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The report analyzes water insecurities in the Mekong region, driven by environmental pressures, socio-economic inequalities, and governance failures. It evaluates interventions such as community-based infrastructure, adaptive agricultural practices, and inclusive governance models, while recommending decentralized management and strengthened transboundary cooperation.

The report outlines the challenges of implementing nature-based solutions (NbS) in Indian cities, where rapid urban expansion has increased heat and flood risks. Based on a multi-stakeholder workshop, it identifies systemic barriers across design, finance, governance, operations, and policy. The central conclusion is that NbS efforts in India are currently fragmented and limited to isolated pilots due to the lack of a national or state-level policy framework. The document argues that establishing such a framework is a foundational imperative to provide the legal and operational scaffolding necessary to scale integrated blue-green-gray infrastructure.

The Kintampo Municipal Assembly Climate Adaptation Plan (KMAP) provides a comprehensive strategy to build resilience against climate hazards such as droughts, floods, and bushfires in Ghana's Bono East Region. The plan prioritizes on-farm actions like conservation agriculture and irrigation, off-farm knowledge dissemination, and gender-responsive initiatives. It outlines a diverse funding framework leveraging government, international, and private resources, and establishes a monitoring, evaluation, and learning (MEL) system to track progress. Coordination is led by a dedicated Climate Desk within the Municipal Planning and Coordinating Unit, supported by a multi-stakeholder platform.

The Nature-Based Infrastructure Global Resource Centre conducted a cost-benefit analysis of nature-based infrastructure (NBI) in Cape Town's Diep/Sand River and Zeekoe catchments. The study finds that NBI interventions—such as creating retention ponds, establishing wetlands, and removing invasive species—offer significant economic returns, with benefit-to-cost ratios up to 2.07 and net benefits reaching ZAR 133 million over 25 years. These gains are primarily driven by avoided costs in dredging and canal refurbishment, reduced flood damages, and the creation of over 60 local jobs annually. The analysis indicates that NBI is particularly valuable under pessimistic climate scenarios with high flood risks, providing a cost-effective alternative to grey infrastructure upgrades.

The report assesses the restoration of 579 hectares of wetlands in Chile's Biobío region, finding that nature-based infrastructure (NBI) is economically viable across all modelled scenarios. With a maximum benefit-cost ratio of 1.30, the project is projected to generate up to USD 58.74 million in avoided flood damage and rental income loss, while providing significant social value through recreation and carbon storage.

The International Institute for Sustainable Development has developed a replicable strategy for spatial targeting of water retention projects, such as wetlands and small naturalized dams, in the Canadian Prairies. This approach uses models like PTMApp and LiDAR-based digital elevation models to identify optimal sites for phosphorus interception, particularly in ungauged basins where data is limited. Such natural infrastructure is presented as critical for mitigating the increased flood and drought risks caused by climate change in the region.

The Council on Strategic Risks warns that proposed efforts by the Trump Administration to eliminate or restructure FEMA pose a grave risk to US national security. The author contends that FEMA is essential for protecting American lives, preventing foreign and domestic exploitation during disasters, and supporting military readiness. The document highlights recent cuts to staff and the elimination of the Building Resilience Infrastructure and Communities (BRIC) program as detrimental, suggesting that the agency requires modernization and investment rather than dismantling.

The report advocates for the use of spatial targeting to maximize the water quality and climate adaptation benefits of water retention projects, such as wetlands and naturalized dams, in the Canadian Prairies. It highlights the PTMApp model and the necessity of high-resolution LiDAR-based digital elevation models (DEMs) to accurately map phosphorus loading and identify non-contributing areas. Using the Swan Lake study area as a demonstration, the document argues that strategic site selection improves cost-effectiveness and phosphorus interception, particularly during high-magnitude spring runoff events.

The document outlines a five-step process for assessing nature-based solutions (NbS), moving from system mapping and climate analysis to the quantification of benefits and the identification of financing structures. It emphasizes the use of systems thinking to capture multifunctional co-benefits that traditional 'grey' infrastructure often overlooks. The guide provides a toolbox of quantification and risk assessment tools and illustrates the application of the SAVi methodology through case studies in the Netherlands, Burkina Faso, Italy, Greece, Belgium, and Colombia.

The analysis finds that investing in nature-based infrastructure (NBI) in Drakenstein, South Africa, can reduce flood damages by up to USD 36 million against costs of USD 8.65 million over 25 years. The study indicates a benefit-cost ratio of up to 5:1 (ZAR 5 return for every ZAR 1 invested), with net benefits reaching ZAR 600 million (USD 34.2 million). These benefits include avoided flood damages, job creation, and improved mental health, with NBI proving most valuable in climate scenarios characterized by frequent and intense floods.

