On 22 May, 2020, the International Day of Biological Diversity, the International Institute for Environment and Development (IIED) hosted an online event to discuss how we can translate the global ambition around nature-based solutions for climate change into local action. This is a presentation given jointly by Alex White, International Climate and Strategy, and Sarah Nelson, head of policy oversight in the International Environmental Conventions Team, of the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (DEFRA). More details: https://www.iied.org/nature-based-solutions-for-climate-change-global-ambition-local-action

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.