Ecosystem-based services and Nature-Based Solutions (NbS) are fast emerging as cost-effective and sustainable ways to address climate change induced challenges such as heat, urban flooding, air and water pollution and storm surges.
National Institute of Urban Affairs (NIUA) and World Resources Institute India (WRI India) on Wednesday launched a national coalition platform for urban nature-based solution to mainstream ecosystem-based services and nature-based solutions to build urban climate resilience.
The coalition platform was launched at the Eleventh World Urban Forum in Poland.
Ecosystem-based services and Nature-Based Solutions (NbS) are fast emerging as cost-effective and sustainable ways to address climate change induced challenges such as heat, urban flooding, air and water pollution and storm surges. Along with mitigating the impact of climate change, NbS also helps in providing multiple ecosystem benefits along with addressing various societal challenges including building resilience of the underserved and vulnerable urban communities who are most affected by climate change induced catastrophes.
The India Forum for Nature-based Solutions aims to create a collective of NbS entrepreneurs, government entities and like-minded organisations, to help scale urban nature-based solutions by defining a shared language and by communicating benefits that inform actions at the local level including scaling up of existing NbS interventions.
The effort to scale up urban NbSs will also benefit from driving investment and strengthening delivery mechanisms through multi-stakeholder coordination, besides mainstreaming urban ecosystem-based services and nature-based solutions in India through informing policy, plans and project interventions
Scaling up urban NbSs
At the platform launch event, Hitesh Vaidya, Director, NIUA said, “It is important that we have a low-cost and sustainable approach when we work on climate action and increasing our green cover. It is here that nature-based solutions (NbS) should be prioritized as part of India’s resilience and adaptation strategy.”
The event saw representatives, from core partner organisations such as GiZ India, India Climate Collaborative, The Nature Conservancy, WWF India and Wetlands International, pledge their efforts towards collaboratively achieving the Forum’s objectives.
Speaking about the Forum, WRI India CEO, Dr O P Agarwal noted, “Combining the strengths and resources of the Forum’s core partners can tackle key capacity challenges faced by the entire ecosystem. This will enable a more focused approach in mainstreaming and scaling urban NbS, while also helping amplify individual organizational efforts.”
‘India Forum for Nature-based Solutions’ is led by the National Institute of Urban Affairs’ Climate Centre for Cities (NIUA C-Cube) and anchored by World Resources Institute India (WRI India) under the Cities4Forests initiative. It is supported by Caterpillar Foundation, and UK’s Department of Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (DEFRA) and Norway’s International Climate and Forest Initiative (NICFI).
