Working with nature to protect people: How nature-based solutions reduce climate change and weather-related disasters

Communities across the world are experiencing the growing devastating impacts of climate change and weather-related disasters. The resulting social, econom- ic and environmental impacts are disproportionately affecting the world’s most vulnerable people. Without urgent action to combat climate change, build climate resilience and reduce the risk of climate change and weather-related disasters, these disasters will continue to cause unprecedented damage.

This report shows that scaling up NbS protects society from some of the most severe consequences of climate change, including the economic cost of losses and damages; reduces some of the intensity of climate and weather-related disasters; and potentially reduces the number of people in need of international humanitarian assistance due to climate change. Each year, implementing NbS could provide developing countries with valuable protection against economic cost of climate change, estimated to save developing countries at least US$ 104 billion damages in 2030. Now is a critical moment to unleash the full potential of NbS for disaster risk reduction and climate change adaptation by supporting their successful implementation and scale-up. IFRC and WWF are joining together to accelerate the implementa- tion of NbS and are calling on governments, the private sector, practitioners and civil society to act.