Double Insurance in Dealing with Extremes: Ecological and Social Factors for Making Nature-Based Solutions Last

Abstract

Global urbanisation has led to extreme population densities often in areas prone to problems such as extreme heat, storm surges, coastal and surface flooding, droughts and fires. Although nature based solutions (NBS) often have specific targets, one of the overarching objectives with NBS design and implementation is to protect human livelihoods and well-being, not least by protecting real estate and built infrastructure. However, NBS need to be integrated and spatially and functionally matched with other land uses, which requires that their contribution to society is recognised. This chapter will present an ecologically grounded, resilience theory and social-ecological systems perspective on NBS, with a main focus on how functioning ecosystems contribute to the ‘solutions’. We will outline some of the basic principles and frameworks for studying and including insurance value in work towards climate change adaptation and resilience, with a special emphasis on the need to address both internal and external insurance. As we will demonstrate through real world examples as well as theory, NBS should be treated as dynamic components nested within larger systems and influenced by social as well as ecological factors. Governance processes seeking to build urban resilience to climate change in cities and other urban dynamics will need to consider both layers of insurance in order to utilize the powerful role NBS can play in creating sustainable, healthy, and liveable urban systems.