Are Nature-Based Solutions (NBS) sufficiently integrated into the European strategy for biodiversity restoration?

Description

In Europe, nature-based solutions (NBS) have become an increasingly central pillar of biodiversity and climate adaptation policies. The EU links them directly to its 2030 Biodiversity Strategy and the Nature Restoration Regulation, which includes legally binding targets for ecosystem restoration. NBS can protect, sustainably manage, and restore ecosystems to address societal challenges such as flooding, drought, erosion, heat islands, water security, and health. The European Environment Agency presents them as versatile solutions that often offer greater benefits than purely technical measures. 

The European Biodiversity Strategy to 2030 aims to put nature in the EU back on the path to recovery by combining protection, restoration, and the expansion of protected areas. It is accompanied by the Nature Restoration Law, which sets an overall target of restoring at least 20% of the EU’s land and seas by 2030, followed by the restoration of all ecosystems requiring intervention by 2050.

The adopted text also stipulates that at least 30% of degraded habitats covered by the regulation must be restored by 2030, followed by 60% by 2040 and 90% by 2050. The Commission emphasizes that this legislation serves the objectives of biodiversity, climate action, and food security.

NBS are now considered a major tool for ecosystem-based adaptation. The EU’s 2021 adaptation strategy, which will soon be updated, gives them a prominent role, as they often offer better co-benefits than traditional gray infrastructure. The EEA highlights that they can reduce the risks of erosion, flooding, drought, heat islands, and wildfires, while improving carbon sequestration and air and water quality. It is precisely this multifunctional nature that makes them strategic for adaptation.

Sources from the IUCN and the EEA indicate that they are often less costly in the long term than purely technical solutions, especially when maintenance, flexibility, and co-benefits are taken into account. They also generate social benefits: health, well-being, risk reduction, regional attractiveness, and, in some cases, food security or water availability. In urban areas, they also help lower temperatures and improve the quality of life.

Several figures recur in recent European sources. According to the European Parliament, more than 80% of habitats in Europe are in poor condition, which justifies the ramp-up of restoration measures. The European regulation sets specific targets: 20% of land and marine areas to be restored by 2030, followed by 30%, 60%, and 90% depending on the condition of the targeted habitats. These percentages provide a clear and measurable path for public action. 

However, in practice, SfN technologies are still heavily concentrated in Europe: a study reported in the trade press indicates that 60% of the projects analyzed were being implemented in Europe, a sign of leadership but also of a need for industrialization and scaling up. International cooperation is also a key lever for sustainably integrating these natural technologies as long-term solutions to combat the various impacts of climate change. 

 Given the current context, how can the Nature Restoration Law (adopted in 2024) and the European Adaptation Strategy be adapted to enable the widespread and effective implementation of Nature-based Solutions for ecosystem restoration and European climate resilience, while overcoming financial, regulatory, technical, scientific, and governance barriers?

Speakers

• Yannick GLEMAREC, President of Gold Standard
• Alicia MORENO, Project Manager, MountResilience
• Rastislav TRNKA, President of the Košice Self-Governing Region
• Barbara WIDERA, Member of the Board of Directors of the “Climate Change Adaptation” initiative

Moderator: Amaury PARELLE, Coordinator of the LIFE Artisan Project, OFB (French Office for Biodiversity)