Mainstreaming nature-based solutions for climate resilient infrastructure in peri-urban sub-Saharan Africa

Thorn, Jessica P. R.; Aleu, R. Biancardi; Wijesinghe, Amayaa; Mdongwe, M.; Marchant, Rob; Shackleton, Charlie M.

doi:10.1016/j.landurbplan.2021.104235

Cited by 37 publications

(36 citation statements)

References 53 publications

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“…A review in Nigeria found similar benefits for green spaces (Adegun et al, 2021). Also, studies by Habtemariam et al (2019) and Thorn et al (2021) found that different NBS had aesthetic values that helped improve the image of cities. Papers describing various NBS projects in Ethiopia (ICLEI, 2020), Botswana, Zimbabwe, Tanzania and others found the same (Laros et al, 2013).…”

Section: Cultural Servicesmentioning

confidence: 95%

“…In Lagos, Nigeria, green conservation efforts were used to mitigate floods and extreme heat (Mauvais, 2018). In cities like Dar es Salaam in Tanzania and Windhoek in Namibia, urban agriculture was used to address floods and droughts (Thorn et al, 2021). Similarly, rainwater harvesting techniques across many countries, including Mali, Chad, Sudan and Senegal, were used for flood and drought mitigation (Tamagnone et al, 2020).…”

Section: Study Limitationmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…(2018)'s study, which observed the effectiveness of rainwater harvesting technologies, showed the possibility of addressing flooding and drought concurrently in urban areas. Others have focused on the ecological restoration of rivers (n=4) under diverse pressures (e.g., Douglas, 2018;ICLEI, 2020;Thorn et al, 2021).…”

Section: Blue Nbs Practicesmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Regarding floodplain conservation (n=3) and restoration (n=2), which are also widely used for flood mitigation, studies by Thorn et al (2021), Douglas (2018) and Turner et al (2021) found many efforts across SSA. These studies found that floodplain conservation and restoration initiatives within urban settings can be challenging because of the presence of informal settlements that often make dwellings in these places and depend on the natural resource for their livelihoods.…”

Section: Blue Nbs Practicesmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…In terms of operationalization, especially through the European Union Horizon 2020 (EU-H2020) programme, the application of NBS in Europe has focused significantly on the restoration of degraded or lost ecosystems (EC, 2016), development of green spaces and their socio-economic benefits (Matsler et al, 2021) and implementing solutions to hydro-meteorological risks that mimic natural processes (Solheim et al, 2021). In SSA, conservation initiatives such as protecting green and blue spaces have been considered to fall under the NBS umbrella (Thorn et al, 2021). This is appreciated in the more recent definition of NBS by the 5th Session of the United Nations Environment Assembly as "actions to protect, conserve, restore, sustainably use and manage natural or modified terrestrial, freshwater, coastal and marine ecosystems, which address social, economic and environmental challenges effectively and adaptively, while simultaneously providing human wellbeing, ecosystem services and resilience and biodiversity benefits" (Seddon, 2022).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Review article: Potential of Nature-Based Solutions to Mitigate Hydro-Meteorological Risks in Sub-Saharan Africa

