Climate finance still lagging
Asia is ramping up nature‑based solutions like mangroves and forests, but the new 'State of Finance for Nature 2026' report says global funding remains far below what’s needed to meet targets. As a partial response, an EU‑backed program is offering catalytic grants of up to $30,000 to scale youth‑led climate projects, and The Guardian is soliciting input for its Climate Forum 2026 to debate accountability and financing gaps. ( ) ( )
UNEP’s State of Finance for Nature 2026 reports that in 2023 about US$7.3 trillion flowed into nature‑negative activities while only US$220 billion supported nature‑based solutions and just US$23 billion of that came from private finance. (unep.org)) The same UNEP analysis sets a target: annual NbS investment needs must rise to roughly US$571 billion by 2030 — about 2.5 times current levels — to meet global biodiversity, climate and land‑restoration goals. (unep.org)) UNEP frames the pathway as a “Nature Transition X‑Curve,” arguing that phasing out a slice of harmful finance could unlock a trillion‑dollar nature transition economy rather than requiring entirely new capital. (unep.org)) Regional action in Asia is scaling: the region holds about 40% of the world’s remaining mangroves, and Indonesia — with roughly 3.44 million hectares of mangroves — rehabilitated about 70,000 hectares from 2019–2023 and has plans for ~600,000 hectares of large‑scale rehabilitation in 2024–25. (indonesia.wetlands.org)) The EU‑backed youth funding call cited in the card offers seed grants of up to US$30,000 to applicants aged 18–29 across 158 countries, targets six thematic areas (including oceans/blue economy and sustainable energy), and lists an application deadline of April 30, 2026. (eufundingportal.eu)) The Guardian opened a public consultation on March 17, 2026 to crowdsource topics, speakers and questions for its Guardian Climate Forum 2026, explicitly seeking ideas on accountability and financing shortfalls to shape the event programme. (thenote.app))
