Finance, funds and markets
103 cases in 63 countries, 1946–2026. Most cases: United States (18), Iran (13), Russia (12), Venezuela (7), Brazil (6).
Denmark to tax livestock emissions from 2030 at 300 kroner per tonne CO2e
Denmark is due to tax livestock emissions from 2030, at 300 kroner per tonne of CO2e, NBC News and AP reported in 2024. The cited sources do not say how much the tax would cut livestock emissions.
Iran's 2026 war-damage estimate of about USD 270bn and its calls for compensation and environmental accountability
Iran's government put direct and indirect damage from the war that began on 28 February 2026 at about USD 270bn, an early estimate with no breakdown. In October 2026 its foreign minister called for "responsibility and compensation" for wartime environmental damage.
Loss and damage fund has paid about 55% of pledges as first approvals slip
The Loss and Damage Fund had USD 822 million pledged by March 2026 and about USD 449 million paid by April 2026. Some 176 applications seeking about USD 2.8 billion are waiting, and first approvals were pushed back to December 2026.
Drone strike on the Chornobyl New Safe Confinement, 14 February 2025, and the repair funding
A drone struck the New Safe Confinement over the destroyed Unit 4 of the Chornobyl plant on 14 February 2025. The IAEA reported, as relayed by NucNet, that the structure had lost its primary safety functions; the EBRD put the repair cost at no less than EUR 500 million and Ukraine's Energy Ministry at EUR 412 million.
Insect-farming firm Ynsect enters judicial liquidation
Ynsect, a French insect-farming company that had raised about $600 million, entered judicial liquidation in December 2025 after financing efforts fell through, according to Vertical Farm Daily. The cited sources give no measured environmental outcome for the company's operations.
USAID funding for Kenya's Northern Rangelands Trust ended in 2025
USAID, the main donor to the Northern Rangelands Trust, ended its funding in January 2025, and the agency closed on 1 July 2025. At stake for nature is the conservation work that funding supported, which the cited sources do not measure.
California law adds $18 billion to wildfire fund, half from customers
SB 254, a 2025 California law, adds $18 billion over ten years to the Wildfire Fund that covers utilities' wildfire liabilities, and half is to be collected from customers' bills. The sources do not say how the other half is funded.
Beyond Meat shares fall below $1 as company refinances debt
Beyond Meat's shares fell below $1 on 14 October 2025, down 73% for the year, as the company replaced 2027 debt with 2030 debt. At stake for nature is the alternative-meat model; the cited sources do not report a measured effect on land, wildlife or emissions.
England Biodiversity Net Gain market and Natural England statutory credits
Since February 2024 major building projects in England must deliver a 10% biodiversity gain for 30 years, on site or by buying off-site units. The state agency Natural England sells statutory credits as a last resort.
Suspicion notices over UAH 49.2 million in farmland demining contracts, Mykolaiv oblast
On 22 June 2026 Ukrainian investigators reported that six people had been notified of suspicion over humanitarian demining of agricultural land that, according to investigators, was not carried out. The damage to the state was stated as UAH 49.2 million; no court outcome is on record.
Jamaica's World Bank catastrophe bond did not pay after Hurricane Beryl
The Bretton Woods Project reported that Jamaica's World Bank-brokered catastrophe bond failed to pay despite the devastation of Hurricane Beryl in 2024. The cited sources do not describe any effect on nature.
Somaïr nationalisation, Orano's ICSID arbitration and the Niger uranium stock
Niger's military government took over the Somaïr uranium mine at Arlit in June 2025, and Orano is pursuing ICSID arbitration case ARB/25/8, in which a tribunal ordered Niger on 23 September 2025 not to sell Somaïr uranium. Orano put the uranium stock at nearly $310 million in December 2025.
Loulo-Gounkoto gold complex: Barrick–Mali dispute, provisional administration and settlement
Mali and Barrick, which owns 80% of the Loulo-Gounkoto gold complex, disputed taxes, dividends and the mining code from 2023; gold was seized, operations suspended in January 2025 and a provisional administrator ran the complex from June to December 2025. A settlement announced on 24 November 2025 included a payment of about FCFA 143 billion. Barrick's disclosures for the complex's tailings facility and cyanide plant record an "Extreme" consequence classification and cyanide limit exceedances.
TUI Care Foundation sponsorship of ARCHELON in Crete and the "Turtle-Friendly" hotel certificate
From 1 June 2023 to 31 May 2026 the TUI Care Foundation funded ARCHELON's "TUI Turtle Aid Greece" project. Eight northern Crete hotels received a "Turtle-Friendly" certificate designed by the foundation; no independent audit of the certificate was found.
