Thread by @NathalieSeddon

1/20 Out today @ScienceMagazine HARNESSING THE POTENTIAL OF NATURE-BASED SOLUTIONS FOR MITIGATING AND ADAPTING TO CLIMATE CHANGE, in which I summarise recent research on #naturebasedsolutions & highlight key areas for future research. A 🧵
👉science.org/doi/10.1126/sc…

2/20 Nature-based solutions (NbS) are actions that involve people working with nature, as part of nature, to address societal challenges, providing benefits for both human well-being & biodiversity.

Global traction - recent rise of NbS up business, policy & research agendas 👇

3/20 For examples of good practice #naturebasedsolutions, check out this interactive global map:
…es.naturebasedsolutionsinitiative.org

4/20 While many governments & organisations are embracing NbS, some have rejected the approach over concerns about effectiveness & misuse in greenwashing.

This #ScienceReview summarizes how interdisciplinary research & traditional knowledge can & must help address these issues.

5/20 NbS make a vital contribution to reaching #netzero emissions this century by reducing the release of GHGs from working lands & by protecting & enhancing carbon sinks on land & in the sea; but only if combined with rapid fossil-fuel phase out...👇

6/20 This underscores the need to consider the many other well-evidenced benefits of NbS, especially their critical role supporting human #adaptation to climate change as a process through time and by protecting #biodiversity
naturebasedsolutionsevidence.info
@ScienceMagazine

7/20 NbS have the advantage of being effective, ready, scalable, & affordable, relative to technological solutions, especially over the long-term.

Yet the default remains engineered solutions. This is a missed opportunity to build resilience, especially in lower income nations.

8/20 NbS effectiveness varies with type & condition of ecosystems, type of interventions involved & how they are implemented. Overall, protecting intact ecosystems brings the greatest benefits, followed by management of working lands, & lastly restoration
science.org/doi/10.1126/sc…

9/20 NbS potential is limited by availability of suitable land/ sea area, but while some NbS compete with food & fibre, many can be implemented on existing working lands where NbS such as #agroforestry can enhance yields in more unpredictable climates.
@ICRAF @IIED @NFUtweets

10/20 Even where space is available for NbS, climate change driven risks (fire, floods, droughts & new pests) can be too high to allow for recovery & adaptation.

Many ecosystems are transitioning to states that either cannot support human adaptation or are net-sources of GHGs

11/20 Such climate-driven threats are compounded by pollution, logging and fragmentation, which reduce resilience via loss of #biodiversity.

Conversely, careful adaptive management of #naturebasedsolutions over time can reduce these threats and increase climate #resilience.

12/20 Plus institutional & socioeconomic factors hinder NbS implementation & upkeep, esp. the need to overcome siloed governance & for secure, sustainable finance flows to the communities & projects that need it most. Land ownership and access are also critical issues.

13/ Despite many benefits, NbS have become controversial for 3 reasons
🙁NbS are being used in “greenwashing”
🙁Actions badged as NbS are sometimes implemented without respecting local people
🙁Misuse of NbS can harm biodiversity, e.g. when plantations replace native ecosystems

14/20 To address these issues, many organisations have developed guidance on what constitute successful, sustainable #naturebasedsolutions.

For example:
nbsguidelines.info
iucn.org/theme/nature-b…

These converge on a set of four key recommendations 👇

15/20
1) NbS are not an alternative to the rapid phase out of fossil fuels;
2) NbS protect, restore & connect a wide range of ecosystems on land and in the sea;
3) NbS respect local rights & knowledge;
4) NbS support biodiversity

nbsguidelines.info
@IUCN

16/20 #NaturebasedSolutions need to be understood as ways of working with and as part of nature and framed in a way that ensures multiple values of nature are respected.
@ForestPeoplesP @IIED @coicaorg

17/20 Ensuring long-term integrity of NbS requires an improved evidence base on where, when, how & for whom NbS can address #climatechange & #biodiversity loss, especially in marine and non-forest ecosystems, & in low-income nations & their cities.

Critical research Qs on NbS:

18/20 Achieving #netzero will require systemic change in the way we behave as societies, shifting to a dominant world view that is based on valuing quality of life and human wellbeing rather than material wealth, and connection with nature rather than its conquest.

19/20 There are signals that this shift is taking place, such as the rise of climate and nature grassroots activism. NbS offer an opportunity to accelerate this transition, whilst slowing warming, building #resilience & protecting #biodiversity.

👉naturebasedsolutionsinitiative.org

20/20 Thank you to the amazing people @NatureBasedSols for their support. Too many to list here and some not on twitter, but I am hugely grateful to my wonderful, brilliant team!

Join us #NbSConference2022
naturebasedsolutionsoxford.org