A mapping study by United Nations Environment Programme Finance Initiative (UNEP FI), August 2023, highlighted a global mismatch between the level of biodiversity richness and environment-positive expenditure.
Less biodiverse countries prioritized nature-positive spending, while highly biodiverse ones allocated less—except for Australia, which matched its rich biodiversity with substantial funding.
The global economy relies heavily on nature, with over 50% of GDP linked to ecosystem services. Yet, human activities have pushed biodiversity to the brink.
The study examined the correlation between biodiversity richness and government spending on nature-related initiatives in 106 countries. The study used publicly available data on environmental protection spending and biodiversity richness. Notably, the spending wasn’t exclusively for biodiversity conservation but also for mitigating biodiversity loss through various activities.
Two key points
– Out of 15 countries with the highest biodiversity index, only 1 country was a big spender (Australia with over 1% of GDP), and 2 countries were medium spenders (Colombia and China spent over 0.5% of GDP).
– Out of 15 countries with the highest spending on the environment, 13 countries had low biodiversity index. Only 2 countries had a medium and high biodiversity index (Japan and Australia at 153.58 and 337.18 points respectively).
Note:
The link between biodiversity and nature-positive spending is nuanced. A low biodiversity score may not just signify inherent diversity but also extensive human-induced damage to natural resources.
The numbers
Globally, 58% of 106 countries allocated less than 0.5% of their GDP for environmental protection. Regionally, Asia, Africa, North America, and South America, which hold a significant portion of the world’s biodiversity, primarily had countries spending below 0.5% of GDP on environmental efforts. This highlights the importance of directing attention towards regions and countries with limited nature-positive expenditure.
Summary
Overall, on a global scale, 58% of 106 countries spent under 0.5% of their GDP on protecting the environment. On a regional scale, 4 regions (Asia, Africa, North America, and South America) mainly consisted of countries spending less than 0.5% of GDP on the environment while hosting the majority of the world’s biodiversity. This trend points to the need to focus on regions and countries that are not big spenders on nature yet.
#biodiversity #unep #sustainability #naturepositive
Source: UNEP
