March 4, 2021, Oakland, California — A new guide published by the Pacific Institute and partners provides guidance on how to account for the benefits of nature-based solutions. Benefit Accounting of Nature-Based Solution for Watersheds: Guide helps readers identify and account for the combined water, carbon, and biodiversity benefits provided by these solutions, as well as additional socio-economic benefits accrued.
Nature-based solutions use or mimic natural processes to meet societal and environmental needs. They can be used to restore, manage, or protect water resources while also increasing biodiversity, sequestering carbon, and providing additional social and economic benefits. Yet there has been no standardized method to identify, estimate, and monitor the benefits these solutions can provide, making it hard to build the case for investment.
This guide builds on the Benefit Accounting of Nature-Based Solutions for Watersheds Landscape Assessment, which highlights the barriers for businesses to implement nature-based solutions on a large scale. The guide outlines methods for measuring the benefits of nature-based solutions, and describes which nature-based solutions can be implemented in various habitats.
“The primary challenge for corporates looking to invest in nature-based solutions has been that there is no standardized method to identify, estimate, and monitor the benefits that these solutions can provide,” says report co-author Gregg Brill. “This has made it hard to build the case for investments in these solutions. Our new guide will help users overcome this.” This guide can help companies reach corporate sustainability goals and regulatory compliance through investment in nature-based solutions.
A tool, currently being developed, will offer companies a user-friendly, intuitive platform to easily identify the benefits and trade-offs from nature-based solutions investments across different habitat and intervention types.
The guide was developed by the CEO Water Mandate, the Pacific Institute, The Nature Conservancy, Danone, and LimnoTech.
Learn more and download the guide here.