1.
Nature-based solutions
for climate change:
from global ambition to
local action
Presentation to IIED
Alex White
Sarah Nelson

2.
Overview and
context
 In the past 50 years:
 the human population has doubled
 global economic output has grown nearly 4-fold
 global trade has grown 10-fold
 This has driven up demand for energy and
materials - services provided by nature.
 These changes have taken place in tandem
with:
 increases in global temperatures of 0.2oC a
decade since 1970
 an accelerating global species extinction rate
which is already tens to hundreds of times higher
than the average rate over the last 10 million
years

3.
Nature-based
Solutions
 Nature-based solutions can
provide up to a third of CO2
mitigation.
 Nature-based solutions offer
great [but not the only]
opportunities to address the
challenge
 NbS if delivered appropriately
can deliver co-benefits that
can address multiple
challenges
Climate
change
BiodiversityDevelopment

4.
Biodiversity and
nature are part
of the
climate solution –
but there are
barriers
1. Evidence
• Further investment needed to increase NBS evidence base in
order to improve uptake and awareness of NBS.
2. Political will
• Prioritising nature and investing in nature requires stronger
political commitment and citizen buy-in.
3. Markets, Governance and Regulation
• Governance structures, market mechanisms and regulation need
to be strengthened to increase the implementation of NBS at
scale.
4. Technical Skills and Capacity
• Effective implementation of NBS requires inputs from a range of
stakeholders with a variety of technical abilities, which are
lacking in many economies.
5. Finance
• An increase in private and public funding sources for NBS, and
unblocking of barriers in accessing this funding, is crucial to
financing NBS initiatives.

5.
COP26
 With both the Convention on Biological Diversity
(CBD) COP15 and COP26 taking place in 2021, the
next 18 months will be a critical opportunity to
drive action on the twin issues of climate change
and biodiversity loss.
 Nature will be a key area of focus for COP26. This
will build on the outcomes of CBD COP15,
including the expected agreement of the post-
2020 global biodiversity framework.
 The UK G7 Presidency and Italian G20 Presidency
are additional moments for action.
 This next decade will be a decade of climate
action (the ‘UN Decade on Ecosystem
Restoration).

6.
Nature theme priorities
1. Launching a global greening supply chains campaign aimed at both
producer and consumer countries to minimise deforestation within
supply chains for key commodities;
2. Delivering increased, and more sustainable, finance for Nature Based
Solutions; and
3. Securing a nature ‘ambition pledge’ where countries can sign up to
concrete actions on nature at COP26. This should build on and
complement what is agreed at COP15.
 Critical work will also continue on sustainable agriculture, building on
the Just Rural Transition work from the UNCAS last year.
 As part of our COP26 Nature work we will also be championing marine
NBS including MPAs, 30by30 and the Global Ocean Alliance.