IUCN Presents 6 Priority Areas for Scaling Up NbS for Climate Adaptation 
The International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) announced in a news release dated February 26, 2026, that it has published the “NbS Brief Series” to promote the implementation of Nature-based Solutions (NbS) that support climate-change adaptation. The series was launched at International Development Week 2026, held in Ottawa, Canada, and aims to expand adaptation measures that address intensifying climate impacts while advancing both nature conservation and local livelihoods. The content is organized in line with Nature 2030, IUCN’s global conservation strategy.
Six Priority Areas for Scaling Up NbS
IUCN identifies the following six areas as essential for effectively expanding NbS.
- Protecting Nature and Empowering Communities
- Social and environmental safeguards should not be treated as mere procedures; rather, they should function as mechanisms that prevent maladaptation and strengthen local trust and resilience.
- The rights, knowledge, and participation of Indigenous Peoples, women, and local communities are considered indispensable.
- Valuing Benefits Beyond Carbon
- Climate finance tends to undervalue biodiversity. IUCN highlights that biodiversity provides multiple benefits—including food security, flood protection, and ecosystem stability—and notes that making these values visible can strengthen investment decisions and policy design.
- The organization calls for a shift away from approaches overly focused on carbon reduction toward financial systems that are nature-positive.
- Expanding Gender-Responsive Adaptation Finance
- In sub-Saharan Africa, women disproportionately experience the impacts of climate change. To address this challenge, IUCN introduces blended finance mechanisms that combine public and private funding, as well as investment models based on public–private partnerships.
- Through these mechanisms, women are positioned as decision-makers and beneficiaries, and efforts are encouraged to create an environment in which local resource managers can access finance equitably.
- Building Credibility Through Participatory Evidence
- IUCN emphasizes the importance of people-centered Monitoring, Evaluation, and Learning (MEL).
- Transparent, participatory MEL makes environmental, social, and economic outcomes visible, while enhancing local ownership, policy credibility, and the scalability of adaptation measures.
- Transforming Food Systems Through Agroecology
- As small-scale agriculture faces the impacts of climate change and biodiversity loss, agroecology—combining traditional knowledge with innovation—contributes to soil restoration, biodiversity conservation, and improved resilience for farmers.
- It is positioned as an approach that simultaneously advances food security and climate adaptation.
- Women’s Leadership in Coastal Blue Initiatives
- With the expansion of the blue economy—economic activities that sustainably use marine and coastal resources—IUCN proposes systems that enable women and other historically undervalued groups to move beyond formal participation and exercise substantive leadership.
- The aim is to enhance inclusiveness in the management of marine and coastal natural resources and to achieve both ecosystem conservation and social benefits.
Challenges and Significance of Mainstreaming NbS
IUCN identifies the insufficient consideration of nature in climate and economic decision-making as a key challenge and underscores the following points:
- NbS offers an integrated approach capable of simultaneously achieving climate resilience, biodiversity conservation, and social equity.
- Embedding NbS into national strategies, investment decisions, and community-led actions enables a shift from isolated projects to system-wide transformation.
- Transparent evidence, inclusive decision-making, and the valuation of nature’s multiple benefits—including biodiversity—enhance the credibility of policies and investments.
IUCN states that scaling up NbS will accelerate when governments, financial institutions, Indigenous Peoples’ organizations, private-sector actors, and other stakeholders share a common knowledge base.
Related Links
The IUCN news release, “IUCN’s NAbSA initiative launches new brief series to accelerate Nature-based Solutions for climate adaptation:
https://iucn.org/news/202602/iucns-nabsa-initiative-launches-new-brief-series-accelerate-nature-based-solutions
