Nature-based solutions for adapting to water-related climate risks

Despite growing international interest, recent investigations into the use of Nature Based Solutions (NbS) have found that their uptake remains limited, disconnected and applied at a relatively small scale. This paper explores the barriers in applying NbS by government in different policy areas, in order to allow NbS to be more systematically considered in decisions taken by governments, local authorities or the private sector. The paper focuses on the use of NbS for addressing water-related climate risks, and specifically examines coastal flooding, riverine flooding, urban flooding and drought. The paper is organized in different sections which (i) introduce the concept of NbS and their role in reducing the water-related exposure to climate risks, (ii) provide an overview of their uptake to date in OECD countries, (iii) explores why prevailing decision making frameworks may fail to adequately consider NbS and how NbS have been integrated in policy frameworks to date, and (v) build a policy evaluation framework intended to structure the cross-country comparative analysis of future case studies.