Anew United Nations assessment has found that investing in nature could yield unprecedented economic and social dividends, with potential gains reaching up to 20 trillion US dollars annually by 2070. The Global Environment Outlook, Seventh Edition: A Future We Choose (GEO-7), launched this week during the United Nations Environment Assembly in Nairobi, underscores how restoring ecosystems, stabilising the climate, and curbing pollution could simultaneously revitalise economies and lift millions from poverty and hunger.
Compiled by 282 multidisciplinary experts from 82 countries, the report represents the most comprehensive scientific analysis of the global environment to date. It calls for a transformation in how societies produce and consume, arguing that reorienting economic models toward a “nature-positive” pathway could yield sustained macroeconomic and social benefits.
Inger Andersen, Executive Director of the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP), noted that humanity faces a critical juncture. She stated that the world stands before “a simple choice — to persist on a path leading to escalating climate disruptions, depleted natural resources, and polluted environments, or to take a different course that safeguards planetary health, human well-being, and long-term prosperity.”
According to the GEO-7, greenhouse gas emissions have risen by an average of 1.5 percent annually since 1990, deepening the climate crisis. The economic toll of climate-linked disasters is projected to reach 143 billion US dollars each year, driven largely by extreme weather events such as droughts, floods, and heatwaves. The report also finds that between 20 and 40 percent of the world’s land is degraded, affecting the livelihoods of over three billion people. Moreover, it estimates that one in eight million species faces the risk of extinction, signalling a profound loss of biodiversity that threatens food security and human survival.
The economic implications of inaction are severe. The report warns that without significant shifts in energy, food, and waste systems, climate change could reduce global GDP by 4 percent by 2050 and by as much as 20 percent by the end of the century. The economic cost of health damages caused by air pollution alone was approximately 8.1 trillion US dollars in 2019, equivalent to 6.1 percent of global GDP.
Wang Ying, Co-Chair of the GEO-7 Assessment, highlighted that the report’s ambition extends beyond diagnosing environmental decline. “This is a roadmap grounded in evidence and inclusivity. The GEO-7 equips societies with the knowledge and tools needed to act decisively. It is a call to reimagine the future we share — one that is healthier, fairer, and more sustainable for all,” she said.
While the report provides a global analysis, it also holds particular significance for Africa, where environmental degradation, rapid urbanisation, and climate volatility intersect with issues of equity and development. For many African nations, nature-based investment presents not only a route toward ecological restoration but also an opportunity to reshape development trajectories around indigenous knowledge systems, renewable energy, and community-led resource management.
A nature-positive economy, as outlined in the report, could enhance food and water security across the continent, bolster climate resilience, and create millions of green jobs in sectors such as sustainable agriculture, forestry, and eco-tourism. This perspective challenges the traditional extractive economic models that have long characterised global development and instead places Africa at the forefront of a new environmental and economic paradigm rooted in stewardship and shared prosperity.
The GEO-7 report thus invites policymakers, businesses, and citizens alike to reimagine growth through the lens of ecological integrity and social justice. It argues that the wellbeing of people and planet are inseparable, and that investing in nature is not a charitable act but a foundational strategy for long-term economic stability.
As the global community looks ahead to the next decade of environmental action, the message from Nairobi is clear: the path to prosperity lies in restoration, not depletion. Africa’s role in shaping this future will be vital — not as a passive recipient of global agendas but as a central actor in redefining what sustainable progress means in an interconnected world.
Read the full UNEP GEO-7 report here.
