Subsidies against Nature: A multidimensional framework for biodiversity-aligned national budgets

Governments provide more than USD 800 billion annually in environmentally harmful subsidies at the global level despite international commitments. This paper introduces a novel and replicable framework for identifying biodiversity-harmful subsidies within national budgets. Our multidimensional approach is based on the five drivers of biodiversity loss: land use change, resource exploitation, climate change, pollution, and invasive species. Our framework evaluates subsidies across seven economic sectors — transport, housing, industry, agriculture, livestock, power generation, and digital deployment— based on their expected biodiversity impact (harmful, positive, mixed, neutral, or unclassifiable). We apply this framework to the French national budget and find that, in 2022, €27.14 billion were allocated to subsidize harmful activities. Pollution is the most financially supported driver of biodiversity loss. Our analysis also reveals significant trade-offs, with 25% of climate-positive subsidies exacerbating land use pressures. The study calls for a sector-specific approach to subsidy reform. By codeveloping this framework with biodiversity experts and public authorities, we provide a decision-support tool to align public investments with pathways towards sustainability. • We develop a replicable framework to identify harmful subsidies for biodiversity. • Subsidies for transport, housing, and power generation are most likely to contribute to biodiversity loss in France. • Pollution is the most subsidized driver of biodiversity loss. • The assessment of harmfulness is based on the alignment with transition scenarios.