Client Introduction

NatureFinance is a hybrid NGO that collaborates with financial institutions and multinational organisations to harness the power of finance in addressing nature and climate challenges. Their work spans policy and regulation, nature-related ventures, engagement and advocacy, and innovation seeding.

‍The Challenge

At COP15, NatureFinance prototyped NatureAlign as an Excel-based framework—an initial step toward developing a methodology to assess financial flows' alignment with nature. By 2024, they sought to evolve this prototype into a fully functional, scalable tool.

Neural Alpha was engaged as software developers and analytics consultants to support taking NatureAlign to the next stage, with five key objectives:

1. Data and analytics: Identify alternative data sources and methodologies to assess financial flows' impact and dependency on nature.
2. Framework enhancement: Redesign the assessment framework to integrate these new data components effectively.
3. Granularity and coverage: Ensure the tool could accommodate multiple levels of detail, from high-level sector analysis to asset-specific assessments.
4. Methodology and implementation: Collaborate on refining the methodology and specify the technical implementation.
5. Platform development: Transform the tool into a fully operational open-access web application with robust account management, portfolio analysis, and database capabilities.

‍Our Solution

Neural Alpha adopted a user-centric design approach, ensuring seamless integration into financial institutions' workflows. The platform enables users to:

• Rapidly upload portfolios in bulk using standard financial identifiers.
• Conduct assessments with minimal initial data, supporting a pragmatic hierarchical input approach.
• Perform detailed geospatial and qualitative analyses using segment, country, and asset-level breakdowns, compatible with typical financial datasets.

To account for varying levels of available data, we developed out a flexible methodology that allows assessments to be conducted at different levels of granularity. The system evaluates locations across multiple dimensions—including biocomplexity, critical natural assets, regulatory strength, and water risk—benchmarking them against appropriate samples to assess exposure and flag high-risk areas.‍

A key innovation was the integration of the new ENCORE framework, enabling automated upstream and downstream impact and dependency calculations. Additionally, the platform incorporated headline portfolio TNFD-aligned metrics for greater compatibility.

The app features an advanced data management system, allowing users to edit and re-run watchlists while exploring results through a dynamic dashboard. Visual analytics—including heatmaps, geospatial maps, exposure bubble charts, tree maps, and Sankey diagrams—help users intuitively navigate complex financial materiality assessments at depth.

‍Outcomes

Following extensive testing and engagement with over 15 financial institutions across various business lines and geographies, NatureAlign successfully launched in November 2024. Since then, it has seen strong adoption across financial institutions, NGOs, and consultancies, supporting a wide range of applications.

Explore the app: https://app.naturefinance.net/homepage

‍Conclusion

The collaboration between NatureFinance and Neural Alpha has resulted in a best-in-class tool that is not only analytically rigorous but also practical and accessible. Designed to deliver the most detailed and meaningful assessments of financial portfolios' nature alignment in the fastest possible time, NatureAlign ensures zero barriers to uptake while maintaining enterprise-grade robustness.‍

By combining NatureFinance’s deep domain expertise with Neural Alpha’s cutting-edge technology and analytical capabilities, the result was a highly focused and user-friendly app offering unique features and datasets. Whether used for granular asset analysis or large-scale portfolio assessments, NatureAlign represents an impactful tool for integrating finance with nature-positive decision-making.

References and app sources:

NatureFinance. https://www.naturefinance.net/

ENCORE Partners (Global Canopy, UNEP FI, and UNEP-WCMC)(2024). Exploring Natural Capital Opportunities, Risks and Exposure.  https://encorenature.org

SEED Biocomplexity Index provided by the Crowther Lab of ETH Zurich. https://www.seed-index.com/

Critical natural assets (CNA) data, Chaplin-Kramer et al.(2023) https://osf.io/r5xz7/

Environmental Performance Index, Yale Center forEnvironmental Law & Policy. https://epi.yale.edu/measure/2024/ECO

Water availability and water pollution, WWF (World WildlifeFund), WRI (World Resources Institute), AgResearch at Lincoln Science Centreand SBTN, (Science-based Targets Network)  https://zenodo.org/records/7797979

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