Enu

Zingraff‐Hamed

Rahman

et al. 2022

Preprint

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Abstract. Sub-Saharan Africa (SSA) is the region most vulnerable to climate change and related hydro-meteorological risks. These risks are exacerbated in rapidly expanding urban areas due to the loss and degradation of green and blue spaces with their regulating ecosystem services. The potential of nature-based solutions (NBS) to mitigate hydro-meteorological risks such as floods is increasingly recognized in Europe. However, its application in urban areas of SSA still needs to be systematically explored to inform and promote its uptake in this region. We conducted a multidisciplinary systematic review following the PRISMA (Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses) protocol to establish the general patterns in the literature on NBS and hydro-meteorological risk mitigation in SSA. We searched scientific journal databases, websites of 12 key institutions and 11 NBS databases and identified 45 papers for analysis. We found at least one reported NBS in 71 % of urban areas of SSA across 83 locations. 62 % of the papers were clustered in South Africa, Kenya, Tanzania and Nigeria only, while the most studied cities were Dar es Salaam and Kampala. Moreover, 66 NBS practices were identified, most of which (n=44) were for flood mitigation. With only Mozambique (n=2) reporting NBS among the most at-risk countries, we found that NBS are implemented where risks occur but not where they are most severe. Mangrove restoration and wetland restoration, reforestation and urban forests, and agroforestry and conservation agriculture were the most common NBS practices identified for floods, extreme heat and drought mitigation, respectively. Traditional practices that fit the definition of NBS, such as grass strips and stone bunds, and practices more popular in the Global North, such as green roofs and green façades, were also identified. These NBS also provided ecosystem services, including 15 regulatory, 5 provisioning and 4 cultural ecosystem services, while 4 out of every 5 NBS created livelihood opportunities. We conclude that reported uptake of NBS for hydro-meteorological risks in SSA is low. However, there could be more NBS, especially at the local level, that are unreported. Furthermore, NBS can help SSA address major development challenges such as water and food insecurity and unemployment and help the sub-region develop climate-resiliently. We, therefore, recommend that NBS be mainstreamed into urban planning and for knowledge exchange opportunities between SSA and Europe and other regions to be explored to promote uptake.

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Section: Cultural Servicesmentioning

confidence: 95%

Section: Study Limitationmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Blue Nbs Practicesmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Blue Nbs Practicesmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Review article: Potential of Nature-Based Solutions to Mitigate Hydro-Meteorological Risks in Sub-Saharan Africa

Enu

Zingraff‐Hamed

Rahman

et al. 2022

Preprint

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Integrating biodiversity into financial decision‐making: Challenges and four principles

Nedopil

2022

Bus Strat Env

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Many financing decisions continue to exacerbate global biodiversity loss, despite a growing understanding of the economic and financial risks of biodiversity loss. Applying Coase's financial decision-making theory based on cost, revenues, and risks, the article analyzes literature and current developments of biodiversity finance and green finance to evaluate why financial decision-making is incentivized to ignore biodiversity risks and mostly fails to maximize biodiversity conservation or nature-positive finance. Based on the identified gaps, the article develops four principles to integrate biodiversity into financial decision-making: (1) regulation must set limits on nature's exploitation, as finance only values limited aspects of nature as "bankable," while the destruction of other parts are without negative or positive value to the investor;(2) biodiversity-related financial risk evaluation needs focus on local risks due to the local nature of biodiversity impacts and dependencies (in comparison, e.g., to climate finance's global risks); (3) scale biodiversity finance utilizing its secondary benefits, particularly in conjunction with climate finance; (4) biodiversity finance development needs to be co-led and championed by financial decision-makers. This article contributes to the emerging literature on biodiversity finance and green finance for sustainable development with implications for policy makers and standard setters.

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Unpacking the sustainable development goals (SDGs) interlinkages: A semantic network analysis of the SDGs targets

Song

Jang²

2023

Sustainable Development

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Understanding sustainable development goal (SDG) targets and their interlinkages is crucial for achieving national and local SDGs since policies must be designed and implemented at the target level rather than at the macro goal level. However, due to their extensive nature, it remains challenging to fully determine their interlinkages.This study aims to identify the interlinkages between the SDG targets, employing a semantic network analysis with text-mining and Word2Vec machine-learning methodology. The network analysis of the entire SDG target network reveals that each community of closely connected targets comprises targets from multiple SDG goals, while targets within the same SDG goal also belong to different communities. The findings indicate that the current framework of 17 SDG goals may not be a suitable basis for developing SDG policies. Instead, intersectoral strategies focusing on a community of interconnected targets that necessitate coordination based on their actual interlinkages are required.

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Mainstreaming nature-based solutions for climate resilient infrastructure in peri-urban sub-Saharan Africa

Cited by 37 publications

References 53 publications

Review article: Potential of Nature-Based Solutions to Mitigate Hydro-Meteorological Risks in Sub-Saharan Africa

Review article: Potential of Nature-Based Solutions to Mitigate Hydro-Meteorological Risks in Sub-Saharan Africa

Integrating biodiversity into financial decision‐making: Challenges and four principles

Unpacking the sustainable development goals (SDGs) interlinkages: A semantic network analysis of the SDGs targets

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