Sakhalin-2 and Sakhalin-1 in 2022: transfer decrees, the ecological-audit deduction clause and write-downs
Presidential Decree No. 416 of 30 June 2022 passed the rights of the Sakhalin-2 operator to a new Russian company and provided that a government audit, including an ecological audit, would set a damage amount to be debited from foreign shareholders' sale proceeds. Shell recorded a USD 1,614 million impairment on Sakhalin-2, and ExxonMobil said Russia terminated its Sakhalin-1 interests on 14 October 2022.
FSC suspension of Russia and Belarus and birch plywood sanctions cases in the EU
In March 2022 the Forest Stewardship Council suspended trading certificates in Russia and Belarus and blocked controlled wood sourcing from both. After the EU banned Russian wood imports in April 2022, enforcement actions over birch plywood declared as Kazakh or Turkish followed in Poland, the Netherlands, Latvia and Greece.
Ukraine's mine contamination, the farmland demining programme and mine-action money
Ukrainian authorities put the area potentially contaminated with mines and explosive remnants of war at over 130,000 km² in April 2026, and the World Bank put the cost of explosive hazard management and debris clearance at almost USD 28 billion in February 2026. The state farmland programme had concluded 175 contracts covering almost 34,000 hectares by October 2026, and the US-Ukraine fund signed its first minerals deal on 2-3 October 2026.
FSC suspends Vietnamese pellet producer over false certification claims
The Forest Stewardship Council suspended An Viet Phat Energy, a Vietnamese wood-pellet producer, over false certification claims on large volumes of pellets. The cited sources do not report any forest impact of the claims.
Loss and damage fund has paid about 55% of its $822m pledges
Pakistan's 2022 floods were met with an $11bn pledge, and about $2.8bn had been paid, roughly half of it in credit unrelated to the floods. The Fund for responding to Loss and Damage had $822m pledged and about $449m paid, and no approval had been granted by October 2026.
EU court rejects Austria's challenge to green label for gas and nuclear
The EU added certain gas activities to its sustainable investment classification (taxonomy) in 2022. In September 2025 the EU General Court rejected Austria's challenge to the green label for gas and nuclear, leaving the classification in place.
Tillamook faces suit over farm imagery as Fairlife settles for $21m
A lawsuit against Tillamook alleges that most milk in its products came from large facilities, not the coastal farms shown in its advertising. Coca-Cola and others agreed to pay $21 million to settle Fairlife animal-abuse litigation; at stake is whether dairy marketing reflects where the milk comes from.
Mongolia's One Billion Trees movement: pledges, offset trees and reported survival rates
A presidential decree presented on 4 October 2021 launched a national campaign to plant one billion trees by 2030. Reported totals mix trees planted directly with “offset” trees counted from investment, and reported survival rates differ by source.
Sahel restoration carbon finance: AFR100 pledges, a projected USD 28bn carbon asset value and 11 registered projects in Great Green Wall countries
AFR100 stated that 33 African countries had committed to restore 129.27 million hectares, with USD 1bn in development finance and USD 481 million in private commitments. A December 2024 WEF and Tree Aid paper projected carbon asset value of up to USD 28bn in Great Green Wall countries, where 11 of Africa's 74 registered nature-based voluntary carbon projects were located.
Argentina's Forest Law fund got 4.8% of its legal floor in 2021
Argentina's national Forest Law fund was allocated 4.8% of its legal floor in 2021, according to Chequeado. At stake: funding for forest protection under the law.
TC Energy's claim over Keystone XL cancellation dismissed for lack of jurisdiction
A NAFTA tribunal rejected TC Energy's claim of more than $15 billion over the US cancellation of the Keystone XL permit, ruling in July 2024 that it lacked jurisdiction. Alberta's taxpayers were left with about C$1.3 billion of losses after the cancellation, according to Global News.
Kazakhstan's two-billion-tree programme
A 2020 presidential instruction set a target of planting at least 2 billion trees on forest-fund land by 2025; the programme was extended to 2027. Ministry figures put annual tree survival between 31.2% and 50.5% in 2021–2024, against a launch target of 65%, and a Mazhilis deputy said in 2025 that millions of trees reported as planted in some regions could not be found.
Afforestation of the dried Aral Sea bed in Uzbekistan
The Government of Uzbekistan states that protective plantings were set up on about 2 million hectares of the dried Aral Sea bed in 2018–2025 to hold down sand, salt and dust. The government releases state no budget and no survival rate; a forestry scientist put sapling survival at 50–70% in wetter years and about 30% in low-rainfall years.
Venezuelan gold exports to Turkey and the UAE and US sanctions on Minerven and the Central Bank
The Central Bank of Venezuela sold tens of tonnes of gold to Turkish and Emirati buyers in 2018–2019. The US sanctioned the gold sector, Minerven and the bank in 2018–2019, and in March 2026 issued licences allowing Venezuelan gold into the United States.
Carpathian beech, IKEA's supply chain and FSC certification: Earthsight's 2020 findings and the responses
In June 2020 the NGO Earthsight reported that beech logged in Zakarpattia during a legal silence period reached FSC-certified IKEA products. IKEA, the Forest Stewardship Council and the Ukrainian processor VGSM gave differing accounts, and Ukrainian prosecutors later notified officials of suspicion in other Carpathian logging cases.
7.2 million pesos meant for vaquita protection diverted, Excélsior reported
Excélsior reported in 2018 that 7.2 million pesos intended for protecting the vaquita porpoise were diverted. Other figures on spending and the vaquita count are unconfirmed, so the scale of harm to the species is not established.
SoCalGas paid the bills of a group fighting building electrification in California
Southern California Gas Company paid the bills of C4BES, a group opposing the switch from gas to electric buildings, from March 2018, DeSmog reported. A regulatory judge later found that ratepayer money had been spent on uses inconsistent with its purpose.
Almaty CHP-2 coal-to-gas conversion, Kazakhstan
Almaty's coal-fired combined heat and power plant CHP-2 is being converted to gas with loans from the EBRD and the Asian Development Bank; the cost estimate rose from KZT 98 billion to KZT 388 billion. The state hydrometeorological service and independent monitors report different air-quality trends for the city.
Almalyk MMC copper expansion: export-credit and bank financing, and a 48 billion soum environmental compensation demand
Almalyk Mining and Metallurgical Complex is expanding its Yoshlik I copper project with foreign bank financing, including a US$ 2.55 billion KfW IPEX-Bank mandate and a UK Export Finance guarantee. In April 2026 the environmental regulator demanded 48 billion soums in compensation after an Ecopolice raid in which it named hazardous waste stored in the open and wastewater discharged into the Angren River.
Iran's Clean Air Law and urban air pollution in Tehran and Ahvaz
A parliamentary commission found 22 of the 2017 Clean Air Law's 57 articles weakly implemented in 2023. The Health Ministry attributed 58,975 deaths among people over 30 to PM2.5 in the Iranian year 1403 and put the economic loss at about US$17.2 billion; the head of the Tehran Province Judiciary said five former managers were convicted of dereliction of duty under the law.
Persian Gulf and Oman Sea desalinated water transfer to Kerman, Yazd and Isfahan
A pipeline and desalination programme carries seawater from the Persian Gulf and Oman Sea to mines and steel plants in Kerman, Yazd and Isfahan, financed by the National Development Fund, Iranian banks and the mining and steel companies that receive most of the water. The first 850 km line was reported at US$1 billion for 180 mcm per year.
Wyss Foundation has given over $807 million to US environmental causes since 2016
The Wyss Foundation and linked groups, including Sixteen Thirty Fund, have funded US political causes alongside a nature campaign now at $1.5 billion. The Federal Election Commission found no evidence of abuse but criticised groups for not showing restricted grant contracts.
Rockhopper v. Italy (Ombrina Mare): the ICSID award and who financed it
A tribunal ordered Italy to pay Rockhopper Exploration EUR 190 million plus interest after Italy banned oil and gas activity within 12 miles of its coast. An ICSID committee annulled the award in 2025, and the claim was re-opened.
Nornickel Sulphur Programme: SO2 targets, spending and measured emissions at Norilsk and Kola
Nornickel has published successive SO2 reduction targets and investment totals for its Norilsk and Kola smelters since 2015. Company-reported Norilsk emissions were 1,146 kt in 2025 against 1,854 kt in 2015; NASA's satellite catalogue lists different values for the same years.
Russia's forest-fire control zones and federal fire-service funding
Since 2015 Russian rules have let regional commissions stop or suspend suppression of forest fires in designated control zones when forecast suppression costs exceed forecast harm. The Accounts Chamber put the zones at 534.4 million ha in 2020 and found burned area up 2.2 times and reported damage down 3 times between 2017 and 2021.
Hyrcanian forests logging moratorium: announced budgets, partial allocation and the 2025 Elit fire
Iran halted commercial logging in its northern Hyrcanian forests from late 2016 and wrote the ban into the Sixth Development Plan in January 2017. Officials announced budgets and a compensation credit; the amounts actually paid to forestry-plan operators are not on record, and a wildfire in November 2025 drew a CHF 500,000 IFRC allocation.
Burkina Faso mine rehabilitation fund collected 29.59% of expected contributions in 2023 and 49.55% in 2024
Industrial mines, semi-mechanised mines and industrial quarries in Burkina Faso pay into the FRFM, a fund for rehabilitating land affected by extraction. The fund collected CFA 7.22bn of CFA 24.39bn expected in 2023 and CFA 13.73bn of CFA 27.71bn in 2024; the government announced firmness toward non-paying operators.
Electricity and diesel for groundwater pumping in Iran: subsidies and payments
The IMF estimated Iran's explicit energy subsidies at US$58.7 billion in 2019, almost 10% of GDP, according to the World Bank. Programmes to electrify diesel-powered agricultural wells were estimated at US$1.2 billion in 2019, and in 2024 the state utility Tavanir began paying farmers to cut pumping at peak hours.
Burkina Faso Forest Investment Program project: 3.78 million tCO2eq in emission reductions estimated with an ex-ante tool
A World Bank-administered Forest Investment Program project spent USD 23.7 million in grants across 32 communes in Burkina Faso between 2014 and 2021. The 3.78 million tCO2eq in emission reductions it reported was estimated with an ex-ante tool because the monitoring, reporting and verification system was not completed.
Río Sonora copper sulphate spill and repair fund
In August 2014 about 40,000 cubic metres of acidic copper sulphate solution from a Grupo México mine entered the Sonora River in Mexico. A fund committed at 2,000 million pesos was closed in 2017 after about 1,000 million had been deposited; the Supreme Court later held the closure invalid, and in February 2026 the federal government said 500 of an agreed 1,500 million pesos had been deposited.
US syndicated conservation easement tax shelters (EcoVest, Fisher and Sinnott)
Investors in US partnerships bought land and donated conservation easements, claiming federal tax deductions that an IRS preliminary analysis put at an average of $9 per $1 invested. The IRS, a Senate investigation, courts and Congress acted over several years, and two promoters were convicted in 2023.
Iran hunting permits for wild sheep and wild goat: Department of Environment prices for foreign hunters, 2018–2025
Iran's Department of Environment issues quotas for urial, mouflon and wild goat in private reserves. In 2018 its hunting office head described permits sold to foreign hunters by the National Environment Fund at 50–70 million toman against a government price of 900,000 toman, and in 2025 a Larestan ram permit was reported at up to €40,000.
Sudan gum arabic belt: wartime production losses and EU and GCF funding
Sudan's annual gum arabic production fell from 150,000 tons to 60,000 tons because of the conflict, according to the UN Panel of Experts, which also reported traders' accounts of about 3,700 tons "looted" in Darfur in the first half of 2024 and attributed it to the RSF, allied militias and SLA/MM. The EU and the Green Climate Fund had committed money to the gum belt, including a USD 9,975,000 GCF grant.
Court of Appeal ruled ScottishPower's Ofgem settlement payments deductible
ScottishPower's 2013 to 2016 settlements with the energy regulator Ofgem included symbolic £1 penalties and payments to consumers and charities. The Court of Appeal ruled in January 2025 that payments other than the £1 penalty can be deducted for tax, and the Supreme Court has granted permission to appeal.
Derna dams collapse in 2023 after maintenance funds were not spent on upkeep
The dams above the Libyan city of Derna collapsed in September 2023, with death toll estimates from about 4,000 to more than 11,000. Maintenance money allocated in 2012 and 2013 was not spent on upkeep, and the cited sources give no environmental figures for the flood.
About 100 tonnes of iron released off Haida Gwaii in 2012 ocean experiment
In July 2012 about 100 tonnes of iron-bearing material was released into the sea off Canada's Haida Gwaii islands, paid for with 2.5 million dollars from a village fund. Canada's environment ministry searched in 2013 and no charges were recorded, and the London Protocol amendment on ocean engineering has not entered into force.
Orinoco Mining Arc: decree, state gold business and measured harm
A February 2016 presidential decree opened a 111,843.70 km² zone south of the Orinoco to state-led mining of gold, diamonds, coltan, iron and bauxite. UN bodies reported an expansion of mining outside authorisation, mercury exposure among downstream Indigenous communities and no published environmental budget.
