https://www.iied.org/ecosystem-based-approaches-climate-change-adaptation

Ecosystem-based approaches to climate change adaptation

Project

Active

July 2015 to March 2020

Ecosystem management and restoration can be a very important part of climate change adaptation, and communities can play a central role in the process, but the evidence base needs strengthening. IIED and partners are working in 12 countries to promote effective EbA and sustainable development.

This map shows where the EbA Evidence and Policy project is being undertaken. Click on the pins to see more details.
 

Ecosystem-based adaptation (EbA) involves people using biodiversity and ecosystem services to adapt to the adverse effects of climate change and promote sustainable development.

Like community-based adaptation (CBA) it has people at its centre, and it uses participatory, culturally appropriate ways to address challenges, but there is a stronger emphasis on ecological and natural solutions.

We believe EbA has great potential to increase people's resilience and ability to adapt, but it's being overlooked in national and international policy processes.

This project aims to show climate change policymakers when and why EbA is effective – the conditions under which it works, and the benefits, costs and limitations of natural systems compared to options such as hard, infrastructural approaches – and promote the better integration of EbA principles into policy and planning.

Why now?

Field-based EbA projects are proliferating. IUCN, for example, is implementing 45 EbA projects in 58 countries. But to decide on how best to approach design and implementation, we need better-consolidated, empirical, comparative analysis of their effectiveness.

Increasingly, countries are developing their own policy responses, such as National Adaptation Plans and Intended Nationally Determined Contributions (INDCs), while international policy guidance on adaptation is emerging through the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) and other multilateral processes.

The international and national architecture for financing adaptation is also being developed. We need learning on EbA effectiveness to inform these responses.

In January 2017, Hannah Reid reviewed the international policy environment and key project activities to that date, arguing that for the policy community to realise EbA's real potential as a viable response for climate vulnerable communities, knowledge gaps on how it works, when and why needed to be plugged. 

What is IIED doing?

Between 2015 and 2019, IIED, the International Union for the Conservation of nature (IUCN) and the UN Environment World Conservation Monitoring Centre (UNEP-WCMC) are jointly implementing a project called 'Ecosystem-based approaches to climate change adaptation: strengthening the evidence and informing policy' in Asia, Africa and Central and South America. Working with local partners, the project will gather practical evidence, explore opportunities for and obstacles to uptake, and develop country-specific policy recommendations on EbA in Bangladesh, China, Nepal, Burkina Faso, Kenya, Senegal, South Africa, Uganda, Chile, Costa Rica, El Salvador and Peru.

We have also worked to synthesise findings and produce practical guidance in the form of an inventory of tools, the EbA Tools Navigator launched in September 2019, designed to help practitioners and policymakers incorporate EbA into climate adaptation planning. We will communicate our findings and recommendations at key international events and through relevant platforms and networks such as the Nairobi Work Programme and the UNFCCC Adaptation Committee.

Click on the icons on the map at the top of this page to see what our partners in 12 countries are doing. You can also view our pages focusing on country work from the collection homepage.

Video interviews with IIED's Nathalie Seddon and Hannah Reid reflecting on some of the challenges of implementing ecosystem-based adaptation after the 2018 Adaptation Futures conference.

IIED: Xiaoting Hou Jones (xiaoting.hou.jones@iied.org), researcher, IIED's Natural Resources research group

IUCN: Ali Raza Rizvi (ali.raza@iucn.org), EbA programme manager

UNEP-WCMC: Charlotte Hicks (charlotte.Hicks@unep-wcmc.org), programme officer, climate change and biodiversity

Publications

Nature-based solutions to climate change adaptation, Hannah Reid, Charlotte Hicks, Xiaoting Hou Jones, Valerie Kapos, Ali Raza Rizvi, Sylvia Wicander (2019), IIED Briefing | en español | 中文 | en français

Is ecosystem-based adaptation effective? Perceptions and lessons learned from 13 project sites, Hannah Reid, Xiaoting Hou Jones, Ina Porras, Charlotte Hicks, Sylvia Wicander, Nathalie Seddon, Val Kapos, Ali R Rizvi, Dilys Roe (2019), Research report | en español | 中文 | en français

