Investments in nature-based solutions must triple by 2030 and quadruple by 2050, a new report urges, warning of irreversible damage to economies, the planet and humanity if the status quo remains unchanged.

The State of Finance for Nature Report warns that public and private investment must triple to $350bn by 2030 from the current $133bn – or face a $4.1 trillion gap by 2050.

“It’s doable but it’s not being done,” Teresa Hartmann, one of the report’s co-authors and the climate and nature lead at the World Economic Forum, told Al Jazeera.

“If we take existing financial flows, recovery packages, subsidies, tax revenues – and we redirect those, this is actually a very achievable goal.”

The State of Finance for Nature Report is produced by the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP), World Economic Forum (WEF), Economics of Land Degradation Initiative and Vivid Economics and is co-funded by the governments of Germany and Luxembourg.

The authors are urging political leaders and businesses to seize the opportunity presented by the coronavirus pandemic and direct unprecedented levels of fiscal stimulus towards building back “greener”.

“There’s huge spending happening at the moment on recovery, but it’s not being spent in the right places. We have a real opportunity to build back better at the moment and we’re not,” Hartmann said.

Of the total $14.6 trillion in fiscal spending governments announced, only 2.5 percent was allocated for green initiatives, the report found, and about 14 to 15 percent of the spending was actually harmful to nature.

Read the full article about green investments by Radmilla Suleymanova at Al Jazeera.