Los SARAS y la Naturaleza

This guide explains how Colombian financial institutions can use the TNFD framework, the LEAP approach, and the ENCORE tool to comply with the SFC's External Circular 015 of 2025. It details the alignment between the regulatory requirements for identifying, measuring, controlling, and monitoring environmental and social risks and the international standards for managing nature-related dependencies, impacts, risks, and opportunities (DIROs).

• The Superintendencia Financiera de Colombia (SFC) issued External Circular 015 of 2025 (CE 015/25) to establish rules for credit operations and general instructions for financial entities to manage environmental and social (A&S) risks. The goal is to integrate these risks into strategic planning and decision-making to improve business model resilience and long-term financial sustainability.
• CE 015/25 requires financial entities to follow a four-stage management process for environmental and social risks: identifying risk factors, event types, sectors, and sensitive territories; measuring the total value of assets exposed to vulnerable geographies, industries, and sectors; adopting control measures based on relevance and proportionality; and conducting annual monitoring of exposure to climate change, social, and environmental risks.
• The SFC adopts a nature-based perspective for environmental risk factors, which treats climate as a subset of nature. This approach allows for the evaluation of risks beyond climate, including deforestation, soil degradation, water scarcity, biodiversity loss, and social factors such as human rights and vulnerable communities.
• The TNFD (Taskforce on Nature-related Financial Disclosures) is a global framework of recommendations for financial institutions to evaluate and disclose nature-related dependencies, impacts, risks, and opportunities (DIROs). Its four pillars—Governance, Strategy, Risk Management, and Metrics—align with the instructions of CE 015/25.
• The LEAP approach (Localize, Evaluate, Analyze, Prepare) is a methodological sequence from the TNFD framework that aligns with the four management phases of CE 015/25. It guides financial institutions from locating assets to developing strategic responses.
• ENCORE (Exploring Natural Capital Opportunities, Risks and Exposure) is a free tool used to map the dependencies and impacts of economic sectors on natural capital. Within the SARAS process, it can be used as an initial filter to identify high-risk sectors in a portfolio, as a proxy for potential exposure during monitoring, and to complement reports for senior management and boards of directors.

APA

Transforma (2025). Los SARAS y la Naturaleza. https://transforma.global/wp-content/uploads/2026/06/260604-Cartilla-SARA.pdf

Chicago

Transforma. Los SARAS y la Naturaleza. 2025. https://transforma.global/wp-content/uploads/2026/06/260604-Cartilla-SARA.pdf.

Wikipedia

{{cite report |author=Transforma |title=Los SARAS y la Naturaleza |date=2025 |url=https://transforma.global/wp-content/uploads/2026/06/260604-Cartilla-SARA.pdf |access-date=17 August 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@techreport{transforma2025los, author = {{Transforma}}, title = {{Los SARAS y la Naturaleza}}, institution = {Transforma}, year = {2025}, url = {https://transforma.global/wp-content/uploads/2026/06/260604-Cartilla-SARA.pdf}, urldate = {2026-08-17}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }