Understanding the value and limits of nature-based solutions to climate change and other global challenges
Open accessAbstract
There is growing awareness that ‘nature-based solutions' (NbS) can help to protect us from climate change impacts while slowing further warming, supporting biodiversity and securing ecosystem services. However, the potential of NbS to provide the intended benefits has not been rigorously assessed. There are concerns over their reliability and cost-effectiveness compared to engineered alternatives, and their resilience to climate change. Trade-offs can arise if climate mitigation policy encourages NbS with low biodiversity value, such as afforestation with non-native monocultures. This can result in maladaptation, especially in a rapidly changing world where biodiversity-based resilience and multi-functional landscapes are key. Here, we highlight the rise of NbS in climate policy—focusing on their potential for climate change adaptation as well as mitigation—and discuss barriers to their evidence-based implementation. We outline the major financial and governance challenges to implementing NbS at scale, highlighting avenues for further research. As climate policy turns increasingly towards greenhouse gas removal approaches such as afforestation, we stress the urgent need for natural and social scientists to engage with policy makers. They must ensure that NbS can achieve their potential to tackle both the climate and biodiversity crisis while also contributing to sustainable development. This will require systemic change in the way we conduct research and run our institutions. This article is part of the theme issue ‘Climate change and ecosystems: threats, opportunities and solutions’.
The claims and statistics of this paper haven’t been checked yet.
Run the check — free, no account needed. It reads the open-access text and checks the sources it cites.
Integrity signals
Registry
Cites
Statistics
Claims the paper makes
The claims and statistics of this paper haven’t been checked yet.
Run the check — free, no account needed. It reads the open-access text and checks the sources it cites.
Claims other papers make about this one
Each is checked against this paper’s own text: does it say what the citing paper says it does?
Restoration and management of restored ecosystems will need to be dynamically adopted in response to ongoing and unavoidable changes.
“There is also increasing recognition that restoration and management of restored ecosystems will need to be dynamically adopted in response to ongoing and unavoidable changes (101-103).”
From Restoring Degraded Lands (2021) · cites this paper as [103]
Section 4, “Effectiveness of nature-based solutions under climate change” (page unavailable), says climate change can shift ecosystems to new states and that active management can reduce exposure to its impacts. It does not specifically say that restoration and the management of restored ecosystems must be dynamically adjusted as conditions change. (LLM, conf=0.80)
Experimental — accuracy not yet measuredThese categories are difficult to gauge and difficult to compare, which often prevents the assessment of co-benefits or trade-offs.
“These are difficult to gauge and difficult to compare, which often prevents the assessment of co-benefits or trade-offs (101, 103).”
From Restoring Degraded Lands (2021) · cites this paper as [103]
Self-check
Percentages, sums and reported differences re-computed from the paper’s own numbers.
The self-check needs the paper’s full text.
Cites
This paper’s reference list could not be split into single entries.
A General Framework for Analyzing Sustainability of Social-Ecological Systems
Ostrom, E. (2009) · Science · doi:10.1126/science.1172133 · Cited by 8,656 · see citing works
Allen, C. D., Macalady, A. K., Chenchouni, H., Bachelet, D., McDowell, N., Vennetier, M., Kitzberger, T., Rigling, A., Breshears, D. D., Hogg, E. H. (., et al. (2010) · Forest Ecology and Management · doi:10.1016/j.foreco.2009.09.001 · Cited by 7,763 · see citing works
Changes in the global value of ecosystem services
Costanza, R., de Groot, R., Sutton, P., van der Ploeg, S., Anderson, S. J., Kubiszewski, I., Farber, S., & Turner, R. K. (2014) · Global Environmental Change · doi:10.1016/j.gloenvcha.2014.04.002 · Cited by 6,322 · see citing works
