Nature Based Solutions and the Green Economy

Dear Partner,

Greetings from the Advocates Coalition for Development and Environment (ACODE). Welcome to the Third Issue of the Green Economy Coalition Briefer! The theme of the 3rd Issue of the Green Economy Briefer is: ‘Nature Based Solutions and the Green Economy’.

Nature-based solutions (NbSs) refer to “actions to protect, sustainably manage, and restore natural or modified ecosystems that address societal challenges effectively and adaptively, simultaneously providing for human well-being and biodiversity benefits.” There is significant and growing interest in the role nature-based solutions can play in a net-zero and climate-resilient society. This trend is illustrated by the development of an IUCN Global Standard on nature-based solutions and the development of guidelines by the Nature-Based Solutions Initiative. The rising interest in nature-based solutions is also matched by associated interest in a ‘green economy’ as an economy that improves human wellbeing and builds a more equal society whilst reducing environmental risks and scarcities.

Nature Based Solutions are expected to provide synergy effects between technologies and environments, by breaking away from relying on technologies (engineering), and appropriately utilizing nature’s resilience. There have long been attempts to ensure environmental protection, but NbSs has recently attracted a lot of attention because there is a rapid increase in evidence-based research findings in which solutions based on nature’s resilience or recovery ability can provide multiple benefits.

Nature-based solutions matter for global action on climate change, and for a green economy. Nature-based solutions help to mitigate the extent of climate change, hence the levels of economic disruption and societal harm, by preventing carbon dioxide emissions or sequestering carbon to keep it out of the atmosphere. Nature-based solutions can help to adapt to climate change effects by reducing harm and damage from extreme events such as flooding and extreme heat events. Nature-based solutions can also provide a wider range of benefits in support of a society that is resilient and better placed to cope with climate-related shocks and stresses. These benefits include biodiversity conservation as a basis for healthy ecosystems; food security; physical/mental health and social connectivity.

In our third issue of the Green Economy Briefer, we explore the ways in which nature-based solutions contribute to a green economy, and identify some of the challenges and recommendations for transitioning to a green economy through nature-based approaches.

By Dr. Arthur Bainomugisha - Executive Director, ACODE.