For every dollar invested in protecting nature, 30 dollars are spent destroying it – that is the central finding of the State of Finance for Nature 2026 report, which calls for a major policy shift towards scaling up solutions that help the natural world and support the economy at the same time.
Damage control
The data identifies several areas where damage is particularly severe: utilities, industry, energy and basic materials; and sectors that benefit from environmentally harmful subsidies (namely fossil fuels, agriculture, water, transport and construction).
“If you follow the money, you will see the size of the challenge ahead of us.”said Inger Andersen, Executive Director of UNEP, in response to the report, contrasting the slow progress of nature-based solutions with harmful investments and subsidies that, she declared, are increasing.
“We can invest in the destruction of nature or promote its recovery. – there is no middle ground.”
A large number of solutions
In addition to identifying the magnitude of the imbalance, the report’s authors lay out a vision of a “big natural shift” and highlight examples of solutions that work and are economically viable.
They include:
- greening urban areas to counteract the effects of heat islands and improve the habitability of citizens;
- incorporate nature into road and energy infrastructure;
- Produce construction materials with negative emissions.
The study also charts a path to gradually eliminate harmful subsidies and destructive investments in production systems and increase investments that are “nature positive.”