734 results found

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  New Global Benchmark for NbS: IUCN Launches Updated Global Standard for Nature-based Solutions

  The International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) launched the Second Edition of the Global Standard for Nature-based Solutions at the 2025 World Conservation Congress in Abu Dhabi. By strengthening scientific rigour, social safeguards and practical usability, the updated Standard provides a stronger foundation for scaling credible, high-quality NbS worldwide.

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  Climate change and weak policies endanger Brazil’s Cerrado endemic flora

  Brazil’s Cerrado, one of the most biodiverse savannas on Earth, is already suffering record levels of land conversion and now faces intensifying climate pressures like extreme drought. A new study warns that, without stronger conservation policies, the combined forces of climate change and habitat loss could drastically reshape the distribution of the Cerrado’s threatened endemic flora by 2050.

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  Planning and Infrastructure Bill: Key Concerns and Recommendations

  The Planning and Infrastructure Bill, currently being debated in the House of Lords, has far-reaching implications for biodiversity, local democracy, and community wellbeing. We have prepared a briefing note to highlight priority amendments to make the Bill less damaging and more nature-positive.

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  Assessing potential implications of the EU’s carbon dioxide removal strategy on Brazil’s land ecosystems and local communities

  Here we recommend a set of integrated and participatory policy approaches that prioritise procedural justice, ensure transparent international cooperation, and mitigate the unintended impacts of global CDR strategies on vulnerable ecosystems and communities.

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  Potential Impacts of the EU’s carbon dioxide removal strategy for Brazil’s land ecosystems and local communities

  Land-based carbon dioxide removal options like Bioenergy with Carbon Capture and Storage (BECCS) have strong emphasis in the EU’s roadmap to net zero, but at what cost? Taking Brazil as a case study, a new paper explores the potential environmental and social consequences of the EU’s CDR strategy beyond its boundaries.

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  AGRIIH Highlights Collaborative Agricultural Resilience Work at BES and Groundswell

  The Agricultural Resilience Impact and Innovation Hub (AGRIIH) is building a collaborative community working on agricultural resilience. The team recently presented early progress at the BES Nature, Farming and Food symposium and Groundswell Regenerative Agriculture Festival.

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  Understanding the diverse values of shade trees on cocoa farms in Ekiti State, Nigeria

  This study investigates the values that underpin cocoa farmers' decisions around shade tree retention in Ekiti State by analysing tree species composition, density, and basal area alongside farmer perspectives using content and thematic analysis, across fifteen farms in Ekiti State

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  Shade trees hold diverse values to cocoa farmers in Ekiti State, Nigeria

  New research by NBSI’s Zoë Brown in Agroforestry Systems found that cocoa farms in Ekiti State, Nigeria host a rich diversity of native and economically valuable trees. These trees offer multiple benefits, presenting a valuable opportunity for policymakers to implement certification frameworks that both safeguard and enhance the socioeconomic and conservation value of these agroforestry systems.

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  New ‘World Court’ ruling opens the door for ambitious climate action

  In a historic win for climate justice, the world’s highest court delivered an advisory opinion setting out States’ legal obligations in respect to climate change. From grassroots beginnings to the International Court of Justice, the ruling marks a pivotal moment in the global fight for climate action which centres human rights and justice for climate vulnerable nations.

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  Nature and climate: welcome ambition, but policy contradictions threaten delivery

  The UK government’s recent statement and new policy paper recognise that nature and climate are inseparable. This is a critical and overdue shift in policy framing. But this welcome vision risks being undermined by legislation that weakens nature protections and prioritises development at the expense of biodiversity.

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  Embedding sustainability and equity in forest-risk commodity value chains

  A range of recent outputs from NbSI collaborations examine sustainability, equity, and power dynamics in forest-risk commodity value chains.

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  Power, participation, and the politics of Nature-based Solutions: getting transformation right

  A recent paper by social scientists at The Agile Initiative, Leverhulme Centre for Nature Recovery and Nature-based Solutions Initiative reminds us that new science, improved metrics, and boosting private finance solely are unlikely to be resilient in the long term unless we address the root causes of power inequality and injustice.