Beach nourishment and armoring on Florida's loggerhead nesting beaches
A 2015 US Fish and Wildlife Service opinion on Army Corps of Engineers sand placement in Florida found no jeopardy for the Northwest Atlantic loggerhead population and stated that nesting success is about 10–34% lower on nourished beaches in the first year. A 2011 study found fewer nesting attempts on armored beaches.
Lumber Liquidators Lacey Act guilty plea over Russian Far East oak flooring
In October 2015 Lumber Liquidators pleaded guilty in a US federal court to a felony and four misdemeanor Lacey Act counts over hardwood flooring made in China from timber harvested in the Russian Far East. The plea agreement totalled US$13.15 million, including US$1,230,825 in payments to conservation funds.
Mongolia's dzud winters and degraded pasture: emergency funding for herders
Severe winters (dzud) killed millions of livestock in Mongolia in 2009–2010 and 2023–2024, in rangelands where most monitored sites are altered from reference condition. UN, Red Cross and state funds paid for cash transfers and carcass removal.
AdBlue cartel (Daimler, BMW, VW)
Daimler, BMW and Volkswagen coordinated the dosing of AdBlue, the fluid used to clean diesel exhaust. The European Commission fined VW and BMW 875 million euros in total; Daimler reported the cartel and was not fined.
South Korea audit reverses river restoration decision
A South Korean state audit board reversed a river restoration decision in 2023. Figures for the earlier Four Rivers works (2009–19), reported without a linked source, put the taxpayer cost at 22.2 trillion won.
Ulaanbaatar winter air pollution: stove programmes, the 2019 raw-coal ban and subsidised briquettes
Donor and state programmes in Ulaanbaatar's ger districts since 2008 paid for stove subsidies, loans and, from May 2019, a household raw-coal ban with subsidised briquettes made by a state-owned producer. The Auditor General sent findings on the producer's financing to prosecutors in April 2024.
Mauritania fishmeal industry, sardinella stocks and foreign fishing agreements
Mauritania's fishmeal plants grew from fewer than three in 2008 to 44 authorised plants in 2021, while a 2024 FAO/CECAF assessment placed round and flat sardinella in a critical, heavily overexploited state. The country received EUR 60.8 million a year from the EU under its 2021–2026 fisheries protocol and signed a 25-year fishing agreement with a Chinese company.
Las Cristinas gold project: 2008 permit denial in the Imataca reserve, Crystallex ICSID award and court-ordered sale of CITGO's parent
Venezuela denied an environmental permit for the Las Cristinas gold mine in 2008, citing damage to the Imataca forest and global warming. An investment tribunal found the denial arbitrary and awarded Crystallex US$1,202 million plus interest, and a US court later approved a US$5.892 billion sale of CITGO's parent company to pay judgments.
Rusoro Mining award for the El Callao gold mines: Venezuela's unquantified natural-resource counterclaim and Rusoro's role in the CITGO sale
An ICSID tribunal awarded Rusoro Mining US$966.5 million for Venezuela's 2011 nationalisation of its gold mines and declared that it lacked jurisdiction over Venezuela's counterclaim for damage to natural resources, which Venezuela had not quantified. Rusoro's judgment of about US$1.569 billion is discharged inside the court-approved CITGO sale.
Ukraine's Joint Implementation credits and Kyoto unit sales to Japan and Spain, 2008–2021
Ukraine hosted the largest number of Kyoto Joint Implementation projects, with 503.3 million emission reduction units issued, and sold surplus Kyoto allowances to Japan and Spain for money earmarked for emission-cutting and environmental projects. Criminal cases over the use of that money were brought; no verdict is on record.
Morocco subsidised drip irrigation as aquifers fell, and desalination followed
Morocco subsidised drip irrigation and built a 4.41 billion dirham desalination plant at Chtouka, while aquifers in Berrechid and Chtouka show annual deficits; at stake is groundwater. A desalination tender won by a consortium linked to a family-owned group drew a political complaint, and the cited sources record no penalty.
Murray-Darling irrigation efficiency subsidies, Australia, 2008 to 2018
Irrigation efficiency subsidies in the Murray-Darling basin ran from 2008 to 2018, with return flows to the river recorded as falling. At stake for nature is river flow; the cited sources list AUD 3.5 to 4 billion of spending, borne by the river and taxpayers.
TIAA and Harvard farmland buys in Brazil breached foreign-purchase limits, Incra said
US pension fund TIAA and Harvard University bought about 750,000 hectares of Brazilian farmland from 2008, through Brazilian companies and offshore structures. Brazil's land agency Incra said TIAA's post-2010 purchases of over 150,000 hectares broke the foreign-purchase law.
