Addressing scale in nature-based solutions

The document argues that nature-based solutions (NbS) often fail to achieve their potential because planning ignores the complexities of scale. It highlights that NbS have longer time-lags than grey infrastructure, spatial dependencies that transcend individual sites, and jurisdictional barriers that complicate governance. The authors recommend a shift toward quantitative targets, 'no regrets' strategies, and cross-jurisdictional coordination to avoid large-scale maladaptation.

• Nature-based solutions (NbS) often exhibit significant time-lags in delivering benefits compared to grey infrastructure, which typically provides immediate results. For instance, China's 'Grain for Green' program took approximately 10 years to realize full impacts.
• The effectiveness of NbS is heavily dependent on spatial scale; interventions that work in small catchments, such as reforestation or buffer strips, may lose effectiveness when upscaled to larger areas due to offset effects like river bed storage capacity.
• NbS governance is complicated by jurisdictional mismatches, as ecological processes often cross political boundaries, requiring coordination between diverse landowners and authorities who may lack the legal legitimacy or capacity to engage.
• There is a risk of spatial inequity in NbS, where the costs of implementation are borne by one community while the benefits accrue to another. An example is noted in the US, where downstream wetlands provided flood-reduction benefits to upstream areas after Hurricane Sandy in 2012.
• Current monitoring of NbS is often fragmented and spatially limited, failing to track projects throughout their entire lifespan or account for the mismatch between the scale of hydrological changes and the scale of observations.
• To avoid large-scale maladaptation, the document recommends that NbS designs implement 'no regrets' options to maximize positive outcomes regardless of climate change, and establish quantitative targets with systematic monitoring.

APA

Odongo, V., Barquet, K., & Green, J. (2022). Addressing scale in nature-based solutions. Stockholm Environment Institute. https://www.sei.org/wp-content/uploads/2022/10/nbs-scale-sei2022.043.pdf

Chicago

Odongo, Vincent, Karina Barquet, and Jonathan Green. Addressing scale in nature-based solutions. Stockholm Environment Institute, 2022. https://www.sei.org/wp-content/uploads/2022/10/nbs-scale-sei2022.043.pdf.

Wikipedia

{{cite report |last1=Odongo |first1=Vincent |last2=Barquet |first2=Karina |last3=Green |first3=Jonathan |title=Addressing scale in nature-based solutions |publisher=Stockholm Environment Institute |date=October 2022 |url=https://www.sei.org/wp-content/uploads/2022/10/nbs-scale-sei2022.043.pdf |access-date=23 October 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@techreport{odongo2022addressing, author = {Odongo, Vincent and Barquet, Karina and Green, Jonathan}, title = {{Addressing scale in nature-based solutions}}, institution = {Stockholm Environment Institute}, year = {2022}, month = oct, url = {https://www.sei.org/wp-content/uploads/2022/10/nbs-scale-sei2022.043.pdf}, urldate = {2026-10-23}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }