Countries spend 7.3 billion dollars to the detriment of the planet

London. Biodiversity loss is becoming a systemic risk to the global economy and financial stability, according to a landmark report published yesterday, urging businesses to act or face their own extinction.

They warn that, according to the most recent data, countries spend $7.3 trillion of public and private funds each year on activities that are harmful to nature.

The Intergovernmental Platform on Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services (IPBES) assessment, which took three years to develop and was signed by more than 150 governments, is expected to guide policy development across multiple sectors.

Written by 79 experts from around the world, the report identifies “inappropriate or perverse” incentives, weak institutional support and weak enforcement of standards, as well as “significant” data gaps as major obstacles to progress.

It is based on the commitment made in 2024 by countries to protect 30 percent of land and sea by 2030 and invest 200 billion dollars in this initiative. This figure is much lower than the financing of activities that damage nature.

According to the authors, who cite data from 2023, it is urgent for companies to integrate ambitious goals into their corporate strategy, strengthen audits, monitoring and performance evaluations, and innovate in products, processes and services.

Less than one percent of listed companies disclose their impact on biodiversity, he adds.

Paul Polman, former head of consumer goods company Unilever, admitted that business strategy is about managing risk and building resilience, but nature “has barely figured into that equation.”

“The IPBES assessment shows that this blind spot is becoming one of the defining economic risks of our time,” he stressed.