Introduction

Science-Based Targets for Nature 2.0, from the Science Based Targets Network (SBTN), released on October 13, 2026, updates the methods companies use to set measurable, independently validated targets for their impacts on nature, with expanded freshwater and land targets. TNFD LEAP 2.0 is the matching update to the approach companies use to assess and disclose nature-related risks. The two were released together and aligned so that one assessment can support both disclosure and target-setting.

Key Takeaways

• TNFD helps companies assess and disclose nature-related risks and opportunities, while SBTN helps them set and validate targets, a division of roles similar to the one TCFD and SBTi had for climate.
• SBTN 2.0 expands freshwater and land targets and lets companies begin before value chain data is complete, through supplier engagement targets and stepwise validation.
• LEAP 2.0 is the first upgrade of TNFD’s assessment approach since September 2023 and adds explicit interoperability with SBTN guidance.
• The ISSB is expected to publish an Exposure Draft of a nature-related IFRS Practice Statement on October 22, 2026, drawing on the TNFD framework.
• The supplier data built for Scope 3 Carbon Accounting provides a practical starting point for a nature assessment.

What Are Science-Based Targets for Nature?

Science-based targets for nature are measurable goals that companies set to reduce their impacts on nature across operations and value chains. The Science Based Targets Network, founded in 2019 by a group of global NGOs, develops the methods, and independent validation confirms each target. SBTN covers target-setting and action, while TNFD covers assessment and disclosure.

SBTN published its first corporate methods in 2023, starting with freshwater and land. Its guidance helps companies quantify their environmental impacts across operations and value chains and answer a practical question: how much action is enough, where, and when. SBTN’s target-setting process has five steps: Assess, Prioritize, Set targets, Act, and Track.

TNFD supports organizations to assess and disclose nature-related dependencies, impacts, risks, and opportunities, while SBTN supports companies to set science-based targets and act on nature. For executives familiar with climate reporting, this mirrors the roles TCFD and SBTi played for climate. TNFD was built on the TCFD model, and SBTN builds on the Science Based Targets initiative (SBTi). TCFD itself disbanded in October 2023 after its recommendations were fully incorporated into the ISSB Standards.

Why Does Nature-Related Risk Matter to Investors?

Investor concern about nature is widespread. In TNFD’s 2026 Status Report, every surveyed investor said nature loss concerns them, and TNFD-aligned disclosure doubled in a year. According to SBTN, 93% of investors surveyed for the same report want corporate nature targets to be science-based.

The Status Report draws on more than 500 market participants surveyed in July and August 2026. More than 1,000 organizations across 56 countries or areas have published TNFD-aligned disclosures, a 100% increase on the number identified in 2025. In addition, 802 organizations have formally committed to TNFD-aligned reporting (TNFD Adopters), among them financial institutions representing USD 26.6 trillion in assets under management. Depth has not kept pace with breadth, however: average disclosure per organization declined slightly, although it remained above 8 of the 14 TNFD recommended disclosures.

Investor priorities are shifting with it. All investors surveyed expressed concern about the effects of nature loss on financial markets, and 59% ranked nature among their organization’s three most important sustainability topics. Capital is starting to follow: 56% of investors are already exploring or deploying capital into nature-related opportunities.

What’s New in SBTN 2.0?

SBTN 2.0 makes science-based nature targets more practical for companies with imperfect data. It adds new pathways such as focused scopes, supplier engagement targets, and stepwise validation, expands freshwater and land targets, and adds Step 4 resources for action planning. An ocean Version 2 is still to come.

The most important shift is the entry point. SBTN designed 2.0 for companies held back by imperfect data, limited traceability, and complex value chains. SBTN CEO Erin Billman framed the logic plainly: companies cannot afford to wait for perfect data or perfect visibility before they act. SBTN states that independent validation and transparent disclosure remain central, and validation is carried out by its validation host, the Accountability Accelerator.

Freshwater and land coverage has widened. Freshwater targets strengthen the approach to groundwater and extend to pesticide-related impacts on water quality, which SBTN highlights for food and agriculture, beverages, fashion and textiles, and chemicals. Land methods expand routes for working land regeneration and restoration and add a pathway for mining, infrastructure, construction, and extractive sectors.

The framework is designed to be stable. Outside the forthcoming ocean update, SBTN expects future development to focus on targeted refinements and supporting tools rather than major revisions, and companies will not need to redo validated steps. Ocean work sits outside 2.0: seafood targets, first published in 2025, opened to validation for any company in October 2026.

Adoption is growing. According to SBTN, more than 300 companies across 40 countries are engaging with its methods, 45 companies have publicly signaled their intention to set targets, and more than 60 land and freshwater targets have been validated across 18 companies.

What’s New in TNFD LEAP 2.0?

LEAP 2.0, published in October 2026, is the first upgrade of TNFD’s Locate, Evaluate, Assess, and Prepare approach since September 2023. It strengthens risk and opportunity assessment, adds state of nature measurement, covers nature in transition planning, and adds interoperability with SBTN guidance for science-based targets.

TNFD built the update on market feedback. For executives, the changes fall into three practical groups:

• Financial relevance: expanded guidance on nature-related risk assessment and on identifying and assessing nature-related opportunities, plus guidance for assessing financial institutions’ portfolios.
• Measurement: state of nature measurement across land, freshwater, and ocean, and guidance on invasive alien species. The Nature Positive Initiative’s State of Nature Indicators and Metrics now provide a common measurement foundation for TNFD and SBTN.
• Action: nature in transition planning, multi-stakeholder landscape and seascape approaches, and interoperability with SBTN guidance.

