COP 26 Side Event | Accelerating Adaptation Through Valuation of Nature-Based Infrastructure

Infrastructure provides essential services worldwide that communities rely on. But how do we ensure that new infrastructure is cost effective, environmentally friendly, and resilient to changing climates? The answer lies in nature.

Building with nature offers us a more sustainable alternative to engineered or “grey” infrastructure. Its regenerative characteristics make it more efficient and less expensive to manage and maintain—it is much less carbon intensive, it can help communities adapt to climate change, and it provides a wide range of additional benefits, from job creation to improved well-being for citizens.

In sum, nature-based infrastructure (NBI) can provide valuable ecosystem services and adaptation benefits, all while supplying public services that generate sustainable patterns of development. It offers long-term value for money—so why is the value of forests, mangroves, wetlands, grasslands, agricultural lands, trees, and green spaces so often overlooked?

The reason NBI is not being scaled up enough to fulfill its potential is that our knowledge of its performance, predictability, and financial viability has—until now—been limited.

The NBI Global Resource Centre, led by IISD in partnership with the Global Environment Facility, the MAVA Foundation, and the United Nations Industrial Development Organization, aims to overcome the evidence gap that investors, project developers, and other key stakeholders face when they evaluate whether to invest in nature.

This event will discuss the role of NBI at COP 26; the challenges to design, implement, and finance NBI; and the solutions to scaling NBI. The event will also launch a call for projects from different stakeholders to work with the NBI Resource Centre on the economic and financial valuation of NBI projects.

Learn more about the event on the GEF website.