Nature offers powerful solutions to major global challenges
“Healthy ecosystems underpin healthy, resilient nations and communities, and we cannot achieve our Sustainable Development Goals without safeguarding nature” Achim Steiner, UNDP (2017)
Land-based conservation and restoration has the potential to provide over 30% of the cost-effective climate change mitigation needed between now and 2030
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Most nations agree that nature is a major ally in the fight against climate change but policy ambition must be matched by robust targets
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Natural coastal wetlands prevented $625M property damage during Hurricane Sandy in NE USA in 2012
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Loss of coral reefs would double damage from coastal flooding and triple destruction by storms
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Nature-based climate solutions must be grounded in sound biodiversity science
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Ecosystem and biodiversity scientists must work closely with policymakers to identify meaningful climate adaptation targets that benefit both people and ecosystems
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Nature-based Solutions to Global Challenges
Science • Knowledge Exchange • Action

The Nature-based Solutions Initiative is an interdisciplinary programme of research, policy advice and education based at the University of Oxford. It brings together natural, physical and social scientists with economists, governance and finance experts from across the University and beyond. Its mission is to enhance understanding of the potential of Nature-based Solutions to address global challenges and increase their sustainable implementation worldwide.

01 Science

Explore our bibliography for the latest publications on NbS and locate scientific evidence for the effectiveness of Nature-based Solutions to climate change impacts using our Evidence Platform

02 Policy

Discover how the world’s nations are planning for the impacts of climate change and learn how to increase climate ambition through Nature-based Solutions

03 Practice

Find out more about our in-country programmes and read about Nature-based Solutions in action from across the globe

Check out our NbS Platforms

Evidence platform

Our evidence platform is an interactive map linking nature-based solutions to climate change adaptation outcomes based on a systematic review of the peer-reviewed literature.

Evidence platform

Policy platform

This platform makes information about climate change adaptation planning across the globe openly available, easy to explore. It highlights the prominence of NbS to climate change impacts in global policy

Policy platform

Latest publications on Nature-based Solutions

There are currently 365 publications in our bibliography.

Restoring forests as a means to many ends
Earth is approaching environmental thresholds that, if crossed, will create serious disruptions to ecosystems, economies, and society. To avoid the ......read more
Chazdon, R. and Brancalion, P. | Science | 2019

Global modeling of nature’s contributions to people
The magnitude and pace of global change demand rapid assessment of nature and its contributions to people. We present a ......read more
Chaplin-Kramer, R. et al. | Science | 2019

Agro-ecosystem based sustainability indicators for climate resilient agriculture in India: A conceptual framework
The impending threats of changing climate have been well documented across sectors. The climate risks are best addressed through increasing ......read more
Chowdhury, M. S. N. et al. | Ecological Indicators | 2019

Bibliography

Latest news

Read all our recent news and checkout our latest tweets on our news page.

PODCAST: Nature or technology to address climate change?

In the latest Futuremakers podcast, Nat Seddon discusses the pros and cons of NbS vs. technology with Oxford colleagues Jim Hall and Helen Gavin.
December 8, 2019
NbSI on Channel 4 Climate Debate

NbSI Director tells UK leaders about the importance of protecting what we’ve got and restoring what we’ve lost, and that NbS are not an excuse to keep FF in the ground.
November 28, 2019
Value and limits of NbS

Our new article “Understanding the value and limits of #naturebasedsolutions to climate change and other global challenges”. Out in Phil Trans Roy Soc in Jan 2020.
November 25, 2019
NbSI Director at Scottish Biodiversity Conference

Nathalie talked about the fundamental importance of biodiversity for nature-based solutions at the Scottish Biodiversity Conference. Timely given growing investments in low diversity tree plantations in Scotland
November 18, 2019