036 - The implementation of nature-based solutions in the Mediterranean Basin
036 - The implementation of nature-based solutions in the Mediterranean Basin
RECOGNISING the definition framework of nature-based solutions (NbS) adopted at the World Conservation Congress in 2016, in Hawai‘i, through Resolution 6.069 Defining Nature-based Solutions;
NOTING that the concept of NbS was identified by the European Commission as a strategic solution for the development of more sustainable cities;
NOTING the recommendations of the Mediterranean workshop on the “Implementation of nature-based solutions to tackle climate change” held in Marseille in January 2019;
CONSIDERING that the Mediterranean Basin is characterised by great natural diversity, and that with its high geodiversity and rich geological heritage, it is one of the planet’s 34 most sensitive areas in terms of global biodiversity and one of the most vulnerable regions in the world to the impacts of climate change, which has effects on ecosystems, the economy and human well-being that are clearly higher than the global average;
CONSIDERING that the social challenges that NbS intend to address (food security, climate change, water security, human health, disaster risks, economic and social development) are particularly acute in the Mediterranean Basin, because of the historic relationship between Humans and Nature, but also due to the recent significant population growth, the colossal pressure on scant water resources, the concentration of economic activities and the urban development of coastal regions, and the dependence on climate-sensitive agriculture;
RECOGNISING the key role played by Mediterranean ecosystems to address social challenges, but also the extreme pressures they are under, affecting their resilience and their potential NbS role, and aware of the need to protect and restore these ecosystems; and
FURTHER RECOGNISING that NbS are effective and profitable and that they offer an unprecedented opportunity to increase the resilience of Mediterranean society faced with climate change, and they help to accelerate the transition to a green and blue sustainable and uniform economy;
1. URGES governments and civil society in the Mediterranean Basin to implement NbS actively whenever appropriate, and to promote their effects by the creation of networks and green infrastructures, on a basin level in particular;
2. CALLS ON the governments in the Mediterranean Basin to take NbS into account within the framework of the Barcelona Convention and the Mediterranean Sustainable Development Strategy, the Ramsar Convention and its Mediterranean Wetlands Initiative (MedWet), to include them in their contributions determined at a national level by the Paris Agreement, but also in all the relevant sectoral policies;
3. URGES local authorities in the Mediterranean Basin to prioritise NbS within the framework of the strategies they adopt for the management of natural areas and urban zones, as well as in their green infrastructure strategies, and to give them priority in their land and urban policies;
4. CALLS ON governments, financial institutions and private donors in the Mediterranean region to mobilise funding towards NbS and to envisage them systematically as an alternative or complement to the “grey” infrastructure projects that they finance; and
5. ASKS the Director General of IUCN and the Regional Offices involved in promoting NbS in the Mediterranean Basin, to ensure the sharing of experiences in this area and the networking of the stakeholders involved.
