Reforming harmful incentives: why we signed the open letter for nature

Sustainable production shouldn't be the exception. It should be the norm.

Today, Iceberg Data Lab joins more than 130 businesses and financial institutions, including long-term client BNP Paribas Asset Management, in signing an open letter that calls on governments to reform the public incentives that harm nature.

Markets and public money are pulling in opposite directions

Financial markets are starting to price in biodiversity risk. Investors increasingly see nature loss as a source of financial risk, from supply chain disruption to stranded assets and regulatory exposure.

Public incentives, however, are still pulling the other way. At least US$2.6 trillion a year in public spending unintentionally accelerates resource depletion. These subsidies and incentives make unsustainable production cheaper, and sustainable alternatives harder to compete with.

The result is a system where companies trying to do the right thing are swimming against the current.

A business call for incentive reform

The open letter brings together more than 130 businesses and financial institutions with one message: governments should reform the incentives that harm nature and redirect them towards sustainable production.

This is not only an environmental case. Reforming harmful incentives is a trillion-dollar economic opportunity. Public money freed up from damaging activities can support more resilient supply chains, healthier ecosystems and long-term economic stability.

The call also aligns with commitments governments have already made. Under Target 18 of the Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework, countries agreed to identify harmful incentives by 2025 and reduce them by at least US$500 billion a year by 2030.

Why this matters to us

At Iceberg Data Lab, we help financial institutions measure the environmental impact of the companies they invest in, including their biodiversity footprint. Our work rests on a simple conviction: what gets measured can be managed, and what gets priced can change.

Better data helps investors see nature-related risks and opportunities. But data alone cannot fix a system where public incentives reward the activities driving nature loss. Aligning public spending with biodiversity goals would give investors and companies a level playing field, where sustainable production is rewarded rather than penalised.

Read the letter

The full open letter and list of signatories is available here: read the letter.

We thank Business for Nature, the Finance for Biodiversity Foundation and UN Biodiversity for leading this initiative, and all fellow signatories for adding their voice.