State of finance for nature 2026: Nature in the red - Powering the trillion dollar nature transition economy

Image

The 2026 edition of the State of Finance for Nature highlights the urgent need to get the wheel turning on the ‘Big Nature Turnaround’. This report sets out the latest numbers and offers a new approach to accelerate the urgent transition to phase out nature negative finance and to scale up investment in Nature-based Solutions (NbS) and nature – the Nature Transition X-curve. Globally, finance flows continue to be heavily skewed toward nature-negative activities, which threaten ecosystems, economies and human well-being. Nearly half our global economy significantly depends on nature, and yet governments, business and finance continue to erode our collective nature bank account. Business-as-usual locks us deeper into further degradation of ecosystems, but governments, corporates, consumers and investors have the power to redirect flows and unlock resilience, equity and growth. In 2023, finance directly harmful to nature reached US$7.3 trillion, while investments in nature-based solutions (NbS) amounted to only US$220 billion – a ratio of more than 30:1. To meet global commitments under the Rio Conventions, NbS investment must increase by two and half times to US$571 billion by 2030, while harmful flows must be phased out and repurposed.