Investors must significantly increase allocations to nature-based impact investments to meet biodiversity finance targets, according to the United Nations.

At least $384 billion a year is needed in nature-based solutions, according to the UN Environment Programme (UNEP), but the current total is less than half of this at $154 billion.

The UNEP’s latest report — The State of Finance for Nature 2022 — was published late last week ahead of the start of the COP15 international conference on biodiversity. The biodiversity issue is gaining more traction in the financial services sector due to its close relationship with climate change issues.

Inger Anderson, executive director at the UNEP, said: “The science is undeniable. As we transition to net-zero emissions by 2050, we must also reorient all human activity to ease the pressure on the natural world on which we all depend.”

“This requires governments, business and finance to massively step up investments in nature-based solutions because investments in nature are investments in securing the future for generations to follow.”

At the conference, which starts on December 7 in Montreal, the UNEP and its partners intend to issue a call for governments to set requirements for the financial sector to “align its activities with nature positive goals”.

The UNEP says this would require an additional global investment of $230 billion annually into areas such as supply chain sustainability, sustainable agriculture, and sustainable forestry.

Last year, the Taskforce on Nature-Related Financial Disclosures was set up to work on reporting standards for listed companies in an effort to standardize the way companies disclose their impact on nature and ecosystems.