Khimki forest and the M11 Moscow–St Petersburg toll motorway (km 15–58)
A 43 km toll-motorway section built under a state concession with Vinci crossed the Khimki forest park near Moscow after the Supreme Court upheld the transfer of about 150 hectares of forest land in 2010. Compensation planting was promised in several amounts; the journalist Mikhail Beketov was attacked in 2008 and no suspects have been identified.
Great Green Wall: USD 19bn tracked, USD 2.5bn disbursed by March 2023, and a restored area reported at between 1.66 and almost 18 million hectares
The African Union's Great Green Wall initiative has 2030 targets of 100 million hectares restored, 250 MtC sequestered and 10 million green jobs. The UNCCD's Independent Review reported USD 19bn pledged and USD 2.5bn disbursed in March 2023; its 2026 review reported 1.66 million hectares under restoration at 31 December 2025.
Brisas gold-copper project: 2008 revocation of the environmental permit in Imataca and Gold Reserve's ICSID award
Venezuela revoked the environmental construction permit for the Brisas project on 14 April 2008 for reasons of public order, citing protection of the environment and local populations in Imataca. An ICSID tribunal awarded Gold Reserve US$713,032,000 plus interest for breach of fair and equitable treatment in 2014.
Dutch royal couple bought holiday land in Mozambique and Argentina
Crown Prince Willem-Alexander and Máxima invested in a Machangulo peninsula holiday-village development in Mozambique from 2007, and bought lakeside land in Argentina in 2009. The cited sources report missing water and toilets at five local schools and a local police chief's arrest over the death of a protester.
Dutch pension fund ABP added forest land in 2007 and held Brazilian meat shares
ABP, the Dutch public-sector pension fund, decided in 2007 to add forest land to its portfolio, and took 60 percent of a Mozambican forest fund whose plantation was found to occupy 32,000 hectares without land-use rights. By 2021 it held about 219 million dollars of shares in Brazilian meat companies, mostly JBS.
Glencore settles bribery and market manipulation charges in US, UK, Brazil
Glencore pleaded guilty to bribery and market manipulation charges in the US in May 2022 and resolved related bribery cases in the UK and Brazil, with penalties of up to 1.1 billion dollars; its UK unit was ordered to pay £280 million. Six former employees, who have pleaded not guilty, face a UK trial set for October 2027.
Eliasch Amazon land purchase
In 2006 Johan Eliasch said he had bought about 160,000 hectares in the Brazilian Amazon. An executive of the seller said the legal entitlement was 45,511 hectares.
Sakhalin-2: 2006 approval revocation, Gazprom stake purchase, 2009 damage-claim settlement and lender exits
In September 2006 Russian authorities moved to cancel the environmental approval of the Sakhalin-2 oil and gas project; on 21 December 2006 Gazprom, Shell, Mitsui and Mitsubishi signed a protocol for Gazprom to take 50% plus one share for USD 7.45 billion. A claim of RUB 390 million was settled in July 2009 by counting RUB 647 million of company environmental spending.
Zagros oak forests: the UNDP/GEF Central Zagros project, its evaluation and the fires of 2024–2026
A UNDP/GEF biodiversity project in Iran's Central Zagros ran from 2005 to 2016 with US$3.69 million of GEF funds; its terminal evaluation found that the goal and objective were not achieved. Fires in the Zagros oak forests continued, with Iran International reporting a fall in the forest organisation's dollar budget between 2021 and 2026.
Western gray whales off Sakhalin and the company-funded IUCN advisory panel
An advisory panel convened by IUCN and paid for by Sakhalin Energy as a lender condition advised on western gray whales near the Sakhalin oil and gas fields from 2006 until it ended in March 2022. In 2015 the panel and the company disagreed over the timing of seismic surveys, and the final meeting report was not released.
Oyu Tolgoi copper-gold mine: Gobi water, Undai River diversion, herder complaints and project finance
Oyu Tolgoi, a copper-gold mine in Mongolia's South Gobi, draws groundwater from the Gunii Hooloi aquifer and rerouted the ephemeral Undai River around its open pit. Herders complained to the IFC/MIGA accountability office and to the EBRD, and a US$4.4 billion project finance package was signed on 15 December 2015.
Scientist Willie Soon received over USD 1 million from fossil fuel interests
InsideClimate News reported that Willie Soon received more than USD 1 million from fossil fuel interests from 2003 to 2015, including USD 409,754 from Southern Company. The cited sources do not describe the effect of this funding on climate research or nature.
