UNEP’s State of Finance for Nature 2026: Nature in the Red: Powering the Trillion Dollar Nature Transition Economy tracks global finance flows to Nature-based Solutions (NbS) and reveals that we are far off track in investing in nature to tackle climate change, biodiversity loss and ecosystem degradation.
State of Finance for Nature 2026
For every dollar invested in protecting nature, US$30 are spent destroying it. In 2023, US$7.3 trillion flowed into nature-negative activities—from fossil fuel subsidies to investments in high-impact sectors like utilities and energy. Meanwhile, only US$220 billion supported NbS, with private finance contributing just US$23 billion.
To meet global biodiversity, climate and land restoration targets, NbS investment must increase 2.5 times to US$571 billion annually by 2030—equivalent to just 0.5 per cent of global GDP.
This report introduces the Nature Transition X-Curve, a practical framework guiding governments and businesses to phase out harmful subsidies and destructive investments while scaling up high-integrity NbS across all economic sectors. It demonstrates how redirecting even a fraction of existing harmful flows could close the finance gap and unlock a trillion-dollar nature transition economy.
Explore the resources below to understand the scale of the challenge, discover actionable solutions, and join the movement toward a nature-positive future.
Source: UN environment programme