Biomass resilience of Neotropical secondary forests
Poorter, L., Bongers, F., Aide, T. M., Almeyda Zambrano, A. M., Balvanera, P., Becknell, J. M., Boukili, V., Brancalion, P. H. S., Broadbent, E. N., Chazdon, R. L., et al. (2016) · Nature · doi:10.1038/nature16512 · Cited by 1,210 · see citing works
Linking the influence and dependence of people on biodiversity across scales
Isbell, F., Gonzalez, A., Loreau, M., Cowles, J., Díaz, S., Hector, A., Mace, G. M., Wardle, D. A., O'Connor, M. I., Duffy, J. E., et al. (2017) · Nature · doi:10.1038/nature22899 · Cited by 745 · see citing works
Unexpectedly large impact of forest management and grazing on global vegetation biomass
Erb, K.-H., Kastner, T., Plutzar, C., Bais, A. L. S., Carvalhais, N., Fetzel, T., Gingrich, S., Haberl, H., Lauk, C., Niedertscheider, M., et al. (2018) · Nature · doi:10.1038/nature25138 · Cited by 727 · see citing works
Global restoration opportunities in tropical rainforest landscapes
Brancalion, P. H. S., Niamir, A., Broadbent, E., Crouzeilles, R., Barros, F. S. M., Almeyda Zambrano, A. M., Baccini, A., Aronson, J., Goetz, S., Reid, J. L., et al. (2019) · Science Advances · doi:10.1126/sciadv.aav3223 · Cited by 493 · see citing works
Smith, P., Adams, J., Beerling, D. J., Beringer, T., Calvin, K. V., Fuss, S., Griscom, B., Hagemann, N., Kammann, C., Kraxner, F., et al. (2019) · Annual Review of Environment and Resources · doi:10.1146/annurev-environ-101718-033129 · Cited by 380 · see citing works
Flagged first, then by citations
Cited by
Sorted by citations
Climate Change 2022 – Impacts, Adaptation and Vulnerability
(IPCC), I. P. O. C. C. (2023) · doi:10.1017/9781009325844 · Cited by 8,473 · see citing works
Principles for urban nature-based solutions
Kabisch, N., Frantzeskaki, N., & Hansen, R. (2022) · Ambio · doi:10.1007/s13280-021-01685-w · Cited by 272 · see citing works
The evolution and future of research on Nature-based Solutions to address societal challenges
Dunlop, T., Khojasteh, D., Cohen-Shacham, E., Glamore, W., Haghani, M., van den Bosch, M., Rizzi, D., Greve, P., & Felder, S. (2024) · Communications Earth & Environment · doi:10.1038/s43247-024-01308-8 · Cited by 179 · see citing works
Integrating solutions to adapt cities for climate change
Lin, B. B., Ossola, A., Alberti, M., Andersson, E., Bai, X., Dobbs, C., Elmqvist, T., Evans, K. L., Frantzeskaki, N., Fuller, R. A., et al. (2021) · The Lancet Planetary Health · doi:10.1016/s2542-5196(21)00135-2 · Cited by 172 · see citing works
Arneth, A., Olsson, L., Cowie, A., Erb, K.-H., Hurlbert, M., Kurz, W. A., Mirzabaev, A., & Rounsevell, M. D. A. (2021) · Annual Review of Environment and Resources · doi:10.1146/annurev-environ-012320-054809 · Cited by 106 · see citing works
“These are difficult to gauge and difficult to compare, which often prevents the assessment of co-benefits or trade-offs (101, 103).”
BackgroundPathways to a healthy net-zero future: report of the Lancet Pathfinder Commission
Whitmee, S., Green, R., Belesova, K., Hassan, S., Cuevas, S., Murage, P., Picetti, R., Clercq-Roques, R., Murray, K., Falconer, J., et al. (2024) · The Lancet · doi:10.1016/s0140-6736(23)02466-2 · Cited by 112 · see citing works
Sun, J., Wang, Y., Lee, T. M., Nie, X., Wang, T., Liang, E., Wang, Y., Zhang, L., Wang, J., Piao, S., et al. (2024) · Communications Earth & Environment · doi:10.1038/s43247-024-01330-w · Cited by 104 · see citing works
Nassary, E. K., Msomba, B. H., Masele, W. E., Ndaki, P. M., & Kahangwa, C. A. (2022) · Journal of Environmental Management · doi:10.1016/j.jenvman.2022.114786 · Cited by 74 · see citing works
Making nature-based solutions climate-ready for the 50 °C world
Ossola, A., & Lin, B. B. (2021) · Environmental Science & Policy · doi:10.1016/j.envsci.2021.05.026 · Cited by 50 · see citing works
Global synthesis and regional insights for mainstreaming urban nature-based solutions
McPhearson, T., Frantzeskaki, N., Ossola, A., Diep, L., Anderson, P. M. L., Blatch, T., Collier, M. J., Cook, E. M., Culwick Fatti, C., Grabowski, Z. J., et al. (2025) · Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences · doi:10.1073/pnas.2315910121 · Cited by 47 · see citing works
“NbS can also contribute to climate change mit - igation and sustain or enhance biodiversity ( 12 – 15 ).”