Foundations gave 558 million dollars to climate-opposition groups, 2003-2010
A 2013 study found that 140 foundations gave 558 million dollars in 5,299 grants to 91 climate-opposition groups between 2003 and 2010. Donors Trust, which hides its donors, became about a quarter of traceable foundation funding, so much of the origin of the money is unknown.
End-of-life vehicle recycling cartel (EU carmakers, ACEA)
The European Commission fined 15 car manufacturers and their trade association ACEA a total of 458 million euros for agreeing, over 2002–2017, not to advertise recycled content in vehicles and not to pay dismantlers.
Banc d'Arguin National Park, the BACoMaB trust fund and fishing pressure
The BACoMaB conservation trust fund, capitalised by KfW, AFD/FFEM, MAVA and the EU through fisheries-agreement sectoral support, finances part of the running costs of Banc d'Arguin National Park in Mauritania. The park's 2024 dashboard records rising landings of threatened sharks and rays by its resident fishers, and a 2023 study found bony fish stocks inside the park overfished.
EU LIFE funding for loggerhead conservation, 2002-2029
Four EU LIFE projects between 2002 and 2029 funded loggerhead conservation in Greece, the eastern and northern Mediterranean and the western Mediterranean. The results listed are the projects' own reports; no independent evaluation was found.
Venezuela tree cover loss, 2001–2024, and international forest finance
Global Forest Watch recorded annual tree cover loss in Venezuela of between 61,436 and 207,336 hectares in 2001–2020, with a peak in 2016. Over the same period the Global Environment Facility approved grants for national parks and forest projects, and the Green Climate Fund approved USD 3.6 million of readiness support.
World Bank US$600m farm loan coincided with a 90% fall in farm support
The World Bank approved a US$600m loan in June 2001 to move growers away from hazelnut, tobacco and sugar beet. OECD (2011) reports that the crop-switch targets were only partly met.
Corio, ABP and forest land investments (Netherlands)
Corio N.V. was a Dutch shopping-centre investor, and the cited sources record no rainforest purchase by it. Its reported main shareholder, the pension fund ABP, separately held a majority of a forestry fund in Mozambique whose subsidiary a 2010 government review found occupying 32,000 hectares without land-use rights.
Asiatic cheetah conservation project in Iran: 25 years of funding and a count of 26 animals
The Global Environment Facility, UNDP and Iran's Department of Environment funded the Conservation of the Asiatic Cheetah Project from 2001, and the Department took it over alone in December 2017. In August 2025 and August 2026 the Department counted 26 Asiatic cheetahs, 20 in the wild and 6 in captivity.
Chad–Cameroon pipeline and Doba oil fields: World Bank conditions, revenue law, Inspection Panel and 2023 nationalisation
The World Bank Group helped finance the Doba oil fields and the Chad–Cameroon export pipeline on conditions covering environmental safeguards and the use of oil revenue. Chad repaid its World Bank balances early in 2008, and in 2023 nationalised the assets ExxonMobil had agreed to sell to Savannah Energy for US$407 million.
Caspian sturgeon and caviar: trade suspensions, fishing bans and the move to farmed caviar
Legal Caspian sturgeon catch fell from about 22,000 tonnes in the late 1970s to about 1,100 tonnes in the late 1990s, according to TRAFFIC. CITES published wild-caviar export quotas for the last time for 2010–11, the five Caspian states have renewed a commercial fishing ban each year since 2017 (covering 2026), and farms now supply the legal caviar.
Degelen Mountain plutonium security operation (United States–Kazakhstan–Russia)
A US-managed, three-country operation secured plutonium left in test tunnels and boreholes at the Degelen massif of the former Semipalatinsk Test Site. The White House put the estimated cost at $150 million over eight years; a Belfer Center report describes a 17-year, $150 million operation.
Lake Urmia decline and the Urmia Lake Restoration Program
Lake Urmia in north-west Iran lost about 90% of its area in the two decades after 1995, according to NASA. A state restoration programme set up in 2013 is reported with differing spending totals, and a Majlis investigation report on it was sent to the judiciary in May 2024.
Limni Bay / Polis-Gialia golf and villa resort, Cyprus: infringement procedure closed (2019), land sold (2025)
A golf, hotel and beachfront-property resort was planned at Limni Bay on the Akamas peninsula, in the Natura 2000 site Polis-Gialia, which has loggerhead nesting beaches. The European Commission closed its infringement procedure on 24 January 2019; the project was cancelled in 2021 and the land was split and sold in February 2025.
