Although funding for environmental protection has grown in recent years, the effort remains insufficient given the magnitude of ecological deterioration. The report State of funding for nature 2026prepared by the United Nations Environment Program (UNEP), warns that it is urgent to restructure the global economic system to avoid the collapse of ecosystems on which more than half of the world’s GDP depends. A conclusion that also fits with the repeated alerts from organizations such as the World Bank, the OECD or the World Economic Forum about the economic risks associated with the loss of biodiversity and the depletion of natural capital.
The data in the report clearly reflects this imbalance: for every dollar invested in protecting nature, 30 are allocated to activities that continue to generate a strong environmental impact. Faced with this situation, the United Nations defends a far-reaching financial reform, considering it to be the most effective tool to reorient markets towards a more beneficial model for both people and the planet.
“If you follow the money, you can see the magnitude of the challenge we face,” says Inger Andersen, executive director of the United Nations Environment Program (UNEP), in presenting the report. Andersen further highlighted that while funding for nature-based solutions is advancing, it has yet to gain ground against harmful investments and subsidies. “The recovery of nature depends on investment accompanying that objective with greater determination,” he stated. And he was even more forceful when summarizing the current dilemma: “Either we invest in the destruction of nature or we promote its recovery; there is no middle ground.”
Damage control
Behind this financial machinery are some of the sectors with the greatest pressure on ecosystems, such as public services, large industry, basic materials companies and energy companies. However, in this last sector, signs of change are beginning to be seen, especially in Europe, where several companies have accelerated their investment shift towards renewable energies in recent years.
According to the International Energy Agency, investment in clean energy in the European Union will be around $390 billion in 2025. Furthermore, the ratio between investment in renewable generation and that allocated to new fossil electricity generation has gone from 6 to 1 a decade ago to 35 to 1 today. In this context, the case of Naturgy stands out, whose strategic plan for 2025-2027 contemplates an investment of 6.4 billion euros, with the bulk of that effort aimed at renewable networks and projects.
Changes by nature
Beyond measuring the current imbalance, the authors of the report draw the possibility of a “great change in favor of nature” and emphasize that, despite the existing gap, some indicators already point in a more positive direction. Spending on biodiversity and landscape protection increased by 11% between 2022 and 2023. Added to this is that international public financing for nature-based solutions was 22% higher in 2023 than in 2022 and 55% higher than that registered in 2015.
Despite these advances, the distance between the two major financing flows remains enormous. In 2023 alone, $7.3 trillion was directed toward activities that are harmful to nature, compared to just $220 billion directed toward nature-based solutions. Even so, the report insists that there are already measures capable of accelerating change: greening cities to reduce the heat island effect, incorporating nature into the design of road and energy infrastructure, or opting for construction materials with negative emissions.
In Europe, furthermore, this transformation is beginning to become visible in the reorientation of part of the energy investment towards low-emission technologies, in parallel with the deployment of networks and infrastructure necessary to sustain the transition.
The roadmap proposed by the United Nations involves gradually withdrawing harmful subsidies, containing the most harmful investments in production systems and at the same time reinforcing financial flows destined for positive initiatives for nature. The diagnosis remains demanding, but the report maintains that there is still real room to correct the trajectory and consolidate a more balanced and favorable transition for ecosystems.