Grand Planetary Challenges Need a Grand Coalition to Solve Them

Photo highlighting the activities and successes of the 'Promoting Nature-based Solutions for Land Restoration while Strengthening National Monitoring Technical Working Group in Kenya: Phase 2' project funded by UK PACT. Credit: Anthony Ochieng/CIFOR-ICRAFOpinion by Lulseged Tamene Desta (nairobi, kenya)Wednesday, August 26, 2026Inter Press Service NAIROBI, Kenya, August 26 (IPS) - Several coalitions exist today to defend the territories in which people live and work. Global leaders have long understood the importance of shared responsibility for collective security and have invested significant time in establishing networks, partnerships and alliances. In 2025, global spending on defense reached a record $2.9 trillion. But the global community is increasingly recognizing that today’s gravest existential risks arise from a war being waged against nature itself – and our defenses are woefully fragmented and underfunded. The world is investing only about $220 billion a year for nature-based solutions, compared to $7.3 trillion for nature-negative activities.This is not just a discrete, isolated environmental concern. The triple planetary crises of land degradation, biodiversity loss a...