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Our scientific understanding of nature’s role in the fight against climate change has deepened in the past three years and is now well-established. So too has our understanding of the full range of benefits that nature-based solutions deliver for people around the world: whether providing jobs, filtering water, reducing air pollution, providing resilience to extreme weather or regulating local climate.
However, the economic case for nature-based solutions remains poorly defined and understood. This presents the proponents of nature-based solutions with an acute challenge as enormous amounts of finance are currently being mobilised to address the economic fall-out of the COVID-19 crisis. While there is already much discussion about how economic stimulus measures can and should avoid provoking harmful long-term impacts, and rather hasten the transition to more resilient and sustainable societies, by and large this discussion overlooks nature-based solutions. In part, this is because their economic benefits have not been articulated and communicated effectively enough.
While the most immediate priorities of COVID-19 responses have rightly been health and economic well-being, the crisis has also created a new appreciation for how our encroachment on nature poses significant risks. There is, however, much more work to be done to help decision-makers recognize the significant benefits and opportunities that nature-based solutions can offer as part of their economic recovery plans.
N4C has reviewed scores of reports and research and has pulled together relevant information about the economic value of nature-based solutions in a single place for the first time. In preparing this document, N4C has identified three key principles for nature-positive recovery plans for people, economy and climate:
- The first principle is do no harm
- The second principle is to properly value the full range of benefits that natural ecosystems offer, and the role they play in building sustainable economies and communities
- The third principle is to appreciate the direct economic contribution of certain nature-based solutions, which of course have the added value of a full range of other benefits
This is not a narrative document that is designed to be read from front to back. Instead, N4C expects most users to be searching for information that relates to a specific topic or geography.
