THE ROLE OF THE NATURAL ENVIRONMENT IN ADAPTATION

The document argues that the natural environment is fundamental to economic resilience and that Nature-based Solutions (NbS) offer cost-effective, flexible alternatives or complements to engineered infrastructure for adapting to climate change. It details the dependencies of key economic sectors on ecosystem services and provides evidence that NbS can mitigate risks from coastal hazards, intense precipitation, drought, and heat while providing co-benefits such as carbon sequestration and biodiversity conservation. The authors identify significant barriers to the adoption of NbS, including lack of awareness, limited finance, and technical capacity gaps, and recommend integrating nature into climate vulnerability assessments and procurement policies.

• Nature-based Solutions (NbS) for adaptation often present economic advantages over hard infrastructure, being lower in cost and capable of generating higher economic returns through co-benefits such as food, jobs, and carbon sequestration.
• Coastal ecosystems provide substantial financial value in storm protection; for instance, coastal wetlands in the USA provide an estimated US$23.2 billion in storm protection services annually during hurricane season.
• Investing in watershed restoration and conservation can provide significant savings for urban water utilities, with an estimated annual saving of US$890 million for the world's largest cities.
• Climate change and environmental degradation create a 'downward spiral' where resource depletion increases societal vulnerability, which in turn leads to further unsustainable ecosystem management.
• Food security is heavily dependent on ecosystem services; for example, pollination affects the yield or quality of 75% of globally important crops and contributes between US$235 billion and US$577 billion to the global economy annually.
• Urban green spaces can significantly mitigate the urban heat island effect, with air temperature differences of up to 4°C between green areas and less vegetated city areas.
• The infrastructure sector is increasingly exploring NbS to manage risks, though conventional 'gray' infrastructure remains the default due to private sector aversion to alternative approaches.
• In the industry and supply chain sector, NbS adoption is most prevalent in agriculture, with some multinational companies using agroforestry to reduce drought risks.
• The adoption of NbS is hindered by five primary interlinked barriers: lack of awareness, limited knowledge/evidence, restrictive policy/governance environments, limited access to finance, and technical capacity gaps.
• The authors recommend that climate impact and vulnerability assessments should routinely include analysis of impacts on ecosystems and the resulting implications for human vulnerability.
• Financial institutions are urged to develop new funding models and de-risking strategies to support long-term investment in NbS, as current models often fail to match the long-term, low-level investment needs of nature-based projects.

APA

KAPOS, V., WICANDER, S., SALVATERRA, T., DAWKINS, K., & HICKS, C. (2019). THE ROLE OF THE NATURAL ENVIRONMENT IN ADAPTATION. World Resources Institute. https://files.wri.org/s3fs-public/uploads/Role_of_Natural_Environment_in_Adaptation_Paper_-_Global_Commission_on_Adaptation.pdf

Chicago

KAPOS, VALERIE, SYLVIA WICANDER, TÂNIA SALVATERRA, KATIE DAWKINS, and CHARLOTTE HICKS. THE ROLE OF THE NATURAL ENVIRONMENT IN ADAPTATION. World Resources Institute, 2019. https://files.wri.org/s3fs-public/uploads/Role_of_Natural_Environment_in_Adaptation_Paper_-_Global_Commission_on_Adaptation.pdf.

Wikipedia

{{cite report |last1=KAPOS |first1=VALERIE |last2=WICANDER |first2=SYLVIA |last3=SALVATERRA |first3=TÂNIA |last4=DAWKINS |first4=KATIE |last5=HICKS |first5=CHARLOTTE |title=THE ROLE OF THE NATURAL ENVIRONMENT IN ADAPTATION |publisher=World Resources Institute |date=July 2019 |url=https://files.wri.org/s3fs-public/uploads/Role_of_Natural_Environment_in_Adaptation_Paper_-_Global_Commission_on_Adaptation.pdf |access-date=23 October 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@techreport{kapos2019role, author = {KAPOS, VALERIE and WICANDER, SYLVIA and SALVATERRA, TÂNIA and DAWKINS, KATIE and HICKS, CHARLOTTE}, title = {{THE ROLE OF THE NATURAL ENVIRONMENT IN ADAPTATION}}, institution = {World Resources Institute}, year = {2019}, month = jul, url = {https://files.wri.org/s3fs-public/uploads/Role_of_Natural_Environment_in_Adaptation_Paper_-_Global_Commission_on_Adaptation.pdf}, urldate = {2026-10-23}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }