The International Bar Association (IBA), the global voice of the legal profession, has announced the launch of the Nature-Intelligent Legal Services series - a landmark initiative 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.
As biodiversity loss and ecosystem collapse rank among the greatest risks facing humanity over the next decade - and with more than half of global GDP fundamentally dependent on nature and its ecosystem services - companies, financial institutions and governments are increasingly recognising nature-related risks and opportunities as financially material. This shift has critical implications for legal advice, risk management and client value creation.
The Nature-Intelligent Legal Services series provides the first comprehensive framework specifically tailored for the legal profession, enabling lawyers and law firms to embed nature considerations into legal services, strategic positioning and client advisory work.
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 also incorporates expert input from biodiversity law specialists and IBA committees, with sectoral nature-exposure methodology developed by the sustainability consultancy, Nature Positive .
A practical, three-part guide for the legal profession
Designed for lawyers, law firm leaders and business development teams, the series 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, opportunities and strategic and commercial benefits for legal advisers and law firms.
Nature-Intelligent Legal Services Toolkit - How to assess
A practical tool enabling law firms to evaluate client nature exposures and develop informed strategic positioning.
Nature-Intelligent Advisory and Clause Guide - How to implement
Guidance on embedding nature considerations into legal advice, transactions and contractual drafting.
To view all three components together, visit: IBA Nature-Intelligent Legal Services series .
Global launch and industry engagement
The launch of the series will be marked, on Tuesday 24 February 2026, by a global webinar titled 'Nature and biodiversity as a new frontier of risk and opportunity for lawyers: launching the Nature-Intelligent Legal Services Toolkit' , bringing together leading legal and biodiversity experts to explore the evolving role of lawyers in addressing nature-related risks.
The series will also 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 of ESG.
Wangui Kaniaru, Co-Chair of the IBA Law Firm Management Committee's ESG Subcommittee and Els Reynaers, Co-Chair of the IBA Environment, Health and Safety Committee, both members of the IBA Nature-Intelligent Legal Services Series Working Group jointly wrote: 'All businesses, including law firms, depend on services provided by nature as sources of value, either directly or through their supply chains. Meanwhile, we know that many business activities are adversely impacting nature, for example through contributing to climate change, pollution or over-exploitation of ecosystems. These impacts and dependencies on nature create risks for organisations and their value chains. We are proud to have worked with experts to develop a first of its kind and user-friendly toolkit that helps lawyers from every practice area to consider what nature-related risks mean for their clients, and to embed solutions into their client services.'
James Cameron, Senior Advisor at Arden Climate Law and Policy and Honorary Fellow at the Grantham Centre for Climate and Environment, Imperial College London, said: 'This is a hugely valuable endeavour. Thoroughly researched, clearly articulated and professionally presented, this series will help lawyers, and decision-makers bound by law, to properly value nature and natural systems in their work. Law, and the never to be taken for granted Rule of Law allow the unheard to be heard and for abuse of power to be checked. Nature needs a voice in our legal order and this work will help find and amplify it.'
Geoff Summerhayes, Chair of Zurich Australia and Former Board Member of the Australian Prudential Regulation Authority, explained: '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, and lawyers can play a key role in helping clients navigate this shift.'
Kleber Zanchim, Chair of the IBA Water Law Committee and a Partner at SABZ Advogados, commented: 'Through my legal career advising clients across sectors including infrastructure, real estate and agribusiness, and as Chair of the IBA Water Law Committee, I have seen how extreme heat and drought are impacting water supply and consumption across industries and regions. I am delighted to have contributed to the IBA Nature-Intelligent Legal Services series, which includes practical guidance for lawyers to address water scarcity concerns using contract clauses that incentivise water efficiency, water recycling and local watershed protection initiatives.'
Marco Sella, Secretary-Treasurer of the IBA Oil and Gas Law Committee and Founding Partner at Sella Torlaschi, added: 'I believe that the IBA Nature-Intelligent Legal Services series constitutes a powerful instrument to enhance energy lawyers' advisory work, in detecting and addressing nature-related risks and provide their clients with innovative solutions.'
Emmanuelle Mousel, Vice-Chair of the IBA Banking and Financial Law Committee's Banking Regulation Subcommittee and a Partner and ESG Specialist at Arendt & Medernach, explained: 'Throughout my career as a banking and finance lawyer, and through my work advising clients in relation to ESG matters, I have seen growing efforts by financial institutions to integrate nature-related risks into governance and decision-making processes. 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 investee companies about their approaches to governing nature risks.'
'I am delighted that the IBA Banking and Financial Law Committee contributed to the IBA Nature-Intelligent Legal Services series. I applaud the series' inclusion of practical examples that lawyers can use to support banking clients to address their nature-related risks in their portfolios, through measures such as sustainability-linked loans and introducing nature risk disclosure requirements into lending agreements.'
Ms Ramos, corporate and nature lawyer, said: 'Lawyers have always needed commercial and financial awareness to understand their clients' business context. Nature literacy is fundamental to that 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.'
Julio Reyes, Vice-Chair of the IBA Water Law Committee and Legal and Environmental Manager at Aguas Nuevas, added: 'As Legal and Environmental Manager at Aguas Nuevas (a private-owned water and sewer management company based in Chile) and as a private practitioner, 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 to be aware and navigate these challenges and find opportunities for building resilience: I am impressed to see IBA committees championing work to help lawyers become a source of expertise that clients turn to for navigating the nature positive transition.'
Sarah Ellington, Officer of the IBA Business Human Rights Committee, explained: '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, such as the UN Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples . Lawyers have a role to play in ensuring all parties understand these links and how this translates into parties' obligations. I am delighted to have contributed to this effort to support lawyers and firms to address nature-related risks through working with business clients.'
Lorna Püschel, Director of the Biodiversity and Protected Areas team at VGC Abogados, said: 'As Director of the Biodiversity and Protected Areas team at VGC Abogados, I've seen that 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: currently, corporate understanding of climate-related issues far exceeds that of nature risks. I am delighted to have contributed to this initiative, which helps lawyers see where they can add real value by helping their clients to respond to these risks and opportunities.'
