Post by Boston University Global Development Policy Center

In a new op-ed published in Mongabay, Timon Forster, Rishikesh Ram Bhandary and Kevin P Gallagher call for a deeper understanding of the impacts of forest and biodiversity loss on economic systems as the International Monetary Fund rethinks its lending approach during the 2026 Review of Program Design and Conditionality. The authors draw on their peer-reviewed research previously published in One Earth by Cell Press. Key points from the op-ed include: 💡 An IMF loan is associated with an increase in annual tree cover loss by 9.2 percent. 💡 To comply with IMF conditions, countries can end up instituting policies that allow them to extract economic value from accessible natural resources, such as forests. 💡 Lending programs should enable member countries to invest in nature and put their economies on more resilient footing, not push countries toward short-term fixes that deplete national resources. Read the op-ed: https://lnkd.in/eNv3SMGx Revisit the journal article: https://lnkd.in/ebjkiNeD