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The World Business Council for Sustainable Development (WBCSD) has launched a new report on nature-based solutions to help companies accelerate consistent and credible actions that are positive for both climate and nature, titled: “Mapping nature-based solutions and natural climate solutions”.
This report aims to help remove the hurdles to nature-based solutions by clarifying definitions, while supporting the alignment of natural climate solutions (NCS) with nature-based solutions (Nbs) in order to accelerate investments at scale. In addition, the report helps business to navigate the nature and climate agenda by mapping the key initiatives, platforms and conventions for collective action.
Climate change, nature loss and social inequality need to be tackled together to achieve the Sustainable Development Goals. While nature is under huge pressure, it also holds the key to effective and scalable solutions for many of our societal challenges, including climate change. Business for Nature welcomes this report that lays out clear definitions and the scope of both nature-based solutions and natural climate solutions . Setting out a practical common framework in this way will help business scale and speed up the action and investment needed and by doing so support the transition to a nature-positive future.
Therefore, this report promotes the development of, and investments in, a large volume of high-quality NbS projects by providing clarity on their definition, scope, value and performance. In particular, business needs to clarify the relationship between nature-based solutions focused on climate and those delivering other societal values to maximize the potential benefit that solutions can deliver. There is a need for alignment on a simple, workable, science-based set of definitions.
NbS can help to deliver up to 37% of solutions to achieve the Paris climate goal, as well as the potential to help address other societal challenges while being good for business and people. Yet, to scale up investment in nature-based solutions, business requires clarity on its scope and requirements.
Companies involved in the work include BASF, BP, The Biodiversity Consultancy, DSM, Hancock, McKinsey, Natems, Shell, South Pole, Syngenta and Yara. Contributing stakeholders include Business for Nature, International Union for Conservation of Nature and Natural Resources (IUCN), Harvey Locke, Food and Land Use Coalition (FOLU), Systemiq, the UK’s Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (UK Defra), One Planet for Business and Biodiversity (OP2B), We Mean Business, World Economic Forum.