World spends $1.8tn a year on subsidies that harm environment, study finds

Research prompts warnings humanity is financing its own extinction' through subsidies damaging to the climate and wildlife

• Harmful subsidies: why is the world still funding the destruction of nature?

The world is spending at least $1.8tn (1.3tn) every year on subsidies driving the annihilation of wildlife and a rise in global heating, according to a new study, prompting warnings that humanity is financing its own extinction.

From tax breaks for beef production in the Amazon to financial support for unsustainable groundwater pumping in the Middle East, billions of pounds of government spending and other subsidies are harming the environment, says the first cross-sector assessment for more than a decade.