The natural environment worldwide is increasingly affected by climate change, including disruption of vegetative growth cycle and rainfall, changes in species range or loss of species and natural habitats, desertification, rising sea levels, ocean acidification, and coral bleaching. According to recent scientific studies, one species out of four is at risk of extinction by 2050 due to climate change.

This report has been prepared as part of an effort by IUCN to define its position on Nature-based Solutions (NbS) and plan for future work to advance this concept and support effective implementation of NbS to enhance ecosystem services provision and address societal challenges. The report proposes a definitional framework for NbS, including a set of general principles for any NbS intervention. The report also defines the scope of NbS as an umbrella concept embracing a number of different ecosystem-based approaches.

The report – and a series of accompanying case studies – offers practical and proven approaches for environmental management and eco-engineering in disaster risk reduction and climate change adaptation, that can, in large, be tailored for different situations. This is important if the benefits of what this report highlights are to become shared and used more extensively.

Climate change is a global phenomenon that poses risks to sectors across society and the economy. Nature-based approaches can offer sustainable solutions to cope with climate change mitigation and adaptation challenges. The brochure "Nature-based approaches to climate change mitigation and adaptation", developed by Ecologic Institute on behalf of the German Federal Agency for Nature Conservation (BfN), introduces the opportunities, challenges, and success factors of nature-based solutions and presents good practice examples.

Nature-based solutions simultaneously provide environmental, social and economic benefits by bringing more nature and natural features and processes into cities, landscapes and seascapes. The Horizon 2020 Expert Group on ‘Nature-Based Solutions and Re-Naturing Cities’, chaired by Dr. Wilhelm Krull, Secretary General of the Volkswagen Foundation, was established under the 2014 Work Programme for the Societal Challenge “Climate action, environment, resource efficiency and raw materials”. Dr.

Nature ‐ Based Solutions (NBS) are solutions to societal challenges that are inspired and supported by nature. The European Commission requested the EKLIPSE project to help building up an evidence and knowledge base on the benefits and challenges of applying NBS.