Spotlight on social equity, finance and scale: promises and pitfalls of nature-based solutions

This briefing introduces a four-part series by the Stockholm Environment Institute (SEI) designed to address knowledge gaps regarding the social and economic sustainability of nature-based solutions (NbS). The series focuses on the potential risks, trade-offs, and the necessity of ensuring social equity, finance, and scale are integrated into NbS to avoid reinforcing existing inequalities.

• Nature-based solutions (NbS) are physical measures used to protect, manage, and restore ecosystems to address societal challenges and provide biodiversity benefits, offering an alternative to hard infrastructure or fossil fuel-based solutions. They have the potential to provide synergies across climate mitigation, resilience, biodiversity protection, and socio-economic gains.
• Despite an increase in publications in 2020 regarding the effectiveness of NbS, there remains a lack of critical analysis concerning social and economic sustainability. Specifically, the fact that NbS may not provide equal benefits across different social groups, timescales, and geographies is rarely explored in depth.
• The SEI series identifies three critical areas for further research to prevent NbS from creating 'winners and losers' and reinforcing injustices: social equity and justice, finance, and scale.

APA

Stockholm Environment Institute (2021). Spotlight on social equity, finance and scale: promises and pitfalls of nature-based solutions. https://www.sei.org/publications/spotlight-social-equity-finance-scale-promises-pitfalls-nature-based-solutions/

Chicago

Stockholm Environment Institute. Spotlight on social equity, finance and scale: promises and pitfalls of nature-based solutions. 2021. https://www.sei.org/publications/spotlight-social-equity-finance-scale-promises-pitfalls-nature-based-solutions/.

Wikipedia

{{cite report |author=Stockholm Environment Institute |title=Spotlight on social equity, finance and scale: promises and pitfalls of nature-based solutions |date=7 June 2021 |url=https://www.sei.org/publications/spotlight-social-equity-finance-scale-promises-pitfalls-nature-based-solutions/ |access-date=17 August 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@techreport{stockholmenvironmentinstitute2021spotlight, author = {{Stockholm Environment Institute}}, title = {{Spotlight on social equity, finance and scale: promises and pitfalls of nature-based solutions}}, institution = {Stockholm Environment Institute}, year = {2021}, month = jun, url = {https://www.sei.org/publications/spotlight-social-equity-finance-scale-promises-pitfalls-nature-based-solutions/}, urldate = {2026-08-17}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }