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The document details findings from various water retention sites in the Canadian Prairies, highlighting the effectiveness of small dams and ponds in reducing peak flow and phosphorus. It emphasizes the need for better monitoring, the potential for nutrient reduction optimization, and the challenges of producer adoption due to land devaluation perceptions.

The report evaluates 10 water retention projects in Manitoba's Seine Rat Roseau Watershed District, finding that such projects generally provide positive economic returns, particularly for livestock producers. While upfront construction costs are the primary expense, benefits include flood and drought protection, improved water quality, and operational efficiencies. A cost-benefit analysis indicates an average benefit-cost ratio of 3.16 for livestock producers over a 20-year period, though crop-only operations showed lower returns due to high initial costs and fewer on-farm co-benefits.

This briefing outlines the evolution of climate change integration within the US National Defense Authorization Acts (NDAA) between 2017 and 2021. It details a progression from the initial declaration of climate change as a national security threat to specific mandates for installation resilience, Arctic security strategies, intelligence community coordination, and the assessment of climate impacts on operational warfighting capabilities.

The report evaluates the economic viability of restoring peatlands in Central Kalimantan and mangroves in Belitung, Indonesia. It argues that land rehabilitation is most effective when implemented as a package of interventions—such as combining canal blocking, land-use monitoring, and fire suppression for peatlands, or pairing mangrove planting with ecotourism—rather than as isolated measures. For peatlands, the highest societal net benefit (USD 4.136 billion by 2100) is achieved through a combined approach, primarily driven by avoided carbon emissions and fire damages. For mangroves, rehabilitation is deemed economically viable only when linked to additional revenue streams like ecotourism, which provides sustainable livelihoods and prevents land conversion for tin mining. The analysis emphasizes that local community income is critical for long-term success, as without alternative revenue (e.g., carbon payments or tourism), communities may return to environmentally damaging activities.

The briefing argues that nature-based solutions (NbS) are often framed as apolitical, leading to the neglect of social equity and justice. It proposes five core principles: ensuring inclusive and transparent processes, tackling root causes of marginalization, limiting the unjust redistribution of risks and costs, prioritizing at-risk communities, and using valuation tools that assess social and political change. These principles are illustrated through a case study in Kaptembwa, Nakuru, Kenya, where participatory planning is used to address flooding and lack of green space in a semi-informal settlement.

The SAVi assessment finds that tree planting in Addis Ababa generates significant societal value by sequestering carbon and avoiding costs associated with air pollution, flooding, and heat. The analysis indicates that trees provide better value for money and more job creation than grey infrastructure alternatives, such as electric vehicles or rainwater harvesting tanks, provided that the nature-based infrastructure is maintained to ensure tree survival.

The assessment finds that nature-based infrastructure (stream renaturalization) is the most cost-efficient and climate-resilient option, providing the highest net benefits primarily through avoided flood damages and additional water supply. While grey infrastructure (concrete culverts) has the highest upfront costs and provides no environmental co-benefits, nature-based solutions maintain superior performance across various climate scenarios, although they are more labour-intensive to maintain.

The report assesses the economic and environmental viability of an agroforestry project in Welkenraedt, Belgium, using the SAVi methodology and Copernicus Climate Data Store (CDS) data. The analysis finds that the project, involving approximately 100,000 m2 of hedges and trees, generates net benefits of EUR 3.9 million over 20 years against an investment cost of EUR 607,629. Key benefits include increased agricultural yields via windbreak effects, reduced heat stress for livestock, and enhanced ecosystem services such as carbon sequestration and nutrient removal. Climate projections under RCP 4.5 and RCP 8.5 suggest that increasing temperatures and precipitation will make the project more economically attractive by increasing the value of avoided flood damage and water treatment costs.

The petition argues that New York City's community gardens provide essential public health, environmental, and social benefits, yet remain vulnerable to development due to a lack of legal protections. It requests the designation of forty specific gardens as Critical Environmental Areas (CEAs) and a broader assessment to grant CEA status to all City-owned gardens. The document details how these spaces mitigate urban heat and flooding, improve food security in 'food deserts', and support mental health and social cohesion, particularly in marginalized Black and Latinx communities.

The document examines the causes of annual flooding in Accra, Ghana, and advocates for the integration of nature-based solutions, specifically ecosystem-based adaptation (EbA), alongside traditional infrastructure. It highlights the need for coordinated management across municipal and district assemblies to address shared waterways and drainage systems.

The 2020 ESMP for Jomotsangkha Wildlife Sanctuary (JWS) outlines mitigation strategies for five key activities: the construction of a head office, improvement of waterholes and salt licks, restoration of lowland grasslands, river protection work, and maintenance of staff quarters. It integrates Bhutanese national law with WWF's Social Safeguards Integrated Policies and Procedures (SIPP), prioritizing the more stringent WWF standards where discrepancies exist, particularly regarding compensation for non-title land users and community consultation. The plan details specific environmental risks, such as vegetation clearing and aquatic habitat disturbance, and social risks, including water-source conflicts between construction workers and local communities. Implementation is managed by BFL focal persons and contractors, with a monitoring framework involving weekly field visits and quarterly reports to ensure compliance.

The Environmental and Social Management Plan (ESMP) for Biological Corridor 5 (BC5) outlines the mitigation strategies for planned 2020 activities in the Pema Gatshel and Samdrup Jongkhar districts of Bhutan. The project, part of the broader 'Bhutan for Life' (BFL) initiative, focuses on habitat enrichment through waterhole and saltlick improvement and the construction of river protection walls to prevent flooding. The ESMP identifies potential risks such as waste generation, worker safety, and increased poaching, prescribing specific mitigation measures and a rigorous monitoring framework involving BFL focal persons and ESS consultants. It emphasizes compliance with both Royal Government of Bhutan (RGoB) laws and WWF's Social Safeguards Integrated Policies and Procedures (SIPP), with the latter prevailing in cases of discrepancy regarding land use and community consultation.

The Msimbazi Basin in Dar es Salaam faces severe flood risks exacerbated by rapid urbanisation and climate change, with annual losses estimated at $47 million. To address this, the Tanzania Urban Resilience Programme (TURP) was established in 2016 to implement a holistic strategy involving risk identification, reduction, emergency preparedness, and a 'resilience academy'. A central component is the proposed Msimbazi Basin City Park, which employs a hybrid approach combining ecosystem-based adaptation (EbA) with hard engineering to manage floodwaters while providing socio-economic and biodiversity benefits. The document highlights that the government secured $20 million by framing the project as 'urban planning, restructuring and resilience' rather than solely flood management, suggesting that cross-sectoral project packaging is essential for accessing diverse funding streams.

The document explores nature-based solutions—such as wetlands, oyster reefs, and dune restoration—as alternatives or complements to traditional 'gray' infrastructure for mitigating storm surge, flooding, and erosion along the U.S. Gulf Coast. It highlights the role of regional partnerships like the Gulf of Mexico Alliance and the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service's Coastal Program in implementing these strategies. A significant portion of the discussion focuses on the 'sediment crisis,' arguing for the beneficial use of dredged material to rebuild marshes and beaches. The panel concludes with legislative recommendations for the U.S. Congress, including reforming Army Corps of Engineers' cost-benefit ratios and funding pre-disaster mitigation.

The report outlines the value of natural infrastructure (NI) in Canada for climate adaptation, specifically for flood and drought mitigation. It identifies significant barriers in federal funding programs, such as the Investing in Canada Infrastructure Program (ICIP) and the Disaster Mitigation and Adaptation Fund (DMAF), including high funding thresholds and restrictions on private land eligibility. The document explores innovative financing mechanisms like green bonds and insurance-linked resilience bonds, while emphasizing the need for natural asset accounting in public sector financial statements to incentivize municipal protection of NI.

A coalition of 19 organizations advocates for the adoption of the Disaster Recovery Reform Act (DRRA) and the PREPARE Act in the U.S. Senate's FAA Reauthorization legislation. The letter argues that shifting federal resources toward pre-disaster mitigation and updating building codes will reduce fatalities and long-term federal spending. It specifically promotes the use of green infrastructure, nature-based defenses, and distributed energy resources to protect critical infrastructure from extreme weather events.

The document details a CNY 1 billion (USD 159 million) green bond issued on March 30, 2018, by Zhuhai Huafa Comprehensive Development Co., Ltd. with a five-year tenor. The proceeds are allocated to a 2-Star certified green commercial building (94%) and an urban wetland park (6%) designed for flood reduction. The Climate Bonds Initiative links the wetland project to China's Sponge Cities Initiative, which targets 80% of cities having sufficient wetlands to absorb 70% of storm water runoff by 2030.

The report examines the transition from traditional gray infrastructure to green infrastructure (GI) for stormwater management. It argues that because the benefits of GI are collective while costs are private, public intervention via economic instruments—specifically stormwater markets—is necessary to bridge the investment gap. The document details various price-based and quantity-based instruments, such as stormwater retention credits and environmental impact bonds, and analyzes their application in cities like Washington D.C., Philadelphia, and Halifax.

The report argues that shifting from annual monocrops to farming systems with continuous living cover—such as perennials and cover crops—can create 'spongy' soils that reduce flood runoff and increase water availability during droughts. Based on a meta-analysis of 126 experiments and regional modeling in Iowa, the authors find that these practices improve water infiltration and soil porosity, potentially reducing rainfall runoff by up to 20% during floods and increasing crop water availability by up to 16% during droughts. The report concludes that current federal farm policies and crop insurance programs create barriers to these transitions and recommends USDA and Congressional reforms to incentivize ecological soil management.

The Union of Concerned Scientists argues that shifting from conventional farming to practices that create 'spongelike' soils—such as using cover crops and perennial crops—can significantly reduce flood runoff and increase water availability during droughts. A meta-analysis of 126 experiments showed that 70 percent of cases using these practices saw increased water infiltration. Modeling for Iowa suggests that converting one-third of cropped acres (the least profitable and most erodible) to continuous cover could have reduced runoff by 20 percent during the 2011 Missouri River floods and increased crop water availability by up to 16 percent during the 1988 and 2012 droughts. The report calls for federal policy changes to the USDA and crop insurance programs to incentivize these soil management practices.