Nature-based solutions have great potential in the Nordic countries

Nature-based solutions to climate change and the loss of biodiversity are increasingly highlighted, most recently during the UN Climate Change Conference (COP27) and the UN Biodiversity Conference (COP15). Examples of nature-based solutions are the sustainable use of land, restoration of wetlands and the reopening of streams and rivers.

It might also include green spaces and rain gardens, which, unlike concrete and tarmac, absorb rainwater and thus prevent flooding. At the same time, they provide habitats for many different species and space for recreation.

“One of the first challenges we came up against when we launched the project was to agree upon what we actually mean when we talk about nature-based solutions. It is important that we mean the same thing by the term across the Nordic countries in order to be able to develop a common strategy,” says Helena Hanson, researcher at the Centre for Environmental and Climate Science at Lund University.

The Nordic countries are seeing increased knowledge and application of nature-based solutions, a new report “Working with Nature-Based Solutions: Synthesis and mapping of status in the Nordics” shows. The report gives an overview of existing research, management structures in the various countries, the most important challenges and examples of completed projects. Nature-based solutions have been put forward as a cost-effective way of achieving the goals for sustainable development and encompass the wellbeing of the environment, the climate and humanity.

Five important points for achieving success

But what will it take to get nature-based solutions implemented on a greater scale in the Nordics? Researchers list five important points:

• Clear political prioritising to integrate nature-based solutions in policy and in practice.
• Efficient institutional structures, processes and political instruments at all levels of administration in order to ease the implementation of nature-based solutions.
• Improved financing structures for nature-based solutions.
• Common standards, long-term monitoring and better cost/benefit analysis of nature-based solutions.
• Improved knowledge base in all phases of the project on nature-based solutions.

The report has been produced by researchers within the S-ITUATION project, which is led by NIVA (Norwegian Institute of Water Research) and funded by the Nordic Council of Ministers. It is the first project of five that form part of a Nordic programme of nature-based solutions and was also presented during the UN’s COP27 conference in Egypt.

“There are great opportunities to work in a more coordinated fashion on the implementation of nature-based solutions within different sectors, such as agriculture and forestry, as well as in urban areas. To exploit these opportunities effectively, cooperation across sectors is required, in which central authorities use the same policy instruments and work together,” says researcher Johanna Alkan Olsson at the Centre for Environmental and Climate Science at Lund University.