PBL Netherlands Environmental Assessment Agency launched a new website dedicated to information on Nature-based Solutions (NbS). The main objective of the website is to inform decision makers about the potential of implementing Nature-based solutions to address global sustainability challenges.
Nature-based solutions contribute toward the achievement of Sustainable Development Goals (SDG’s), for example, climate action (SDG 13), life on land (SDG 15), zero hunger (SDG 2) and clean water and sanitation (SDG 6) among others. Policy discussion increasingly includes NbS, resulting in frameworks such as the UN Decade on Ecosystem Restoration (2021-2030). The Netherlands Environmental Assessment Agency hopes their new NbS website can further facilitate future NbS policy decisions by providing an overview of existing work and scenario planning from around the world.
Following an introduction on Nature-based solutions, the site is then divided into four main sections: Global Perspectives, Solutions, Cases and Background. The Global Perspectives section explains scenario planning. Scenarios are storylines and assumptions on potential future developments, and models use these to project future developments. PBL uses scenario planning to assess potential future environmental changes, which can be used to inform policy makers. The section outlines three main scenarios: business-as-usual, restoration, and sharing the planet.
The Solutions section explains a wide range of nature-based solutions for restoring and conserving ecosystems as well as for improving land management are available and already being implemented on the ground. Solutions are organised primarily by the landscape type that they target.
The Cases section shows stories of successful restoration solutions and land use management already in place around the globe, that showcase what the global perspective can look like when applied locally. On-the-ground examples include peatland reslience in Russia, Agro-ecology solutions in Northern Thailand, and restoration of grasslands in Northern Mexico. The Background section gives more context and sources regarding NbS and global scenarios and attempts to link this information to the local realities .
For more information and to explore the resources of the new site, visit here.
Top photo: Tim Swaan, Unsplash