What Are Nature-based Solutions and Why Do They Matter?

As the world grapples with rising emissions and temperatures, a wide range of technologies such as Direct Air Capture and Carbon Capture and Storage are being presented as solutions to our climate crisis. Although they may play a role within a broader decarbonisation pathway, they should not be viewed as the fix-all solutions. Instead, scientists and climate experts have repeatedly maintained that one of the most effective and long-term solutions should be to simply harness nature.

Nature-based solutions (NbS) is defined by the UN Office for Disaster Risk Reduction (UNDRR) as “actions to protect, sustainably manage and restore natural or modified ecosystems that address societal challenges, such as climate change and disaster risk, effectively and adaptively, simultaneously providing human well-being and biodiversity benefit”. They may include practices such as biodiversity restoration, afforestation, reforestation and regenerative agriculture. In short, NbS can both contribute to decarbonisation efforts and provide disaster risk mitigation measures while contributing to societal wellbeing. For instance, Drawdown Explorer, the world’s biggest climate solutions platform, categorises every single nature-based carbon removal solution as “highly recommended” – the highest available ranking. The good news? These solutions often simply involve the protection and restoration of our ecosystems – no need for expensive and resource-intensive technologies and equipment.

Guidelines for NbS

In 2020, a consortium of 20 UK-based organisations developed a set of guidelines to streamline NbS adoption. It was later adopted by the Together With Nature campaign to help inform the planning, implementation, and evaluation of NbS projects. The guidelines are:

1. NbS are not a substitute for the rapid phase-out of fossil fuels and must not delay urgent action to decarbonise our economies.

2. NbS involve the protection, restoration or management of a wide range of natural and semi-natural ecosystems; the sustainable management of aquatic systems and working lands; or the creation of novel ecosystems in and around cities or across the wider landscape.

3. NbS are designed, implemented, managed and monitored by or in partnership with Indigenous Peoples and local communities through a process that fully respects and champions local rights and knowledge, and generates local benefits.

4. NbS support or enhance biodiversity, that is, the diversity of life from the level of the gene to the level of the ecosystem.

Advantage of NbS

NbS are one of these climate solutions that improve emissions and reduce climate risk at the same time. Besides capturing greenhouse gas emissions, NbS can help control flooding and erosion, strengthen coastal defence, provide cooling and shading, improve food and water security, protect livelihoods and cultural values, and contribute to social capital.

For example, a project on the eastern coast of Kenya has gathered a community to plant mangrove trees to help generate income, protect their land from erosion and flooding, and in turn their livelihoods. The estimated 5000 mangrove trees planted also capture emissions, contributing to global decarbonisation. Elsewhere, a project is underway to restore Dartmoor’s peatland as part of a wider £13 million initiative aiming to rehabilitate 2,600 hectares of degraded peatland across the South West England. More globally, regenerative agriculture is increasingly adopted as a farming best-practice to help restore soil health, improve biodiversity, and help sequester carbon while securing food production.

These projects are cost-effective, long-term solutions that provide wide-ranging benefits for communities and biodiversity. This is especially critical when estimates believe that around one million of the world’s species are currently facing extinction, threatening the delicate balance of ecosystems. This high rate of extinction is largely driven by human exploitation of species’ habitats, resulting in significant land and marine ecosystem loss and degradation. NbS therefore aim to restore the health and resilience of these natural systems.

NbS’ contribution to risk mitigation is also crucial in a time where the impacts of climate change are increasingly noticeable through exacerbated heat waves, cold snaps, storms, flooding, wildfires, and much more. They provide accessible measures to Indigenous Peoples and local communities.

Wider role of NbS

However, NbS like any other carbon capture solution, should not be seen as a licence to keep emitting more carbon. Instead, NbS should be developed in parallel with deep decarbonisation efforts at the national/regional, organisational and individual level. The belief that NbS could contribute to 30% of global climate mitigation is therefore both encouraging and misleading. Yes, on one hand, NbS will help capture and store carbon, however, it is important to remember that ecosystems have a limited carbon storage capacity and can therefore not capture unlimited amounts of carbon. And yet, NbS are sometimes used to generate carbon credits to help offset and “compensate” for an organisation’s emissions such as the mangrove project in Kenya.

Therefore, instead of buying carbon credits from NbS purely to offset emissions, an organisation should consider incorporating these projects into their wider sustainability strategy and portfolio. Especially when nature is increasingly recognised as a material topic presenting dependencies, impacts, risks and opportunities. Or, an organisation can contribute to NbS purely as the right thing to do.

Assessing NbS Projects

However, just like carbon reduction projects, it is crucial that organisations looking to finance or invest in NbS assess the quality of the projects they are interested in. NbS projects should align with the aforementioned guidelines and should always be closely monitored and measured with clear outcomes reported clearly and concisely.

Concluding Remarks

In short, NbS are a critical component of global decarbonisation pathways. They contribute to climate change mitigation while simultaneously enhancing resilience to escalating physical climate risks. Beyond carbon reduction, well-designed and managed NbS initiatives support biodiversity, strengthen ecosystem resilience, and help safeguard the livelihoods of local communities. These projects typically focus on the protection, restoration, and sustainable management of terrestrial and marine ecosystems, often requiring relatively low technological input compared with engineered solutions.

However, the role of NbS within corporate sustainability strategies must be carefully managed. NbS should not be used as a substitute for direct emissions reductions, nor as a justification for delaying internal decarbonisation. Organisations should first prioritise deep internal emissions reductions, targeting cuts of around 90% in line with science-based pathways. Only the residual hard-to-abate emissions should be addressed through high-quality carbon removal credits. On their way there, organisations might also use NbS credits to help either with carbon neutrality goals (as long as it complies with ISO 14068) or for Ongoing Emissions Responsibility (formerly known as BVCM).  Alongside this, companies could and should integrate a nature-based approach into their sustainability strategies by assessing nature-related dependencies, impacts, risks, and opportunities, and by setting measurable targets.

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