“NbS remain severely underfunded. Current finance flows to NbS are US$200 billion, only a third of levels needed to reach climate, biodiversity and land degradation targets by 2030.” (source: UNEP’s State of Finance for Nature – 2023)

The precision and progress on NbS have to go hand in hand and contribute towards a more resilient and sustainable future. This will allow its right implementation and appropriation and why clarification is needed. Because NbS is being indistinctly used with other concepts.

The choice of the term “action” in the definition underlines the need for active solutions for addressing societal challenges. All NbS interventions are solutions that are based on nature – or functioning ecosystems – that benefit people and nature simultaneously, and do not cover actions that derive from or are inspired by nature.

Nature derived solutions, such as wind or hydropower, all of which are derived from nature and help fulfil low carbon energy and many other societal needs through production methods deriving from natural processes. While these approaches are vital, they do not necessarily lead to the improvement of the ecological system or increase biodiversity.

Nature-inspired solutions include innovative design and production of materials, structures and systems that are modelled on biological processes and are nature-inspired – strategies found in nature to solve human design challenges, such as biomimicry.

Renewables such as solar and wind are not considered as Nature-based Solutions but rather technologies that derive their principal inputs from nature. While absolutely necessary for achieving climate targets, these Nature derived solutions are distinct from NbS because they do not require a healthy/well-managed ecosystem. Furthermore, the presence of these technologies does not deliver biodiversity benefits and, in some cases, if poorly designed, can actually result in negative conservation outcomes.

While not NbS, renewables such as solar and wind rely on the power of healthy and functioning ecosystems to generate energy. NbS could support such operations as a complementary solution to either mitigate their impact on ecosystems they rely on, or support the efficiency and longevity of the infrastructures. For example, in the context of hydropower NbS could enhance the water security within the power station’s watershed and contribute to the extension of the reservoirs’ lifespan. In addition, it can contribute to the reduction in dredging costs, for example by sedimentation control.

In addition to providing an effective pathway for integrating nature into decision-making and scaling up such efforts, NbS also presents a holistic framework that supports identifying and establishing synergies in policies, commitments, and targets. Given the interconnected nature of societal challenges and the central role that nature plays in addressing them, NbS facilitates the breaking down of institutional silos, encourages cooperation and synergy, and promotes joint actions at various levels. At the international level, NbS has been recognized as a means to foster synergies across international policy processes and to identify and promote joint and coordinated actions under various Multilateral Environmental Agreements (MEAs) such as Nationally Determined Contributions and National Adaptation Plans under UNFCCC, National Biodiversity Strategies and Action Plans Under UNCDB and Land Degradation Neutrality targets under UNCCD.

Conservation solutions primarily target the wellbeing of fauna, flora and the physical environment nature occupies. Any benefits to people may be ancillary but are not a targeted outcome when designing the action. NbS is the deliberate and purposeful design of conservation actions to yield both, biodiversity and human wellbeing benefits.

The Nature-based Solutions concept is grounded in the science and practice of the Ecosystem Approach. The NbS concept’s purpose is to outline policy and implementation pathways for how the Ecosystem Approach can be mobilized at scale, to address specific societal needs of food and water security, climate change mitigation and adaptation, human health, socioeconomic development, disaster risk management and for reversing ecosystem degradation and biodiversity loss. NbS are increasingly becoming a recognized pathway to operationalize the EA in addressing societal challenges.

Sectors across the world which deal with providing human wellbeing needs mentioned above, be it Governments, companies or non-profit organisations. Additionally, NbS is useful for conservation actors to leverage, as it could make conservation interventions longer lasting through local ownership. Local populations involved will likely give more value to conservation actions when they simultaneously help meet human wellbeing needs instead of prioritising otherwise.

Mountain ecosystems are highly affected by climate change, especially through warmer temperatures and changes in the water household. Healthy mountain ecosystems mitigate the impacts of climate change for local communities, wildlife, and populations downstream worldwide. The Scaling up Mountain EbA Project implemented actions, such as restoration of roadside vegetation, restoration of dams and riverbanks in the Himalayas (Nepal), Mount Elgon (Uganda), and the Andes (Peru) to improve the ecosystem functions.
The Save Our Mangroves Now! initiative envisions a world where mangrove habitats and the communities they support thrive together. Focused on the Western Indian Ocean, it brings together governments, conservation experts, and coastal communities to conserve and restore mangroves. Their mission is to promote policies, programs, and investments that rejuvenate mangrove ecosystems, combat climate change, and support local livelihoods.

NbS take action to scale, shifting from site-based approaches to considerations of the larger system surrounding (and thus affected) the site. These systems could include ecosystems, social systems or market systems. NbS differs in that it drives the long-term sustainability of the intervention by embedding it into policy and regulatory frameworks, thereby making it the new business as usual. Additionally, NbS aims to derive development needs because of healthy ecosystems and not at their expense or detriment.