New Delhi

The world is spending 30 times more financing nature’s destruction than its protection, according to a new report released by the UN Environment Programme (UNEP). The report calls for an urgent rebalancing of global financial flows by scaling up investment in Nature-based Solutions (NbS) and phasing out harmful subsidies and high-impact investments that continue to drive ecosystem loss.

The State of Finance for Nature 2026 report, based on 2023 data, estimates US$7.3 trillion in total nature-negative finance flows. Of this, US$4.9 trillion comes from private sources, heavily concentrated in sectors including utilities, industrials, energy, and basic materials. Public finance also remains misaligned, with US$2.4 trillion in environmentally harmful subsidies supporting activities across fossil fuels, agriculture, water, transport, and construction.

By comparison, finance for Nature-based Solutions reached US$220 billion in 2023, with close to 90 percent coming from public sources. Private investment in NbS remains limited at just US$23.4 billion, accounting for only 10 per cent of total NbS finance, highlighting that business and finance have yet to invest at scale despite growing awareness of nature-related risks and dependencies.

UNEP estimates that NbS investments must increase 2.5 times to US$571 billion annually by 2030 which is equivalent to only 0.5 per cent of global GDP, to help meet global climate, biodiversity and land restoration goals.

“If you follow the money, you see the size of challenge ahead of us. We can either invest into nature’s destruction or power its recovery – there is no middle ground,” said Inger Andersen, Executive Director of UNEP. “While financing nature-based solutions crawls forward, harmful investments and subsidies are surging ahead. This report offers leaders a clear roadmap to reverse this trend and work with nature, rather than against it.”

To support this shift, the report introduces the Nature Transition X-Curve, a framework designed to help governments and businesses sequence reforms by phasing out destructive investments and subsidies while simultaneously scaling up high-integrity NbS and nature-positive finance across sectors of the economy.

The findings carry particular significance for India, where climate impacts, including heatwaves, floods, water stress and land degradation, are intensifying, and where ecosystem-based solutions can play a critical role in reducing disaster risk while supporting livelihoods and economic growth. The report highlights the importance of aligning public budgets, infrastructure investments and private finance with nature-positive outcomes, an issue especially relevant for fast-growing economies and urbanising countries such as India.

The report also references India’s National Compensatory Afforestation Fund Management and Planning Authority (CAMPA) as part of national efforts linked to financing afforestation and ecosystem restoration, underscoring the role of domestic public finance mechanisms in scaling NbS. Strengthening the effectiveness, integrity and local grounding of such mechanisms, UNEP notes, will be essential to ensure that increased finance translates into durable ecological and social benefits.

“Efforts by CAMPA to support conservation action is an important model worthy of replication globally due to its reach, diversity and on-the-ground impacts” says Balakrishna Pisupati, Country Head of UNEP India.

More broadly, the report points to opportunities for countries like India to embed nature into urban planning and infrastructure development, including greening cities to reduce heat-island effects, integrating ecosystems into transport and energy infrastructure, and supporting nature-positive construction materials. These approaches can deliver multiple benefits, reducing climate risks, improving liveability, and creating jobs, while lowering long-term economic exposure to environmental shocks.

UNEP emphasises that for India and other developing economies, scaling nature-positive investment must be grounded in local ecological, cultural and social contexts, while ensuring equity, inclusion and benefits for local communities.