Governments annually spend an estimated US$470 billion on agricultural subsidies that harm forests and other natural ecosystems, and contribute to biodiversity loss. These kinds of subsidies often lead to unfair and inequitable socioeconomic development - there is a strong correlation between levels of subsidies and agricultural sector lobbying power, benefiting large corporations and businesses as small-scale farmers and local communities are left behind.

The good news is that there is political momentum and opportunity to redirect harmful agricultural subsidies toward protecting forests, or at least to reduce the harm they cause. Under Target 18 of the Global Biodiversity Framework (GBF), 196 countries agreed to identify and eliminate, phase out or reform subsidies and other incentives that harm biodiversity and scale up positive incentives. As part of the Glasgow Leaders’ Declaration, 145 governments agreed to work collectively to halt and reverse forest loss by 2030, including by redesigning agricultural policies and programmes to incentivize sustainable agriculture. 

What is needed now are guidelines and criteria to guide this process and turn commitments into action.

WWF's new report, Turning Harm into Opportunity: Repurposing Agricultural Subsidies that Destroy Forests and Non-Forest Natural Ecosystems, examines the impact of subsidies on deforestation and conversion of non-forest natural ecosystems, drawing on lessons from Brazil and Malawi. The report features a framework for assessing the feasibility and impacts of redirecting environmentally harmful agricultural subsidies to forest conservation, land, and forest restoration, and sustainable land use practices. The report also includes recommendations for action at international and national level.