1245. Financing Nature Conservation Investments

A new report from the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) finds that for every US$1 invested in nature conservation, the world spends US$30 on nature destruction, and it calls for a fundamental shift in global financing toward nature-based solutions (NbS) to correct this gross imbalance.

According to the report,
by 2023, total financial flows adversely affecting nature will amount to US$7.3 trillion, with US$4.9 trillion from private funds concentrated in a few sectors: utilities, industry, energy, and basic materials. Environmentally harmful public subsidies for fossil fuels, agriculture, water, transport, and construction will reach US$2.4 trillion by 2023.

NbS financial flows totaled US$220 billion, nearly 90% of which came from public sources, reflecting a steady increase in domestic and international support for NbS. Private investment in NbS was only US$23.4 billion, or a mere 10% of total NbS investment. Despite growing awareness of nature's dependencies, risks, and opportunities, businesses and financial institutions have yet to make large-scale investments in NbS.

NbS investment needs to expand 2.5-fold to US$571 billion annually by 2030, equivalent to just 0.5% of global GDP (as of 2024).

While funding for nature-based solutions has progressed slowly, harmful investments and subsidies have skyrocketed. To reverse this situation, the report proposes a framework (the Nature Transition X-Curve) designed to reform private and public capital flows and help policymakers and businesses incrementally implement reforms to scale high levels of NbS across all sectors of the economy. This Framework provides concrete options for public and private sector companies across supply chains, charting a path to phase out harmful subsidies and existing destructive investments while simultaneously scaling up NbS and nature-positive investments.

The report also offers a roadmap for addressing the challenge of a trillion-dollar nature transition economy. It highlights examples of how governments and business leaders around the world are already putting this approach into practice, from combating urban heat islands and improving livability for citizens, to incorporating nature into roads and energy infrastructure and using carbon dioxide to produce emission-negative building materials.

The report identifies key principles for nature-positive investing: ensuring inclusiveness and equity while rooting it in local ecological, cultural, and social contexts.

(Reference)
State of Finance for Nature 2026: Nature in the Red - Powering the Trillion-Dollar Nature Transition Economy: Summary for Decision Makers. https://www.unep.org/resources/state-finance-nature-2026

Contributor: IIYAMA Miyuki, Information Program