Funding for nature conservation must triple worldwide by the end of this decade if climate goals are to be met.

That’s according to a report by the UN Environment Programme (UNEP) and World Economic Forum (WEF), which found that future investments in nature must quadruple by 2050 to meet net zero – equal to an investment of more than $536 billion (£398bn).

The study reveals that the G20 nations have the capability to meet that target alone, although all nations will need to increase their spending to protect the planet.

Currently 87% of spending or $105 billion (£87bn) is spend on domestic programmes, with the report stressing this only covers the cracks of some of the nations involved and leaves a large spending gap for smaller or developing nations.

Ivo Mulder from UNEP suggested: “To scale up private finance, governments can boost the investment case for nature, for instance by creating stable and predictable markets for ecosystem services like forest carbon or by using public money on below-market rates.

“Companies and financial institutions should fully disclose climate and nature-related financial risks and governments need to repurpose agricultural fiscal policies and trade-related tariffs.”