Nature’s tariffs: beyond border universal costs humanity cannot escape

The mounting and unavoidable costs of climate change, environmental degradation, and biodiversity loss represent “Nature’s Tariffs” – which, unlike trade tariffs, cannot be negotiated or reversed – writes Dr Pradeep Monga, Senior Advisor and Policy Director at the World Biogas Association.

This op-ed was first published in The Pioneer newspaper on 29 November 2025.

In today’s geopolitical landscape, as nations assess the impact of trade tariffs worldwide, we often think of taxes on goods and services crossing borders. However, humanity faces other, far more serious tariffs: Nature’s Tariffs. Unlike trade tariffs, these are not negotiable, avoidable, or reversible once fully imposed. They do not respect borders. The most important question we must ask is whether we see Nature’s Tariffs as a crisis or an opportunity to change how we produce, consume, manage our energy, food, water, and waste systems, and connect to overall ecosystem sustainability.

This is increasingly clear from the messages emerging from discussions at COP 30 in Belém. There can be no climate justice without protecting the Amazon and similar ecosystems worldwide, and global collective climate action must finally match the scale of the crisis.

Nature’s Tariffs are being collected every day through more frequent floods, hurricanes, and other extreme weather events, alongside lost livelihoods and struggling communities. They affect all nations and regions but in different ways and to varying degrees. Most troublingly, the most vulnerable communities pay the highest price, whether smallholder farmers in Africa, island nations in the Pacific, local and indigenous communities in Asia, or the urban poor in megacities. These groups bear the full brunt of Nature’s Tariffs despite contributing little to cause them.

Ultimately, however, no one will escape them. From disrupted supply chains to rising incidences of floods and droughts, increasing hunger and food insecurity, excessive air and water pollution, and mass migration, Nature’s Tariffs will reach us all. They will be collected irrespective of location, position, or hierarchy.

Across the world, we are witnessing a troubling pattern: regions once marked by predictable weather now face severe fluctuations between floods and droughts. Unplanned urbanisation has disrupted natural drainage systems in many developing countries, while rapid loss of green cover has reduced the land’s ability to retain water and nutrients. Cities flood during the rainy season, and neighbouring fields crack and dry during droughts. Both extremes disrupt urban and rural life, destabilise supply chains, intensify food insecurity and hunger, and displace millions.

Hurricane Mellisa’s devastation in Jamaica, massive landslides in Himachal Pradesh and Uttarakhand, floods in the Philippines, persistent heavy rainfall in England and Wales and the consequent flooding in Monmouth last week, and severe air pollution in Delhi are just a few examples of Nature’s Tariffs at work.

Air pollution is one of the deadliest aspects of Nature’s Tariffs. Invisible yet pervasive, it causes an estimated seven million premature deaths each year. It burdens healthcare systems, reduces productivity, disproportionately affects women and impoverished communities, and diminishes quality of life. Excessive air pollution from fossil fuel use, crop residue burning, particulate matter, and smog-filled skies over megacities, including Delhi, are not only increasing health risks; they represent the mounting ecological debt that becomes payable as Nature’s Tariffs.

Land health and soil quality underpin food security, agriculture, biodiversity, and the water cycle. Yet intensive farming, overuse of chemical fertilisers, unplanned development, and deforestation are degrading land at an alarming pace. About one third of the world’s landscapes and soils are already degraded. As soil health declines, so does our ability to feed a growing global population. Nature’s Tariffs manifest here as desertification, hunger, and ecological collapse.

Excessive waste generation accelerates Nature’s Tariffs. More than 105 billion tonnes of organic waste are produced each year, including food waste, crop residues, animal manure, forestry by-products, and sewage sludge. Only 2–3% is treated or recycled. When unmanaged in landfills or open dumps, organic waste becomes a major source of methane, responsible for roughly 20% of global methane emissions. Beyond its climate impact, it pollutes water and soil and poses severe health risks. Once Nature’s Tariffs start to accumulate, their costs grow exponentially. It is time to convert all organic waste into biogas and biomethane to cut greenhouse gas emissions, improve energy security, enhance food security, and strengthen the circular economy.

While parties discussed the health of the Amazon at COP 30, it became evident that the costs of inaction are rising daily. Planetary boundaries have already been crossed in several areas. Addressing climate change, biodiversity loss, and land degradation simultaneously and decisively will determine humanity’s survival. The only way to reduce or eliminate Nature’s Tariffs is to invest in climate mitigation and adaptation, clean energy, regenerative agriculture, land restoration, sustainable waste management, and ecological sustainability together. In doing so, we can turn a profound crisis into a major opportunity by making informed decisions about how we produce and consume goods and services and by adopting lifestyles that support a sustainable future for all.

Net Zero and nature-based solutions are two sides of the same coin.

Waste-to-clean-energy through anaerobic digestion to produce biogas is one of the most promising and cost-effective ways to address climate, energy, food, waste, and environmental challenges at global and national levels. At full potential, biogas can deliver half of the Global Methane Pledge, avoid nearly 0.15°C of global warming, and cut global greenhouse gas emissions by 11% by 2030.

It is time for bold action and firm decisions to address root causes. The moment to lower or eliminate Nature’s Tariffs is today.