Scaling investment in Nature-based Solutions for climate resilient infrastructure
A newly launched Global Tool and Finance Report, developed by the University of Oxford's Environmental Change Institute (ECI) and the Global Center on Adaptation (GCA), aim to help scale investment in nature-based solutions for climate infrastructure resilience.
Nature-based solutions (NbS) can play a central role in climate change adaptation, delivering multiple benefits for resilience, mitigation, biodiversity, and human well-being. A UNEP report by NbSI's DPhil Researcher Robyn Haggis highlights the broad impact of nature-based infrastructure, influencing up to 79% of Sustainable Development Goal targets. To effectively address climate change and achieve sustainable development, funding for NbS must be urgently and significantly increased. UNEP estimates that investment in NbS needs to almost triple to $542 billion globally by 2030 to meet critical biodiversity and climate goals.
The new report and analytical tool, launched last week at the 'Scaling investments in NbS for Climate Resilient Infrastructure' consultation, aim to help policymakers, financial institutions and investors to identify and map opportunities for scaling funding for NbS projects supporting infrastructure resilience.
Finance Report: Scaling investments for climate-resilient nature-based solutions
In the Finance Report, Nicola Ranger and Dorian van Raalte review the status of nature finance globally, outlining opportunities for mobilising private finance for NbS for adaptation. They find that most existing nature-related investments are in well-established economic sectors that deliver attractive commercial returns, such as sustainable and improved practices in agriculture and forestry sectors. Adaptation-related benefits are difficult to monetise and therefore projects which deliver positive adaptation outcomes, such as the social and biodiversity gains delivered by 'green infrastructure' NbS, face challenges for attracting investment. Key opportunities to overcome these challenges include investing in methods to value adaptation benefits, and mechanisms for de-risking investments, for example through blended finance and support from development finance institutions.
Global Tool: Data-driven tool for NbS investment decisions
The Global Tool for NbS provides actionable, data-driven insights for policymakers, financial institutions, and investors to facilitate the integration of NbS into infrastructure planning and enhance resilience. Developed through a collaboration between the University of Oxford and the Global Center on Adaptation (GCA), the tool offers a preliminary global screening of NbS opportunity areas-regions where nature-based interventions can significantly improve infrastructure resilience. The NbS Map visualises these opportunity areas, identifying locations where NbS can mitigate the impacts of coastal flooding, river flooding, and landslides on transport infrastructure. A key metric in this analysis is the Baseline Expected Annual Damages (EAD)-the estimated financial losses from these hazards within the influence area of NbS interventions. By quantifying risk exposure and potential benefits, the tool helps decision-makers prioritise NbS investments to reduce infrastructure vulnerability and enhance climate resilience.