Paying to Harm Nature: The Hidden Price of Economic Subsidies

Public money is meant to support well-being, yet much of it is quietly fuelling the destruction of nature. Our research shows that the economic sectors most responsible for biodiversity loss—such as agriculture, fossil fuels, fishing, mining, forestry, and infrastructure—receive enormous public subsidies while generating even larger environmental damage.Each year, governments provide between 1.7 and 3.2 trillion US dollars in subsidies to these sectors. At the same time, their activities impose environmental costs—through pollution, climate impacts, habitat loss, and declining ecosystems—estimated at 10.5 to 22.6 trillion US dollars annually. These costs are not paid by the industries themselves, but by society at large, through poorer health, lost livelihoods, and weakened ecosystems.Agriculture and fossil fuels stand out as the biggest contributors, both in the support they receive and the damage they cause. Yet the true scale of the problem is likely even larger, as data on subsidies and environmental harm remain incomplete and opaque. There is currently no global system that clearly tracks who receives subsidies, for what purposes, and with what consequences for nature.Understanding these hidden flows of public money is a critical step toward change. By making subsidies and environmental costs visible, societies can rethink how public resources are used and redirect them toward activities that protect ecosystems rather than degrade them. In a world facing accelerating biodiversity loss, transforming how we finance economic activities is not only possible—it is essential for a sustainable future.