Nature and Biodiversity

Our Goal

CIMB's long-term approach involves managing potential negative impacts from financing and concurrently delivering products and services that positively impact the environment and society, thus creating a balance between risk management and positive societal contributions. We will strongly enable, encourage and engage our clients while steering our operations towards preventing, mitigating and reversing nature loss.

Our Objectives

1. Integrate Nature Considerations:  Embed nature and biodiversity considerations into CIMB's sectoral policies, risk management frameworks, and decision-making processes to help minimise harmful environmental impacts and promote positive contributions.
   
   
2. Align Portfolio with Nature-Positive Goals:  Steer CIMB's portfolios towards activities that contribute to the prevention, mitigation, and reversal of nature loss, while promoting biodiversity and ecosystem balance and overall health. 
   
   
3. Engage with Clients and Stakeholders:  Collaborate with clients and other stakeholders to promote practices that minimise harm and create positive impacts to nature, support sustainable initiatives, and foster a shared commitment to nature conservation.
   
   
4. Mitigate Nature-Related Risks: : Identify, assess, and manage nature-related risks across CIMB's operations, value chain and portfolio, including physical, transition, legal and supply chain risks.
   
   
5. Promote a Just Transition:  Ensure that CIMB's efforts to protect nature and address climate change are equitable and inclusive, benefiting all stakeholders in ASEAN, including indigenous populations.

Our Approach to Nature and Biodiversity

Nature-related risks are interconnected and flow through the economy into the financial system, making double materiality particularly relevant for banks. The outside-in perspective (financial materiality) considers how biodiversity loss, ecosystem degradation, and climate pressures create risks for clients, sectors, and financial portfolios. These arise from physical impacts like floods or droughts, and transition drivers such as regulatory changes, new technologies, and shifting consumer preferences. The inside-out perspective (environmental and social materiality) highlights how financing decisions can worsen deforestation, overexploitation, or harm to Indigenous communities, creating reputational, legal, and regulatory risks for banks. Unlike climate change, nature-related impacts are often local and immediate, with feedback loops that expose banks to credit losses, liabilities, or reputational harm.

From a financial materiality lens, nature loss can disrupt ecosystem services, creating physical, transition, and liability risks that cascade through supply chains and economies, translating into credit, market, and liquidity risks for banks. Beyond finance, nature loss undermines food security, health, and social stability.

From an environmental materiality lens, banks influence nature through their financing, particularly in high-impact sectors like agriculture and infrastructure. Unsustainable practices can drive biodiversity loss, harm communities, and weaken ecosystem resilience. Rising regulatory and stakeholder expectations under frameworks such as TNFD, PRB, CCPT, and the GBF make environmental materiality a critical lens for banks in aligning financing decisions with sustainability.

2020

Sector Guides

• Established a High-Risk Sector List and Guidance (Regional/Group Level)
• Introduced Palm Oil Sector Guide
• Introduced Forestry Sector Guide

2022

No Deforestation, No Peat, and No Exploitation (NDPE) commitment

• Applicable to the Palm Oil, Forestry (including Rubber), and Timber Plantation sectors

2023

Deforestation and Biodiversity Risk Assessment

• Using various tools to identify Deforestation and Biodiversity Risk

2024

Biodiversity Statement

• Published Nature Statement outlining approach to nature-related risks

2025

Nature Report

• First phase LEAP assessment for 4 material sectors in Malaysia

Sustainability Sensitive Sector Guides

CIMB is committed to integrating Environmental, Economic, and Social (EES) considerations into our risk assessment and strategies to ensure a positive impact on stakeholders and the environment in our non-retail financing and capital raising transactions. To address nature and biodiversity risks, we have embedded Biodiversity and Nature considerations in our Sustainability Sensitive Sector List and Guidance document, which provides guidance on the definition and scope of Sustainability Sensitive Sectors (formerly High Sustainability Risk Sectors), specifically Coal, Palm Oil, Forestry, Manufacturing, Construction & Infrastructure, Oil & Gas and Mining & Quarrying.