The Canadian Climate Institute warns that current land-use policies could lead to over 540,000 new homes being built in flood-risk zones and 220,000 in high-wildfire-risk areas by 2030. This trajectory could increase annual flood damages by up to $2 billion and wildfire damages by $1.1 billion. The report identifies critical gaps in provincial regulations, a lack of up-to-date risk mapping, and 'moral hazard' created by disaster assistance programs that encourage risky construction. It recommends strengthening land-use regulations, integrating risk data into housing and infrastructure funding, and mandating risk disclosure during real estate transactions.

The Canadian Climate Institute urges the Quebec government to implement new flood maps and construction regulations despite opposition from municipalities and developers. The author argues that the cost of inaction—estimated between $70 million and $210 million in annual losses—far outweighs the potential decrease in property values, noting that homes in very high-risk zones are likely to suffer several hundred thousand dollars in damages over the next 25 years.

Uruguay is transitioning toward integrated urban water management, with high potable water access but ongoing challenges in sanitation, stormwater drainage, and flood risk management. While constitutional reforms recognize water and sanitation as human rights, implementation remains partial, and the country faces significant needs in wastewater treatment and sustainable urban drainage planning.

The report evaluates the "Freetown the Treetown" initiative, which aims to plant millions of trees to combat deforestation and climate change in Freetown. Using Sustainable Asset Valuation (SAVi), it analyzes two scenarios for planting trees by 2050, projecting significant net discounted benefits between USD 21.68 million and USD 26.45 million. The primary benefits include avoided infrastructure damage from natural hazards, job creation, and reduced loss of life, with a societal return of over USD 2 for every USD 1 invested.

The Flood Green Guide Youth Champions pilot program engaged nine young leaders (aged 24-30) from Africa, Latin America and the Caribbean, and Asia and the Pacific Islands to co-design a framework for youth involvement in flood risk management (FRM). Through a hybrid approach of in-person workshops in Sri Lanka and virtual meetings, the program developed a structure focused on capacity building, civic engagement spaces, and targeted funding. While the program successfully fostered a community of advocates and provided foundational knowledge in nature-based solutions, it faced challenges regarding long-term participant engagement and the difficulty of maintaining cohesion in a global versus regional program model.

The author contends that traditional engineering solutions like levees and dams are insufficient against increasing extreme rainfall and sea-level rise in Europe. The text highlights the failure of 'maladaptive responses' and advocates for nature-based solutions, such as floodplain restoration, while acknowledging the economic and systemic barriers to transitioning away from concrete-based infrastructure.

The report assesses three intervention scenarios for the Pandarachirathodu Canal in Kochi, India, to combat degradation, pollution, and flooding. It finds that all three scenarios—ranging from a hybrid 'integrated wetland technology' (IWT) to a comprehensive biodiversity park—are investment worthy. While the highest net benefits (INR 325-331 million) are achieved by combining IWT with nature-based interventions like mangroves and floating wetlands, the highest benefit-to-cost ratio is found in the baseline IWT scenario, yielding INR 9.78 in net benefits for every INR 1 invested.

The Nature-Based Infrastructure Global Resource Centre analyzed the Bring Back Our Trees project in Kasese, Uganda, which aims to reforest 30,270 hectares to combat climate-driven floods and landslides. The analysis found that the nature-based infrastructure approach generates a total net benefit of USD 69.1 million, providing a return of USD 5.44 for every dollar invested. Beyond flood mitigation, the interventions support carbon sequestration, biodiversity, job creation, and soil erosion prevention.

The report analyzes a failed government-led project to plant vetiver grass for erosion control in Fiji, identifying six behavioural drivers—salience of loss, choice uncertainty, outcome efficacy, collective efficacy, self-efficacy, and material access—that influence adoption. It argues that top-down interventions often fail because they overlook psychological and socio-cultural drivers, recommending that future climate adaptation projects integrate behavioural science and deep community engagement during the design phase.

The study analyzes severe flooding in Afghanistan, Pakistan, and Iran during April and May 2024, which caused hundreds of deaths and significant infrastructure damage. While the event occurred outside the typical winter rainfall season, researchers found that a declining El Niño increased the likelihood of such rainfall by approximately two times and intensity by about 8% compared to neutral years. The analysis concludes that human-induced climate change cannot be definitively attributed as the main driver due to discrepancies between observational data and climate model signals, although a 40-year observational trend shows an increase in heavy rainfall. The report emphasizes that high vulnerability—driven by deforestation, unplanned urban expansion, and limited water management—exacerbated the disaster's impact.