Solutions that are inspired and supported by nature, which are cost-effective, simultaneously provide environmental, social and economic benefits and help build resilience. Such solutions bring more, and more diverse, nature and natural features and processes into cities, landscapes and seascapes, through locally adapted, resource-efficient and systemic interventions.

Source: EUROSTAT

Actions that conserve, manage or restore nature to support biodiversity to help address societal challenges, empower people and provide job and business opportunities can be powerful tools for combatting biodiversity loss and supporting climate change mitigation and/or adaptation and disaster risk reduction while delivering further benefits to human well-being (e.g. health). NbS are based on the principle that ecosystems in healthy condition deliver multiple benefits and services for human well-being and can thereby address economic, social and environmental goals simultaneously. Depending on their context, NbS are also framed as Ecosystem-based Adaptation (EbA), Green Infrastructure (GI), Ecosystem-based Disaster Risk Reduction (EcoDRR), or Natural Water Retention Measures (NWRM).

Source: EURO-Lex

Nature-based solutions (NBS) address societal challenges such as climate change, disaster risks, food and water security, and human health by protecting, sustainably managing or restoring natural ecosystems. They simultaneously provide human well-being and biodiversity benefits, enhancing ecosystem services such as erosion control, drought and flood prevention, carbon sequestration, cooling and wildfire prevention. Additional benefits in urban environments are increased air quality and reduced noise pollution.

European Environment Agency, Scaling nature-based solutions for climate resilience and nature restoration, Publications Office of the European Union, 2023, https://data.europa.eu/doi/10.2800/763587