By focusing on the sectors highlighted above, we can effectively:
 

• Identify and mitigate risks: Identify and mitigate potential negative impacts on biodiversity and ecosystems within our operations and investments
  
  
• Support conservation: Promote initiatives that protect and restore biodiversity, such as nature-based solutions and conservation projects
  
  
• Encourage sustainable practices: Foster sustainable practices among our clients and partners to minimise their environmental footprint and contribute to biodiversity conservation
   

No Deforestation, No Peat, and No Exploitation​

In 2022, we rolled out our No Deforestation, No Peat, and No Exploitation commitment to the palm oil, forestry and timber plantation sectors in larger markets, while smaller markets adopted the policy in 2023.
 

We will not finance or facilitate capital raising for companies that:
 

• Are directly involved in the new conversion of High Conservation Value (HCV) areas;
  
  
• Are directly involved in the conversion of peatland;
   

• Lack legal rights and a policy/commitment on respecting free, prior, and informed consent of indigenous and local communities; or
  
  
• Lack policy/commitment to prevent worker exploitation and respect labour rights.

Deforestation and Biodiversity Risk Assessment

We check and monitor compliance to our policies and requirements through our Group Sustainable Financing Policy and Procedures, guided by our Sustainability Sensitive Sector List and Sector Guides for specific industries. Financing requests, including for project finance, which involve potential land use change are escalated for Enhanced Sustainability Due Diligence. These cases are analysed for sustainability risk by internal experts in the Group Sustainability team in consultation with internal sectoral experts within the relevant banking units. 

We have developed a Deforestation and Biodiversity Risk Assessment process as part of our due diligence to assess biodiversity risk in the projects and non-retail clients that we finance across key markets. The process relies on a synthesis of data from three separate web applications providing information on peatlands, areas managed for conservation goals, including UNESCO-MAB Biosphere Reserves and Ramsar Sites, as well as IUCN Management categories.

These insights help to us to ascertain whether further detailed risk assessments are needed to evaluate both physical and reputational biodiversity risks. This approach allows us to validate information, make more informed decisions and provide evidence-based guidance to our stakeholders in forming strategies to effectively address biodiversity challenges within their business activities. 

Banking on Nature: Advancing our Nature Journey

Our latest report outlines our preliminary approach and methodologies for assessing nature-related risks and opportunities across our operations and financing activities. This report highlights our efforts to align with global frameworks such as the Taskforce on Nature-related Financial Disclosures (TNFD) and the Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework (GBF) to ensure that our actions are grounded in robust analysis and meaningful stakeholder engagement. The insights derived from this analysis will inform our understanding of nature-related risks and opportunities across other parts of our operations.

Our report details the steps we have taken to embed nature-related considerations into our governance structures, risk management processes, and overall business strategy. We have identified high-priority sectors such as Palm Oil, Forestry, Power, and Oil and Gas, and conducted a double materiality assessment to map key nature-related dependencies and impacts. This comprehensive approach enables us to effectively manage risks while supporting our clients in achieving their sustainability goals.

The report identifies several challenges in integrating nature-related considerations into financial decision-making. These include the lack of global consensus on methodologies, limited data availability, and an evolving regulatory landscape. Recognising these systemic gaps, CIMB is working collaboratively with peers, regulators, and experts to help advance shared understanding and solutions. 

Despite the hurdles, CIMB remains committed to building internal capacity and aligning with emerging global frameworks. This includes strengthening data infrastructure, enhancing technical capabilities, and fostering partnerships to enable meaningful integration of nature across the organisation. These foundational steps will contribute to shaping the way the industry moves forward on nature and biodiversity. We invite all stakeholders to engage with us on this journey. 

We see this initial report and analysis as the first step of an ongoing learning process and are committed to maintaining transparent communication by providing updates on progress and any necessary adjustments as our understanding advances and our capabilities are strengthened. Your feedback, ideas, and questions are invaluable as we continue to refine our strategies and initiatives.