NbS in the News

This week 3000 leaders from business, politics and science are gathered at the World Economic Forum’s (WEF) annual meeting in Davos, Switzerland, to discuss and debate solutions to key issues for business and the [...] Read more

The World Economic Forum has published the Global Risks Report 2020 which identifies the top global risks (uncertain events that if they occur would have significant negative effects on society within the next 10 years). The risks were ranked by completion of surveys by 1047 experts in economics (25%), technology (13%), geopolitics (12%), environment [...] Read more

The well-loved and highly esteemed naturalist and TV-presenter, Sir David, has publicly warned in a BBC interview that we have reached ‘the moment of crisis’ with respect to climate change. He explained that we do understand what steps we need to take to combat climate change, but simply lack the political will and that [...] Read more

Several events in 2019 demonstrated increased public awareness and understanding of the importance of climate change. Fridays for Future movement has galvanized millions of people protesting across 150 countries, Greta Thunberg has become a household name, and the environment became a major topic [...] Read more

There are signs that the UK government is shifting in the direction of reducing the extent of farmland, and returning swathes of land to nature. Notably, Professor Sir Ian Boyd, former chief scientific advisor to the UK government, has advised that half of the nation’s farmland should be converted into natural habitats. This is estimated [...] Read more

Late 2019 saw a surge of interest in tree planting. For example, during the December election campaign in the UK, political parties competed over how many trees they would plant if they were elected. Labour pledged to plant 2 billion trees by 2040; if extended to 2050 this would cover 25% of total land area [...] Read more

Five years since the signing of the New York Declaration on Forests, progress in meeting targets is limited. Signatories committed to halving tropical deforestation and restoring 150 million hectares of degraded landscapes and forestlands by 2020. However, only 18% of the restoration goal has been achieved and in many parts of [...] Read more

A new report by the Global Commission on Adaptation launched in September, reveals that investing $1.8 trillion globally in five thematic areas from 2020 to 2030 could generate at least four times the return on investment (i.e. $7.1 trillion in total net benefits). The areas considered are early warning systems, climate-resilient infrastructure, improved dryland agriculture, [...] Read more

Billed as the most important event for international climate action since Paris 2015, the UN Climate Summit on the 23 September aimed to boost ambition and accelerate action towards implementing the 2015 Paris Agreement on Climate Change. Nature-based Solutions were the focus of the Climate Summit’s Action Plan 6. This action area called for a [...] Read more

China and New Zealand called on leaders in government and business to endorse Naturebased Solutions. The Nature-based Solutions for Climate Manifesto aims to attract political momentum, highlight the need for funding, and encourage the integration of nature in all aspects of planning and decision making for sustainable development.