This report was prepared by Emmanuelle Cohen-Shacham, Nikolaos Nikolaidis, Nadja Kabisch (1st ThinkNature Webinar speakers) and ThinkNature Webinars Team in order to provide an overview of the 1st ThinkNature Webinar “NBS: Concept, Practices and Benefits” about the presented issues by speakers, polls' results and the discussion (attendees' questions and speakers' answers) in the end of the Webinar.

Here is a JRC science hub webline on the launch of the final EnRoute report.

Soil health also forms a key part of our action on climate change. Healthy soils can help us withstand the effects of climate change that we are locked into, whilst avoiding soil and land degradation and increasing soil carbon stores could help us deliver our commitments to reduce emissions and limit global warming to 2 ⁰C.

The purpose of this publication is to:

Recognizing that the value and role of nature was missing from mainstream planning and decision-making processes, Earth Economics and Resilient Melbourne took up the challenge of creating a practitioner resource for all those who are determined to take concrete steps to bridging the gap between the need to value nature, and political and financial will in policy and capital investments.

There is growing recognition that naturebased (or ‘green’) solutions - i.e. the restoration or rehabilitation and protection of natural habitats - when applied strategically and equitably can not only safeguard biodiversity and ecosystem services but also help people adapt to climate change [1,2]. The type of NbS targeted at helping people adapt to the impacts and hazards of climate change is widely referred to as “Ecosystem-based Adaptation” (EbA).

Changes in global climate are increasingly having adverse impacts on human populations and natural systems. This has resulted in increased efforts to come up with options that can mitigate the impacts, as well as help to adapt to already occurring changes.

This booklet sets out guidance for assessing the effectiveness of an ecosystem-based approach to climate change adaptation. It describes a process, based around asking a detailed set of questions, that can be used by project managers and researchers to shape project design, assess the progress of an ongoing project or draw conclusions about the effectiveness of a project that has ended.

The idea of ‘nature-based solutions’ (NBS) is now being used to reframe policy debates on biodiversity conservation, climate change adaptation and mitigation strategies, and the sustainable use of natural resources, among other issues. While interesting and potentially useful for those debates, it is a concept that still needs to be clearly defined; its use is not confined to discussions about ecosystem services and natural capital.

Many national and international environmental agreements acknowledge that the impoverishment of ecosystems is limiting the world’s capacity to adapt to climate change and that ecosystem-based adaptation (EbA) approaches should be harnessed as a priority. EbA has the potential to increase adaptive capacity and social and ecological resilience to climate change in both developed and developing countries.

Many of the world’s vital natural ecosystems, and the communities reliant on them, are vulnerable to climate change. But there is increasing recognition that ecosystems — if sustainably restored and protected — can also form a strong line of defence against the direct impacts of climate change and support human adaptation over the long term. As the evidence base grows, ecosystems are increasingly prominent in climate change policy, especially in developing nations. Yet intentions rarely translate into robust and informed measurable targets, undermining action.