$1 for Nature, $30 for Its Destruction: UN Warns

Storm approaching Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.

The world spends billions to protect nature, but trillions are invested in business activities that harm the environment.

On Thursday, the UN issued a call for widespread financial reform as the most powerful way to shift global markets toward creating a better world for people and the planet.

For every dollar invested in protecting nature, 30 dollars are spent on destroying it – that’s the central finding of the State of Finance for Nature 2026 report, which calls for a major policy shift to scale up solutions that help the natural world while supporting the economy.

Damage control
The data identifies several areas where the damage is particularly stark: utilities, industrials, energy, and basic materials; and sectors benefiting from environmentally harmful subsidies – namely fossil fuels, agriculture, water, transport, and construction.

“If you follow the money, you see the size of the challenge ahead of us,” said Inger Andersen, Executive Director of UNEP, in response to the report. She contrasted the slow progress of nature-based solutions with harmful investments and subsidies, which she said are surging ahead.

“We can either invest in nature’s destruction or power its recovery – there is no middle ground.”

A wealth of solutions
In addition to highlighting the imbalance, the report’s authors outline a vision for a “big nature turnaround,” showcasing solutions that are both effective and economically viable. They include:

Greening urban areas to counter heat-island effects and improve livability;

Embedding nature in road and energy infrastructure;

Producing emissions-negative building materials.

The study also charts a path for phasing out harmful subsidies and destructive investments in production systems while scaling up investments that are “nature-positive.”