Looking to nature to address climate change
“Nature plays an immense role in every aspect of our lives and offers untapped solutions to some of our biggest challenges.”
So begins the White House report on nature-based solutions to climate change. It continues, “There is often an assumption that tackling the climate crisis requires only technological solutions or that “innovation” means “technology”. This report presents compelling evidence that nature-based solutions are innovative, and that they are highly complementary to necessary technological solutions. Nature-based solutions and technology can be powerful allies. Indeed, the climate crisis demands that we deploy all available, proven, science- and evidence-based solutions.”
What does it mean for a solution to be “nature-based”, and what are some examples?
Nature-based solutions (NBS) most often take the form of the conservation or restoration of ecosystems that provide some kind of supportive or stabilizing mechanism to the local or global environment. This includes urban trees that help to mitigate the heat island effect in cities, tree lines that prevent erosion and protect against wind storms, and coastal marshes that reduce the impacts of flooding.
The national nature assessment
A continuation of this work can be seen in the US Global Change Research Program’s National Nature Assessment. This assessment, currently underway and planned for release in 2026, is gathering feedback from government agencies, academia, nonprofits, local communities, and the private sector in order to “take stock of U.S. lands, waters, wildlife and the benefits they provide to our economy, health, climate, environmental justice, and national security”
“The challenges of climate change and nature loss are interconnected. Yet, the significance of nature in recent patterns of intensifying floods, heat stress, and wildfire is often overlooked. More frequent and extreme floods are the result of climate change and the extensive loss of wetlands that once acted as buffers, reducing some flood impacts. More intense heat waves stem from climate change and the loss of forests’ cooling canopies in cities and around farms. These interacting aspects of global change need to be understood and confronted together.”
The White House report and the upcoming National Nature Assessment underline the critical role of nature-based solutions in addressing climate change and environmental challenges. By harnessing the power of ecosystems and natural processes, we can create innovative, sustainable strategies that complement technological advancements, offering a holistic approach to mitigate the impacts of climate change and preserve our planet for future generations.