Nature-based solutions: delivering national-level adaptation and global goals, Nathalie Seddon (2018) IIED Briefing

Making ecosystem-based adaptation effective: a framework for defining qualification criteria and quality standards, M Bertram, Edmund Barrow, Katherine Blackwood, Ali Raza Rizvi, Hannah Reid, S von Scheliha-​Dawid (2017), Report

Ecosystem-based adaptation: question-based guidance for assessing effectiveness, Hannah Reid, Nathalie Seddon, Edmund Barrow, Charlotte Hicks, Xiaoting Hou-​Jones, Ali Raza Rizvi, Dilys Roe, Sylvia Wicander (2017), IIED Report (en français | en español)

Ecosystem-based adaptation: a win-win formula for sustainability in a warming world?, Nathalie Seddon, Xiaoting Hou-Jones, Tom Pye, Hannah Reid, Dilys Roe, Danielle Mountain, Ali Raza Rizvi (2016), IIED Briefing (en français | en español)

Ecosystem-based approaches to adaptation: strengthening the evidence and informing policy. Research overview and overarching questions, Nathalie Seddon, Hannah Reid, Edmund Barrow, Charlotte Hicks, Xiaoting Hou-Jones, Val Kapos, Ali Raza Rizvi, Dilys Roe (2016), IIED Report

Shared goals – joined-up approaches? Why action under the Paris Agreement, the Sustainable Development Goals and the Strategic Plan for Biodiversity 2011–2020 needs to come together at the landscape level, Epple C, Wicander S, Mant R, Kapos V, Rossing T, Rizvi A R (2016), FEBA discussion paper

Ecosystem-based approaches to adaptation: strengthening the evidence and informing policy (2015), IIED, IUCN and UNEP-WCMC Project flyer (en français | en español)

Additional resources

Ecosystem-based Adaptation Tools Navigator, including search functionality (.xlsm) | en français (.xlsm) | en español (.xlsm)

Ecosystem-based Adaptation Tools Navigator (.xls) | en français (.xls) | en español (.xls)

Ecosystem-based Adaptation Tools Navigator tutorial (PDF) | en français (PDF) | en español (PDF)

Nature-based solutions policy platform – interactive online policy platform on nature-based solutions for climate change adaptation

Event: IIED and partner events at COP23 (2017)

Event: 11th International Conference on Community-Based Adaptation (CBA11), which focused on harnessing natural resources and ecosystems for adaptation (2017)

Poster: Making ecosystem-based adaptation effective – a framework for defining qualification criteria and quality standards (2017)

Poster: Ecosystem-based adaptation and the Paris Agreement (second edition) (2017)

Poster: Improving access to tools for Ecosystem-based Adaptation (2017)

Event: IIED and partner events at COP22 (2016)

CBA9 conference proceedings, Hannah Reid, Masroora Haque, Patrick Kirkby, Erin Roberts, Alexander Stubbings, Penny Urquhart, Casey Williams, Morgan Williams, Trudi Zundel (2015), Event Report

Donors

This project is part of the International Climate Initiative (IKI).
The German Federal Ministry for the Environment, Nature Conservation and Nuclear Safety (BMU) supports the IKI on the basis of a decision adopted by the German Bundestag.

Partners

IIED is the project leader and works closely with IUCN and UNEP-WCMC on research methodology, and project dissemination and policy engagement at the international level. IIED take the lead on in-country work with local partners in Bangladesh, Kenya, China and South Africa. 

IUCN (International Union for Conservation of Nature) takes the the lead on in-country work through regional and country-office staff in Nepal, Senegal, Uganda, Burkina Faso, Peru, Chile, Costa Rica and El Salvador.

UNEP-WCMC have a particular focus on developing practical guidance on integrating effective EbA measures into policy planning, and presenting project results to the UNFCCC and at other international events.

Case study partners

In-country partners lead on action research/learning activities at existing EbA project sites, and are helping to make the case for EbA in national and sub-national climate change and development policy and planning processes. In addition to IUCN country and regional offices, in-country partners include the Bangladesh Centre for Advanced Studies, Centre for Chinese Agricultural Policy, Adaptation Consortium, Conservation South Africa and Association for Nature and Sustainable Development (Peru).