NATURE-BASED SOLUTIONS FOR DISASTER RISK MANAGEMENT

The document argues that Nature-based Solutions (NBS) can reduce disaster risk and provide lower-cost, resilient services when integrated with conventional gray infrastructure. It details specific NBS applications for coastal, urban, and river flooding, provides a framework for implementation, and outlines policy and financing mechanisms to scale these approaches.

• Between 2012 and 2018, the World Bank's disaster risk management portfolio included 76 projects utilizing NBS in subcomponents, with a total investment value of $2 billion.
• NBS for coastal protection can be significantly more cost-effective than gray infrastructure; for example, restoring coastal wetlands can be two to five times cheaper than constructing submerged breakwaters for wave heights up to half a meter.
• Urban NBS can provide substantial stormwater management and economic benefits, such as green roofs retaining 50 to 100 percent of received stormwater and urban green spaces increasing property values by 5 to 15 percent.
• River flood mitigation through NBS, such as upland forest restoration, is particularly effective for short-duration floods, with 82 percent of restoration studies reporting a decrease in peak flow.
• Successful NBS implementation requires a multidisciplinary approach covering technical dimensions (modeling and sequencing), social dimensions (community land stewardship), and economic dimensions (appraising nonmarket cobenefits).
• Enabling policy frameworks for NBS include incorporating sustainable landscape visions, creating incentives for local actors, authorizing NBS to comply with building codes, and facilitating cross-sector coordination.
• Financing for NBS is evolving from primarily public and philanthropic sources to blended models, including Water Funds, Green Bonds, debt-for-nature swaps, and pay-for-success models.

APA

World Resources Institute (2018). NATURE-BASED SOLUTIONS FOR DISASTER RISK MANAGEMENT. https://wriorg.s3.amazonaws.com/s3fs-public/NBS_for_DRM_brochure.pdf

Chicago

World Resources Institute. NATURE-BASED SOLUTIONS FOR DISASTER RISK MANAGEMENT. 2018. https://wriorg.s3.amazonaws.com/s3fs-public/NBS_for_DRM_brochure.pdf.

Wikipedia

{{cite report |author=World Resources Institute |title=NATURE-BASED SOLUTIONS FOR DISASTER RISK MANAGEMENT |date=December 2018 |url=https://wriorg.s3.amazonaws.com/s3fs-public/NBS_for_DRM_brochure.pdf |access-date=23 October 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@techreport{worldresourcesinstitute2018naturebased, author = {{World Resources Institute}}, title = {{NATURE-BASED SOLUTIONS FOR DISASTER RISK MANAGEMENT}}, institution = {World Resources Institute}, year = {2018}, month = dec, url = {https://wriorg.s3.amazonaws.com/s3fs-public/NBS_for_DRM_brochure.pdf}, urldate = {2026-10-23}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }