New York: Europe and the Arabs

A new UN report reveals that the world spends billions of dollars protecting nature, but trillions of dollars are invested in commercial activities that harm the environment.

The report, issued by the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP), calls for comprehensive financial reform as the best way to steer global markets toward a better world for both people and the planet, according to the UN Daily News. The report, titled "The State of Financing for Nature 2026," warns that for every dollar invested in nature protection, 30 dollars are spent on its destruction. It calls for a major policy shift toward scaling up solutions that benefit the natural world while simultaneously supporting the economy.

Containing the Damage

The report identifies several areas where the damage is most severe, including public utilities, industries, energy, basic materials, and sectors that benefit from environmentally harmful subsidies, such as fossil fuels (oil and gas), agriculture, water, transportation, and construction. “If we trace the flow of money, we will see the scale of the challenge we face,” said Inger Andersen, Executive Director of the UN Environment Programme, contrasting the slow progress of nature-based solutions with the rapidly increasing harmful investments and subsidies.

“We can either invest in destroying nature or in restoring it – there is no middle ground,” she added.

Effective and Viable Solutions

In addition to identifying the scale of the problem, the report presents a vision for achieving a “major nature transformation,” highlighting examples of effective and economically viable solutions, including:

Greening urban areas to counter the effects of urban heat islands and improve the quality of life for citizens.

Integrating nature into road and energy infrastructure.

Producing emission-neutral building materials.

The report also outlines a path for phasing out harmful subsidies and destructive investments in production systems, and expanding nature-positive investments.

Key Figures
In 2023, $7.3 trillion flowed into nature-damaging activities.

In the same year, support for nature-based solutions amounted to only $220 billion, the vast majority of which came from public spending.

However, the trend is positive: spending on biodiversity and natural area protection increased by 11% between 2022 and 2023, and international public financing for nature-based solutions in 2023 was 22% higher than in 2022 and 55% higher than 2015 levels.