Emerging Issues

Nature-Based Solutions for Urban Challenges

26 April 2021
Foresight Brief 023

The 23rd edition of UNEP’s Foresight Brief provides an overview of the current state of knowledge on the implementation and effectiveness of nature-based solutions (NbS), and their potential to provide a broad range of important ecosystem services.

Climate change was recently added to the wide range of agelong social challenges stemming from urbanisation. These challenges are becoming increasingly urgent to address. This is because cities are developing at the fastest pace. Nature-based solutions (NbS) can be used to address certain social challenges in urban areas as they pertain to climate change and thus to improve the cities’ resilience to climate change, quality of life of the city’s dwellers and to increase biodiversity in the city through the creation of green spaces. In this Brief we focus on the potential and application of NbS towards adaptation to climate change in urban areas.