White paper: Paving the way for scaling up investment in nature-based solutions along coasts and rivers

Over the past ten years there has been a growing recognition of the potential of nature-based solutions (NBS) to help cope with the challenges of sustainable development, climate change,  and the biodiversity crisis across the globe as evidenced by many ambitions and initiatives. Despite this, the number of projects actually implemented around the globe remains limited, with the majority of infrastructure investments still targeted towards conventional solutions. To achieve the required systemic change, the gap between the scientific / engineering communities, public authorities and the financial world needs to be bridged, and institutional structures better geared to facilitate investment in NBS.  In a white paper together with consultant Rebel Group, we discuss advantages and disadvantages of NBS compared to “grey” engineering solutions from an economic perspective and discuss barriers to the widespread uptake of NBS in public and private investments and how these can be overcome.