For every $1 spent on protecting nature, $30 went into destruction: UNEP

Despite climate and biodiversity risks, a UN report finds the world spent $7.4 trillion damaging nature in 2023, around 30 times more than it invested in protecting ecosystems

Despite years of warnings from scientists and policymakers, global financial flows remain misaligned with environmental priorities. According to a new United Nations (UN) report, the world continues to invest far more in activities that damage nature than in protecting it. For every $1 invested globally in protecting nature, around $30 is spent on activities that harm it, highlighting a stark imbalance in environmental finance.

 

The UN Environment Programme’s (UNEP) State of Finance for Nature 2026 report shows that in 2023, finance directly harmful to nature touched $7.3 trillion, while investment in nature-based solutions stood at just $220 billion. This imbalance, exceeding a 30:1 ratio in favour of nature-negative activities, is driving the 'triple crisis' of climate change, biodiversity loss and pollution, the report warns.

 

What was the share of finance flowing into nature-negative activities?

 

According to UNEP, spending on nature-negative activities totalled $7.4 trillion in 2023. Of this, around $4.9 trillion came from private investment, concentrated in a handful of high-impact sectors such as utilities, industrials, energy and basic materials. In 2024, private nature-negative finance rose further, increasing 12 per cent to $5.5 trillion.

 

Another $2.4 trillion flowed through environmentally harmful public subsidies, largely supporting fossil fuels, agriculture and water use. The report notes that public subsidies and private investments often reinforce each other, locking capital into nature-negative sectors such as the fossil fuel industry.

 

On a positive note, private oil and gas investment harmful to nature declined sharply, falling from nearly $1 trillion in 2020 to $519 billion in 2023. This 50 per cent reduction over four years reflects growing recognition of nature-related risks as material to financial stability, alongside declining costs of renewable energy production.

 

What was the flow of finance into nature-based solutions?

 

According to UNEP, nature-based solutions (NbS) finance reached $220 billion in 2023, with public domestic expenditure emerging as the largest source at $190 billion, up four per cent from 2022. Within this, spending on biodiversity and landscape protection rose 11 per cent, potentially reflecting government commitments to scale up conservation funding in line with Global Biodiversity Framework (GBF) targets, even as overall public NbS growth slowed.

 

Public international NbS finance through Official Development Finance (ODF) continued to expand, reaching $6.8 billion in 2023, a 21 per cent increase from 2022.

 

Private investment in NbS stood at $23.4 billion in 2023. While modest in absolute terms, UNEP notes that it shows positive momentum. However, investments in certified commodity supply chains remain far below the commitments made by consumer goods companies, retailers and other private enterprises to end tropical deforestation and curb nature loss.

 

What is the financing gap for meeting Rio Convention targets?

 

While finance flows into nature-based solutions (NbS) have increased, UNEP says they remain well below what is required to meet the Rio Convention targets on biodiversity, climate action and land restoration. Current annual NbS finance of $220 billion needs to rise more than two-and-a-half times to $571 billion by 2030, and more than triple to $771 billion by 2050 to stay aligned with Rio goals.

 

By 2030, the largest investment requirement is in land restoration, estimated at $181 billion, followed by sustainable land management at $101 billion and land protection at $68 billion. UNEP notes that since corporate investment decisions are shaped by market signals, consumer behaviour and incentives, governments must play a central role in catalysing private NbS investment.

 

What steps does UNEP propose to close the nature finance gap?

 

UNEP outlines the following steps to bridge the financing gap for nature-based solutions:

 

• Reform environmentally harmful subsidies and align public budgets with the Rio Convention goals
• Scale up government investment in nature-based solutions, particularly in areas delivering public goods
• Introduce effective regulation and incentives to align investment decisions with the value of nature and ecosystem services
• Mandate disclosure of nature-related risks and impacts to shift financial incentives
• Expand blended finance and de-risking instruments, and develop high-integrity nature markets to mobilise private capital at scale

 

According to UNEP, only by scaling up NbS investment and accelerating the nature and bioeconomy transition can the world meet the 2030 Rio Convention targets and protect the natural capital that sustains life on Earth.