Integrated approaches to nature-based solutions in Africa: Insights from a bibliometric analysis
Nyika, J., & Dinka, M. O. (2022) · Nature-Based Solutions · doi:10.1016/j.nbsj.2022.100031 · Cited by 40 · see citing works
Urban governance and policy mixes for nature-based solutions and integrated water policy
Kirsop-Taylor, N., Russel, D., & Jensen, A. (2022) · Journal of Environmental Policy & Planning · doi:10.1080/1523908x.2021.1956309 · Cited by 38 · see citing works
Six steps to integrate climate mitigation with adaptation for social justice
Ripple, W. J., Moomaw, W. R., Wolf, C., Betts, M. G., Law, B. E., Gregg, J., & Newsome, T. M. (2022) · Environmental Science & Policy · doi:10.1016/j.envsci.2021.11.007 · Cited by 26 · see citing works
Feng, L., Xie, J., & Ke, Y. (2025) · Sustainability · doi:10.3390/su18010164 · Cited by 1 · see citing works
- Authors
- Seddon, N., Chausson, A., Berry, P., Girardin, C. A. J., Smith, A., & Turner, B.
- Affiliations
- Nature-based Solutions Initiative, Department of Zoology, University of Oxford, Oxford, UK
- University of Oxford (GB)
- Environmental Change Institute, School of Geography and Environment, University of Oxford, Oxford, UK
- Venue
- Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences
- Publisher
- The Royal Society
- Published
- 2020-01-27
- Volume
- 375
- Issue
- 1794
- Pages
- 20190120
- ISSN
- 0962-8436 (ISSN-L)
- 1471-2970
- PMC
- PMC7017763
- OpenAlex
- W2989970761
- Cited by
- 2,024
- References
- 8
- Citations by year
- 2026: 430 · 2025: 405 · 2024: 371 · 2023: 335 · 2022: 254 · 2021: 194 · 2020: 34 · 2019: 1
- FWCI
- 33.25
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- green
- www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov
- Locations
- Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society B Biological Sciences (publishedVersion)
- PubMed Central (publishedVersion)
- PubMed (publishedVersion)
- Funders
- Natural Environment Research Council
- Topics
- Social Sciences › Economics, Econometrics and Finance › Economics and Econometrics › Climate Change Policy and Economics
- Physical Sciences › Environmental Science › Global and Planetary Change › Land Use and Ecosystem Services
- Physical Sciences › Environmental Science › Global and Planetary Change › Forest Management and Policy
- Keywords
- nature-based solutions, climate change mitigation, climate change adaptation, biodiversity, ecosystem services, afforestation, maladaptation, greenhouse gas removal, cost-effectiveness, governance, evidence-based policy, sustainable development, multifunctional landscapes
- MeSH terms
- Conservation of Natural Resources, Reproducibility of Results, Ecosystem, Biodiversity, Climate Change
About these checks
Registry, retraction, Cites and statistics results are computed, not judged, with one exception: a printed reference that no index lists is read once by a model before it counts as a citation error. Claims are extracted by a model and kept only when their quote appears verbatim in the text; each cited source is then checked, with a model’s help, for whether it says what the claim relies on. Those verdicts can be wrong — read the claim’s quote and the cited source before relying on one.
Statistics and arithmetic are recomputed, not judged.
Confidence bands are shown only for fields calibrated on our annotated test set. None is calibrated yet, so no band is shown.
What counts as a claim ›How we measure confidence ›How we check this ›
Are you an author, or do you see a problem with this page? Request a review
