Working Paper on Nature-based Solutions
Implementation: Status, Challenges and Benefits
The Alpine region is an important living and economic area but is also exposed to natural hazards. According to the synthetic report 2023 of the intergovernmental panel on climate change, global warming has an especially high effect on mountain areas like the Alps.
This leads to an increase of weather extremes as well as a higher risk of damage from natural hazards and the loss of safe settlement areas. Nature-based Solutions (NbS) can play an important role in this context to mitigate the risks of natural hazards and to adapt to climate change.
EUSALP Action Group 8 (AG8) wants to deepen the knowledge and understanding of the role of Nature-based Solutions in the field of climate change adaptation and natural hazard management.
This working paper is based on the results from previous papers, especially the policy brief “Nature-based Solutions in the context of Natural Hazards” from the Natural Hazard Working Group (PLANALP) of the Alpine Convention, the project from the German Federal Environment Agency “Nature-based solutions in the Alpine region: Using ecosystem functions to promote climate mitigation and adaptation measures.
Creating new nature-centred governance mechanisms across sectors and policy levels”, the IUCN Global Standard for Nature-based Solutions from 2020 and the input paper from the Alpine climate board of the Alpine Convention “Nature-based Solutions and their Governance Structures for Climate Actions in the Alpine Region”. The main parts of the results are from the international workshop on 13 June 2024 organised by AG8, which took place during the conference INTERPRAEVENT 2024 in Vienna.
The challenge with NbS already starts with the definition. There is not one common definition of NbS in the field of natural hazard management and climate change adaption, this was also demonstrated by the international workshop. For this paper, Action Group 8 has decided to use the definition of the policy brief by PLANALP:
Nature-based Solutions are actions that work with and enhance nature to restore or create a protective function for society from the impacts of natural hazards. NbS are based on and use the power of nature as infrastructure to provide natural services, to benefit society and environment.
(Natural Hazard Working Group of the Alpine Convention (PLANALP), mandate 2021-2022)
(pdf - 1.40 MB)