Time to focus, re-focus on nature-based solutions : can nature-based solutions provide breakthrough for tackling climate crisis?

Abstract

Reviewing the main points of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change’s (IPCC) Sixth Assessment Report (AR6), which predicts an increase in climate change in all regions in the coming decades, including increasing heat waves, rising sea levels, longer warm and shorter cold seasons, changing precipitation patterns, as well as the United Nations’ (UN) repeated warnings of increasing greenhouse gas emissions in the atmosphere with disastrous consequences for people and the planet, it is clear that climate change is intensifying in all regions. To address the problem of climate change, the policy brief describes a breakthrough approach to strengthening ecosystem resilience, protecting biodiversity, and reducing the risk of extreme weather events and climaterelated disasters through the implementation of nature-based solutions (NbS). It also discusses existing NbS collaborations and partnerships for climate change adaptation around the world, as well as global policies that can help enforce NbS, particularly by private actors and companies. In addition, the authors aim to show how and in what ways NbS offer a way to address the climate and biodiversity crises in a synergistic and cost-effective way by enabling companies to scale up their actions, and evaluate the effectiveness of their actions. In this way, they also hope to generate ideas for future research and building multi-stakeholder partnerships for NbS.