Insights on Nature-Based Solutions from the European Commission.pdf

Presented at the 11th roundtable on financing water in Brussels, Belgium on 30-31 May, 2024.

Intervention by Karin Zaunberger, Policy Officer, European Commission, Directorate General for Environment (DG ENV)

1. European Union
from grey to green
nature-based solutions for water
Karin Zaunberger
DG ENV

2. © Seddon et al. Global Change Biology, Volume: 27, Issue: 8, Pages: 1518-1546, First published: 01 February 2021, DOI: (10.1111/gcb.15513)

Multilaterally agreed
definition included in
UNEP/EA.5/Res.5 :
… nature-based solutions are
actions to protect, conserve,
restore, sustainably use and
manage natural or modified
terrestrial, freshwater, coastal
and marine ecosystems, which
address social, economic and
environmental challenges
effectively and adaptively, while
simultaneously providing
human well-being, ecosystem
services and resilience and
biodiversity benefits, …

5. •a holistic approach
•requires collaboration and participatory
approaches
•implementation helps transformative change
•business and job opportunities
•ready for use and easily accessible
working with nature with people
for nature for people

6. •Hybrid solutions
•Green infrastructure, ecosystems eg floodplains
cannot prevent extreme events, but they always
buffer
•Grey infrastructure requires certainty
From grey to green

7. •essential for water quantity and water quality
•protecting, conserving, restoring, sustainably
using and managing ecosystems
• AKA implementing nature-based solutions
•is our best life insurance
ecosystems are

8. •Difficulty for ‘bankable projects’
•Need to adapt the system to enable
recognition of non-monetary benefits
•Think beyond the ‘narrow growth paradigm’
•Diverse instruments on different scales
Finance for nature-based solutions

9. By courtesy ‘Egyptian Initiative’ adapted
Nature-based Solutions

10. European Union
Thank you for your attention
https://research-and-innovation.ec.europa.eu/research-area/environment/nature-based-solutions_en