Climate crisis and biodiversity crisis threaten life on Earth. The two crises are closely linked and mutually reinforcing. The ‘natural climate protection’ umbrella topic covers them both and links climate protection to the protection of natural ecosystems.
Natural Climate Protection and Nature-Based Solutions
Definition
Source: German Enivronment Agency
Natural climate protection measures are also referred to as ‘nature-based solutions’. In a research project initiated by UBA, Reise et al. (2022) formulated a working definition of nature-based solutions based on the definitions of IUCN (2016) and the European Commissions (2020):
“Nature-based solutions are locally appropriate adaptive measures to protect, sustainably manage or restore natural or modified ecosystems to address targeted societal challenges – such as mitigating climate change – while improving human well-being and enhancing biodiversity."
This definition and the potential of nature-based solutions are illustrated in the following infographics.
Climate impact
Nature-based solutions (NbS) differ substantially from technical climate mitigation strategies. While biodiversity protection and adaptation to climate change impacts might result as secondary outcomes in the latter approach, they are subordinate to climate protection’s primary objectives. In some cases climate protection measures may create a situation where negative outcomes for biodiversity and increased risks for the continuity and health of ecosystems are tolerated in order to maximise the climate protection effect.
Nature-based solutions do not focus on climate impacts at the expense of other protected goods. Rather, NbS aims at preserving or restoring intact ecosystems and creating resilient, diverse habitats.
Healthy ecosystems are more resilient and can adapt more easily to the consequences of climate change. In Germany, far more spruce monocultures have been affected by storms, droughts and bark beetle infestations in recent years than mixed forests. In addition, intact ecosystems can positively influence water balance in neighbouring areas. Rewetting peat soils results in an increased amount of water retained in the area and this also has benefits for neighbouring fields in periods of drought. In cities, nature-based solutions can reduce the temperature in summer and cushion extreme weather events. Nature-based solutions also contribute to coastal protection: mangrove forests and salt marshes are ecosystems that can cope with rising sea water levels and protect the coast from erosion.
Societal impact
Nature-based solutions also have positive effects for society: natural ecosystems are important to people with regard to social, cultural and aesthetic aspects. People can therefore directly experience protection successes achieved by nature-based solutions and this creates understanding and acceptance of climate protection measures. The comprehensive impact of nature-based solutions contributes to implementing the UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). In addition, a nature-based approach will have the potential to reduce the costs of climate damage. Adaptation measures, protection of biodiversity and positive societal impacts do not have to be financed separately, thus, nature-based solutions prove to be economically feasible over the long term.
Natural climate protection plays an important role at all political levels in the fight against climate change and loss of biodiversity. It should therefore be welcomed that various important scientific and political institutions have committed themselves to natural climate protection.
Natural climate protection is addressed by various laws, programmes and strategies. As this website focuses on challenges and opportunities of certifying climate change mitigation successes through natural climate protection, please refer to our specialist information sites for all other aspects, i.e., the website of the Federal Agency for Nature Conservation and the Federal Ministry for the Environment, Nature Conservation, Nuclear Safety and Consumer Protection.
In a research project initiated by UBA and in cooperation with the Ecologic Institute and the University of Gießen, the Öko Institute is investigating ‘Nature-based solutions in climate protection: market incentives to promote climate-friendly soil use’. The project runs from June 2021 to September 2023.
The project has two main objectives:
Classification and assessment of the global potential of nature-based solutions for the avoidance, mitigation and integration of greenhouse gases;
Analysis of specific measures for climate-friendly soil use and assessment of the options and risks of transfer-based instruments and other financial incentives to promote these measures.
Results of the first research objective can be found on this site and results of the second part on our soil website.
In addition to the infographics on nature-based solutions listed above, the research project has produced a study entitled ‘Nature-based solutions and global climate protection’. The research project critically assesses the global mitigation potential of nature-based solutions in relevant studies for forests, croplands, grasslands, terrestrial and coastal wetlands and settlements. The study concludes that the potentials reported in the scientific literature probably overestimate the realistic potential of nature-based solutions for climate protection. This is due to the lack of integrated studies, overly optimistic assumptions on land availability and the quality of available information. A number of risks and uncertainties related to carbon flows and interactions with the climate system that have not been taken into account are further limiting the mitigation potential. The success of nature-based solutions in mitigating climate change and delivering environmental and social benefits will largely depend on the extent to which they succeed in eliminating the direct and indirect pressures on ecosystems caused by current production and consumption patterns.
The uncertainties associated with quantifying the mitigation effects of nature-based solutions should not be used as an argument against their implementation. In addition to their mitigation effect, nature-based solutions provide a range of benefits for people and the environment and should be actively strengthened. The implementation of emissions trading activities under Article 6 of the Paris Agreement must take into account the specific risks associated with nature-based solutions. Social and environmental safeguards must be introduced when developing procedures or support schemes to promote nature-based solutions. To promote synergies, coherence should be established with work under other international policy frameworks such as the other Rio Conventions.
The land use sector plays a critical role in achieving the objectives of the Paris Agreement. This includes limiting the increase in global average temperature to well below 2°C and achieving a balance between greenhouse gas emissions from sources and carbon uptake by sinks in the second half of this century. This report discusses the key environmental integrity challenges when using carbon market mechanisms to implement mitigation actions in the land use sector.
Assessing the achievements of climate change mitigation successes is difficult, especially for nature-based solutions, but is a prerequisite for some climate finance instruments. Special challenges also arise when certified credits are to be issued for climate change mitigation successes. These are investigated in a study and illustrated using the example of climate-friendly land use. In addition to aspects with specific relevance for climate-friendly land use, fact sheets were also developed about general challenges of financing nature-based solutions, including the following topics:
