanitation, health, culture, and to a safe, clean, healthy and sustainable environment are interlinked with issues relating to biodiversity and habitat. Links can be particularly strong when considering the rights of Indigenous Peoples under international covenants.”
Currently, however, corporate understanding of climate-related issues far exceeds that of nature risks, notes Lorna Püschel, Director of the Biodiversity and Protected Areas team at VGC Abogados:
“As a result of increased domestic regulation and the implementation of the Global Biodiversity Framework here in Chile – particularly Target 15 – biodiversity is becoming an increasingly important factor for companies when making decisions and planning projects. However, significant work remains to be done to raise awareness among company boards about biodiversity-related risks and opportunities.”
ESG in Evolution
The series will feature prominently at the upcoming IBA Annual Environmental, Social and Governance (ESG) Conference, ESG in Evolution: the legal imperatives of tomorrow, where senior in-house counsel and leading private practice lawyers will convene in Paris to examine the legal imperatives shaping the future.
The International Bar Association (IBA) is the foremost organisation for international legal practitioners, bar associations and law societies. Established in 1947, the IBA has considerable expertise in providing assistance to the global legal community. Through its membership, the IBA influences development of international law reform and helps to shape the future of the legal profession throughout the world.
Further Reading:
- More about the Nature-Intelligent Legal Services series; and the International Bar Association (IBA);
- Also on SustMeme, Business must lead on biodiversity or risk extinction;
- Also on SustMeme, Sustainability + Justice = SUSTICE;
- Also on SustMeme, Greenwashing and biodiversity risks now double;
- Also on SustMeme, Biodiversity risk not on business radar;
- Also on SustMeme, Toolkit for investors on Indigenous rights respect;
- Also on SustMeme, Is greenwash the new goldrush for litigation?
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