WCC 2020 Res 031 - Activity Report

- Publication on Nature-based solutions to combat natural coastal risks in France with 4 projects in the Mediterranean: https://uicn.fr/wp-content/uploads/2022/07/sfn-littoraux-web.pdf
- Publication on Nature-based solutions to fight against gravity and fire risks in France including 3 projects in the Mediterranean: https://uicn.fr/wp-content/uploads/2023/03/sfn-foret-web.pdf
- Presentation of Nature-based Solutions at Monaco Ocean Week with the Tour du Valat, IUCN-Med and the Ocean & Climate Platform: https://uicn.fr/les-solutions-fondees-sur-la-nature-a-la-monaco-ocean-week/

MedCOP Climate 2023, a Mediterranean event ahead of COP28 UNFCCC, held in June 2023 in Tangier around 8 themes, one devoted to NbS, led by Tour du Valat and IUCN-Med. Two sessions bringing together decision-makers, community representatives, donors and representatives of CSO provided various insights and insisted on the strong potential of NBS to respond to societal challenges in the Med. In particular: CC cannot be separated from that of biodiversity. These 2 crises are intimately linked and feed into each other: CC is becoming a major factor in the erosion of biodiversity; the destruction of ecosystems reduces our ability to limit greenhouse gas emissions and adapt to CC; In this context, NbS offer a framework to simultaneously address climate and biodiversity. They contribute to adaptation and mitigation. They are all the more effective when they are developed by involving local communities and on a fairly large territorial scale; NBS are generally inexpensive, but their low return on investment requires the development of specific financial tools, which are not yet operational; There is a strong risk of considering everything as NbS, of seeing purely cosmetic or purely utilitarian “pseudo-NbS”; It is imperative to convince other sectors (energy, development, finance, etc.) of the relevance of NBS, which are still not high on the climate agenda!; The Barcelona Convention provides an appropriate framework to promote NBS politically and through the implementation of projects in the Med; Innovative initiatives are emerging, such as the Mediterranean Consortium for Biodiversity, which brings together varied and recognized expertise to implement "trans-biome" NBS at the landscape scale; NbS projects are multiplying in the Med by mobilizing local actors in various contexts: coastal towns threatened by sea level rise, forests, wetlands, islands, coastline, marine environment; Finally, the “High Level Champion” of COP28, Razan Al Mubarak, placed nature as priority N°1.