This report analyses the potential contribution of nature-based infrastructure (NbI) solutions to the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), Paris Agreement and Global Biodiversity Framework (GBF). It identifies five ‘functions’ through which nature can deliver infrastructure-related benefits, and finds that NbI in eight sectors can influence up to 79% of SDG targets across all 17 SDGs, which rises to 95% when NbI is combined with built infrastructure.
For any individual sector alone, the deployment of NbI in conjunction with built infrastructure can influence anywhere from 24%-47% more SDG targets than built infrastructure alone in that sector, largely due to the multiple additional benefits derived from NbI.
The report argues that NbI is the only type of infrastructure intervention that can contribute to simultaneous positive progress on the SDGs, Paris Agreement and GBF, and points to the strong potential for NbI to help channel some of the trillions of dollars in projected infrastructure investments towards helping close the nature investment gap identified in UNEP’s State of Finance for Nature reports.