Usinsk pipeline spill (Komi, 1994) and the World Bank and EBRD emergency loans
Repeated failures of the Kharyaga–Usinsk oil pipeline in the Komi Republic in 1994 released oil into bogs, creeks and the Kolva River. The World Bank lent US$99 million and the EBRD US$25 million to the Russian Federation, on-lent to the pipeline operator Komineft; published estimates of the volume spilled differ widely.
Baikonur lease, rocket-stage drop zones and fuel monitoring; Proton phase-out and Baiterek
Russia leases Baikonur for $115 million a year, extended to 2050 at the same rent, and its launches drop spent stages on Kazakh land. Kazakhstan’s 2018–2019 national report recorded petroleum by-products in drop-zone soils and stated that a lack of funding in 2019 prevented an environmental impact study of areas affected by fallen stages and debris.
1991 World Bank memo signed by Lawrence Summers on pollution in Africa
A December 1991 World Bank memo signed by chief economist Lawrence Summers said less-populated African countries were under-polluted. The memo's author later called the text satirical, and Summers said he had signed it without adequate review.
UN Compensation Commission "F4" environmental claims by Iran for the 1990–91 Gulf War
Iran filed environmental claims with the UN Compensation Commission for smoke, oil and refugee-related damage it said reached its south and south-west from the 1990–91 Gulf War. The F4 Panel recommended awards in four instalments; most of the long-term remediation claims received no award.
Dalyan / Iztuzu Beach, Türkiye: Kaunos Beach Hotel project stopped (1987)
Construction of an 1,800-bed hotel complex, the Kaunos Beach Hotel, began at Dalyan in April 1987 and drew protests from IUCN, Greenpeace, WWF and others. The project stopped in September 1987.
Petrobras sponsorship of Projeto TAMAR, Brazil, 1982–2021
Petrobras sponsored the Fundação Pró-Tamar, which runs Brazil's sea turtle conservation project, from 1982 and announced the end of the partnership on 6 September 2021. Petrobras and the foundation give different accounts of who chose not to continue.
Iran–Iraq war (1980–88): environmental damage recorded by the UN expert team in 1991 and Iran's damage estimate
A UN expert team sent under Security Council resolution 598 recorded Iran's account of war damage in 1991, including tar on more than 250 km of beaches and an Iranian government assessment of USD 97,248 million in non-military damage. No compensation mechanism for the war is on record; Iranian lawmakers later raised reparations demands.
Hamoun wetlands, Helmand water and the EU/UNDP restoration project
The Hamoun lakes on the Iran–Afghanistan border, fed by the Helmand river, were nearly gone by 2001, according to NASA. A 1973 treaty sets Iran's share of Helmand water, and sources give different volumes for it; an EU-funded, UNDP-implemented project of €10 million has run from 2020.
Earth Day 1970 seed money came from a senator, two unions and a foundation
Companies sponsored city events for the 1990 Earth Day anniversary, and the national board rejected a donation of more than USD 4 million. The case concerns who paid for the early Earth Day movement and when corporate sponsors appeared.
Lake Chad: the 90% shrinkage figure, the Transaqua water-transfer plan and a proposed USD 50bn Lake Chad Fund
The FAO reported in 2009 that Lake Chad had shrunk by about 90% since 1963; a 2020 satellite study found its extent stable over the previous two decades, with the large loss falling between the 1960s and the 1980s. A transfer of water from the Congo/Ubangi basin and a Lake Chad Fund of about USD 50bn were proposed in the lake's name.
Marshall Islands nuclear tribunal awards over USD 2bn; payments are a small fraction
A Marshall Islands tribunal awarded more than USD 2 billion for nuclear-testing damage, but the fund financed with USD 150 million from the United States was depleted in 2009. A Bikini resettlement trust fund has also shrunk sharply, and a lawsuit alleges excess payouts to its manager.
Brazil's army-led Verde Brasil spent USD 90.3m; deforestation rose above average
Brazil's Operation Verde Brasil, run by the armed forces, spent USD 90.3 million in two years, while deforestation rose to 62% above the 2009 to 2018 average and violation notices fell 65%. In Colombia's Artemisa operation, villagers were arrested while financiers were not.
Reportedly $600 million of Indonesia's $5.8 billion reforestation fund left forestry
An Inquirer opinion piece cited in the sources reports that $600 million of the $5.8 billion collected for Indonesia's reforestation fund went outside forestry. The figures are not checked against an official source, so the scale is unconfirmed.
Mylo mycelium leather halted in July 2023 for lack of financing
Mylo mycelium leather, used by Stella McCartney and Lululemon, stopped production in July 2023 after no financing was found. MycoWorks, another mycelium leather maker, went bankrupt in October 2025.