Scaling nature-based solutions for climate resilience and nature restoration

Wider application of nature-based solutions (NBS) to climate change adaptation would deliver multiple societal benefits and contribute to biodiversity conservation. However, there is limited experience scaling solutions beyond local contexts. The lack of standardised methods for assessment and monitoring of NBS is a major challenge for replicating and applying them at a wider scale. This briefing looks into applied assessment frameworks and the scaling potential of selected NBS, and how they may contribute to ecosystem restoration outside protected areas.

Accelerating and scaling up such projects will be crucial to achieve EU policy targets on climate change adaptation and building overall resilience to better withstand the impacts of extreme weather events like heatwaves, flooding and wildfires. Nature-based solutions for climate change adaptation and disaster risk reduction also contribute to the EU nature restoration agenda to better protect and bring back biodiversity. Applied at scale, they can contribute to and enhance different climate and environmental objectives in both urban and rural areas. 

This EEA briefing synthesises information from two earlier reports by the European Topic Centre on Climate Change Adaptation (ETC-CA), focusing on applied assessment frameworks (ETC/CCA, 2021) and upscaling potential (ETC-CA, 2022) for NBS.