New York, United States

To guard Earth's ecosystems against the rising threat of climate change and a loss of natural resources, funds towards its protection need to double from current levels and reach $384 billion a year by 2025, said the UN's environment watchdog.

Advertisment

As per the UN Environment Programme's (UNEP) second "State of Finance for Nature" report, currently, $154 billion yearly is spent, primarily by governments, towards "nature-based solutions" or the protection and management of water, land, air and wildlife.

Watch | WION Climate Tracker: UN urges shipping industry to cut emissions

Advertisment

Ivo Mulder, head of UNEP's climate finance unit, said that this amount "will have to increase by several orders of magnitude if we are to tackle the triple crisis of land degradation, climate and nature."

Even if we are going through many crises, like the war in Ukraine and skyrocketing prices, he said, "It shouldn't be too hard a stretch given that almost 50 per cent of global GDP is dependent on healthy and well-functioning ecosystems."

Also read | $1.8 billion; that's how much govt subsidies contribute every year to human extinction & climate change

Advertisment

Meanwhile, according to the agency's assessment, governments spend $500 billion to $1 trillion per year on subsidies for fisheries, agriculture, and fossil fuels, which could have negative environmental effects.

Despite their pledges to reduce carbon emissions and deforestation, private sector actors only account for 17 per cent of investment in nature-based solutions, said UNEP adding that this means that they "will have to combine net zero with nature positive."

Also read | Climate change effect: ‘Snow-white' Alps turning green, says study after analysing satellite data

In order to do this, supply chains would need to be sustainable, activities that undermine biodiversity and climate goals would need to be reduced, and damages that could not be avoided would need to be compensated for by working with nature markets.

(With inputs from agencies)

WATCH WION LIVE HERE

You can now write for wionews.com and be a part of the community. Share your stories and opinions with us here.