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  AGRIIH Workshop maps interdisciplinary research opportunities for agricultural resilience

  On June 2, the Agricultural Resilience Impact and Innovation Hub (AGRIIH) hosted its inaugural workshop at the University of Oxford, bringing together researchers from across disciplines —including colleagues from Biology, Smith School, Environmental Change Institute, Oxford Martin School and Engineering — to explore how interdisciplinary collaboration can strengthen agricultural resilience in the UK and beyond.

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  Leading UK scientists urge Prime Minister to place nature at the centre of economic and climate policy

  A group of over 35 senior UK academics—drawn from ecology, economics, public health and the social sciences—delivered an open letter to the Prime Minister.

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  New report highlights the current landscape of agricultural research

  Two new resources from the Agricultural Resilience Impact and Innovation Hub provide an evidence base and a forward-looking plan for shaping agricultural resilience research.

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  Island Futures: Insight into Island Innovation’s 2025 Global Sustainable Islands Summit in St. Kitts & Nevis

  While Small Island Developing States (SIDS) are on the frontlines of the climate crisis, facing disproportionate threats to their ecosystems, economies, infrastructure, and cultural heritage, they are also leading the way in innovation, resilience, and sustainability.

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  Updates from the field: Cocoa agroforestry in the Ashanti region, Ghana

  PhD Researcher Lubasi Limweta shares updates from fieldwork in Ghana, where the Flourishing Landscapes Programme is investigating the balance between ecological, social and economic outcomes of agroforestry systems.

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  Landscape Analysis for an Agricultural Resilience Impact and Innovation Hub (AGRIIH) at Oxford

  Oxford University has a vision for an Agricultural Resilience Impact and Innovation Hub (AGRIIH) to link its own agriculture-related research, connected disciplines, and form external partnerships to increase impact and innovation, resulting in greater resilience in agriculture in the UK and globally.

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  Introducing The Agricultural Resilience Impact and Innovation Hub

  Oxford is developing a new interdisciplinary initiative: the Agricultural Resilience Impact and Innovation Hub (AGRIIH). AGRIIH will act as a catalyst for agricultural resilience research and innovation at Oxford—bringing together diverse disciplines, external partners, and global stakeholders to drive practical, system-informed solutions.

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  NbSI receives RCA grant to work on nature reconnection

  On World Environment Day, we’re delighted to share that we’ve been awarded funding from the Royal College of Art’s Ecological Citizens programme to support an exciting new collaboration with nature-connection non-profit I Stand Beside.

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  Oxford’s first Citizens’ Jury on people and nature

  A first-of-its-kind ‘Citizens’ Jury’ brought together community members to discuss how people and nature can thrive together in Oxford. Guided by experts and facilitators, the jury co-created 8 key recommendations and a shared vision for Oxford city. We hope this experience can inspire others to explore deliberative democracy as a pathway to more inclusive and just environmental governance.

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  Updating guidance for effective and just Nature-based Solutions & Ecosystem-based approaches

  A three-day expert workshop hosted by the UN Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD) and UNEP-WCMC was held in Cambridge earlier this month, to develop a supplement to the 2019 Voluntary Guidelines on Ecosystem-based approaches to Climate Change Adaptation and Disaster Risk Reduction. NbSI’s Audrey Wagner shares key insights from the discussions.

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  A “one-stop shop” for ecological monitoring of NbS

  Ecological monitoring is critical to the success of nature-based solutions, ensuring they deliver benefits for biodiversity alongside tackling societal challenges. A new framework by NbSI researchers can help practitioners monitor biodiversity and soil health, including a freely available online database of metrics and methodologies.

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  Can we make food production work with nature?

  New BES Regenerative Agriculture report finds strong evidence that soil health and biodiversity can improve under regenerative agricultural practices, but risks of greenwashing remain strong.

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  Integrated above- and below-ground ecological monitoring for nature-based solutions

  Our study provides practitioners with a framework for selecting optimum metrics for assessing above- and below-ground ecological outcomes of NbS relevant to the location in which they are being implemented