LEAP 2.0 also matters for future reporting. According to the IFRS Foundation, TNFD paused new technical guidance work in late 2025 to help facilitate the ISSB’s standard-setting on nature, and the ISSB is drawing on the TNFD framework in that work. For companies starting an assessment now, LEAP 2.0 is the current reference version of that approach.

What Is the Difference Between TNFD and SBTN?

TNFD and SBTN answer different questions. TNFD helps a company understand how nature affects its business and disclose that to investors. SBTN helps it decide what to commit to and prove that commitment through validated targets. The two are now aligned so companies can reuse the same data and analysis.

TNFD launched in 2021 and published its final recommendations in September 2023. Its output is disclosure: the framework sets out 14 recommended disclosures, and its LEAP approach guides the assessment behind them. TNFD designed LEAP for organizations of all sizes, sectors, and geographies, including those with no formal disclosure requirement.

SBTN’s output is a target. Companies assess and prioritize their impacts, then submit targets for independent validation. Independent validation and transparent disclosure remain central to that process.

The two now share data by design. LEAP 2.0 lists interoperability with SBTN guidance as a key update, and SBTN states that the strengthened alignment lets companies reuse relevant data, analysis, and outputs. TNFD CEO Tony Goldner described the goal as connected, interoperable guidance that takes organizations from assessment to disclosure, target-setting, and action.

How Do Nature Targets Differ From SBTi Climate Targets?

SBTi climate targets address greenhouse gas emissions across Scope 1, Scope 2, and Scope 3, while SBTN describes its nature targets as place-based, focused on where impacts occur. SBTN states that its work builds on and complements climate science-based targets, so companies can set both.

SBTN describes its approach as place-based and says 2.0 strengthens it. Its guidance aims at precise action at landscape level, and TNFD’s LEAP approach likewise begins with Locate, identifying where a company interfaces with nature.

The two agendas still converge. SBTN states that its targets are introduced against a scientific consensus that limiting global warming to 1.5°C cannot be achieved without preventing and reversing nature loss. Its work builds on climate science-based targets, which more than 10,000 companies have set through SBTi since 2015. Both rely on understanding impacts across the value chain, and SBTN 2.0 lets companies build their first assessment from existing data, which can include the value chain data gathered for Carbon Accounting.

Are TNFD and SBTN Mandatory?

Neither TNFD nor SBTN is mandatory. The closest step toward requirements is the ISSB’s proposed IFRS Practice Statement on nature-related disclosures, which draws on the TNFD framework and is expected as an Exposure Draft on October 22, 2026. A Practice Statement is voluntary, but jurisdictions can choose to mandate it.

The IFRS Foundation plans to mark the launch of the Exposure Draft during the COP17 biodiversity conference on October 22, 2026, with a 120-day consultation ending on February 19, 2027. Under IFRS Foundation guidance, a company does not need to apply a Practice Statement to claim compliance with ISSB Standards, but once applied, it has the same effect as an ISSB Standard. ISSB Chair Emmanuel Faber has noted that IFRS S1 already requires material nature-related disclosure.

Market sentiment points the same way. More than 70% of TNFD survey respondents support mandatory nature-related reporting requirements, with a preference for standards within one to three years, and 76% have conducted or are undertaking a LEAP assessment.

Three questions help executives judge urgency. Does the business depend on sectors SBTN highlights, such as food and agriculture, beverages, fashion and textiles, chemicals, mining, infrastructure, or construction? Are investors or customers asking about nature-related risk? Does the company report, or expect to report, under ISSB Standards in a jurisdiction that may adopt the Practice Statement?

How to Get Started With SBTN and TNFD

Start with one nature assessment that serves both frameworks. TNFD designed LEAP for organizations of any size, and SBTN 2.0 lets companies begin with focused scopes and supplier engagement targets. Supplier and sourcing data already gathered for Scope 3 Carbon Accounting gives that assessment a practical foundation.

Timing carries little risk. SBTN validated work stays applicable for five years, work under the previous Steps 1 and 2 and Land V1 remains eligible for validation until April 2027, and Freshwater V1.1 work remains eligible until June 2027. Freshwater V2 validation is expected to open in December 2026.

SBTN 2.0 also addresses limited traceability directly and is introducing Supplier Engagement and Traceability Improvement targets as validated target types.

This is where climate and nature work meet. ASUENE’s carbon accounting platform supports Scope 1, Scope 2, and Scope 3 calculation and supplier data collection across the supply chain, the same value chain foundation a nature assessment builds on.

Conclusion: One Assessment, Two Frameworks, One Data Foundation

TNFD’s LEAP 2.0 helps companies understand where nature creates risk and opportunity and how to report it, and SBTN 2.0 helps them commit to credible, validated targets. Both start from the same place: an assessment grounded in value chain data.

The signals are consistent. TNFD-aligned disclosure doubled in a year, all investors surveyed by TNFD are concerned about nature loss, and more than 70% of respondents support mandatory reporting. SBTN’s stable methods and transition windows into 2027 give companies room to start now.

Executive leaders should begin by reviewing the supplier and sourcing data their organization already holds and identifying the gaps. ASUENE helps companies deploy carbon accounting and implement Scope 3 measurement across their supply chains, building the supplier data foundation that supports Net Zero commitments today and nature assessment and targets next. Contact ASUENE to start planning your value chain data strategy.

Why Work with ASUENE Inc.?

ASUENE is a key player in carbon accounting, offering a comprehensive platform that measures, reduces, and reports emissions, including Scope 1-3. ASUENE serves over 56,000 clients worldwide, providing an all-in-one solution that integrates GHG accounting, ESG supply chain management, a Carbon Credit exchange platform, and third-party verification.

ASUENE supports companies in achieving net-zero goals through advanced technology, consulting services, and an extensive network.