Transforming ambition into action to catalyse nature-based solutions: Insights from 250 good practice policy instruments

Abstract

Ambition to leverage the power of nature-based solutions (NbS) to address global challenges such as the interlinked climate change and biodiversity crises has reached unprecedented levels. Despite a growing consensus around the potential benefits of NbS, this ambition has not translated into sufficient actionable progress in practice. Cities, increasingly recognized as centres of transformative capacity, have become a focal point for achieving NbS ambitions. Nevertheless, the transition from theoretical discourse to practical implementation has been slow, with NbS frequently being overlooked until recently in political agendas. A key obstacle to progress is the lack of action-oriented research grounding theoretical discussions in empirical evidence on NbS policy design and application. This paper seeks to address these knowledge gaps by: (i) defining criteria for good practices in urban NbS policy design and implementation; (ii) assessing policy instruments from the Urban Governance Atlas (UGA) against these criteria using mixed statistical and qualitative methods; and (iii) identifying potential pathways and actionable measures to promote the adoption of good practices in practice. Drawing on the diverse UGA examples, with a particular focus on Europe and the CELAC region, the paper identifies seven good practice criteria and outlines four potential pathways and related actions to guide the development of NbS policy instruments across varied urban contexts. Concrete recommendations around actionable knowledge aim to tap the transformative potential of NbS in addressing pressing global issues.