Nature-based Solutions Triple Win Toolkit 2021

Abstract

The International Climate Finance Evidence Project aimed to address the overarching question: ‘Can Nature-based Solutions (NbS) effectively and efficiently contribute to simultaneously achieving the UK’s Government biodiversity, climate, and poverty-reduction policies for Official Development Assistance (ODA) spending?’

The current state of knowledge was assessed from the literature, and an analysis of 2,934 projects and 460 indicators was conducted. The NbS Triple Win Toolkit provides Principles to achieve a ‘triple win’ to enhance biodiversity, address climate change, and reduce poverty, through NbS in the context of ODA spend. The toolkit also provides Implementation Guidance, which builds on these Principles to present key considerations and possible tools to achieve the triple win. A review of biodiversity indicators provides recommendations to measure the impact of NbS interventions on biodiversity from the project to portfolio scale.

Project report

Nature-based Solutions Triple Win Toolkit: The Toolkit offers guidance to achieve a ‘triple win’ to enhance biodiversity, address climate change, and reduce poverty, through NbS in the context of ODA spend. The toolkit is available as an interactive web-based tool and also downloadable in PDF format. Further information, and access to the toolkit, is available from the project webpage.

Indicator reviews and guides

Biodiversity Indicator Framework Review: A review of existing biodiversity indicator frameworks, with an accompanying assessment of the appropriateness of the identified frameworks for assessing the impacts of ICF spend on biodiversity.
Biodiversity Indicators Review: A review of existing indicators likely to be effective means for assessing impacts of ICF spend on biodiversity, identified in the framework review or utilised in the case studies assessed.
Focus on Marine Indicators in Context: This report details the unique challenges and opportunities of effectively measuring biodiversity impact in the marine environment.
Biodiversity Indicator Guidance: Hectares Under Ecological Restoration as a Result of Funding: This report presents an in depth look at an indicator to measure the area in which ecosystems are being transformed towards a reference conservation state, identified from the Biodiversity Indicators Framework and Biodiversity Indicators reviews. This is presented in the format of a draft ICF KPI report.
Biodiversity Indicator Guidance: Improvement in Status of Threatened Species as a Result of Funding: This report presents an in depth look at an indicator to monitor the potential improvement of the conservation status of threatened species, based on the IUCN Species Threat Abatement and Restoration (STAR) metric. This indicator was identified from the Biodiversity Indicators Framework and Biodiversity Indicators reviews. This is presented in the format of a draft ICF KPI report. Please note this document was first published in May 2021 and was subsequently republished in June 2021 to correct some minor errors identified in the original version.

Data and Methods

Database of NbS Case Studies: A workbook containing the 378 case studies that met the definition of NbS and selection criteria. It contains basic information on location, NbS implementation, links to further information, and an assessment of whether the project delivered for the triple win.
Library of Projects: A workbook containing the 2934 case studies reviewed for the project. Includes project title, links to more information, and whether or not the case study incorporated a clear implementation of NbS.
Work Package 2 Methods: This document includes information on how the data for both the ‘Database of NbS Case Studies’ and ‘Library of Projects’ was collected, as well as methodology for the ‘Nature-based Solutions Triple Win Toolkit’. This provides the methodology used for Work Package 2 of the International Climate Finance Evidence Project.