About this data collection
Protecting, restoring, and sustainably managing nature can provide one third of the solution needed to mitigate climate change, while also providing additional benefits for climate change adaptation, biodiversity conservation, and sustainable development. The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) report states that humanity has less than 10 years left to take action on climate change and prevent planetary warning from exceeding 1.5°C, while the Intergovernmental Panel on BIodiversity and Ecosystem Services (IPBES) report cites an unprecedented decline in nature with over 1 million species at risk of extinction. If action is not taken immediately to protect, sustainably manage and restore nature, not only will nature continue to decline, but so will human well-being, as nature provides a safety net of resources and ecosystem services for billions of people. Nature-based solutions are defined as “actions to protect, sustainably manage and restore natural and modified ecosystems, that address societal challenges effectively and adaptively, simultaneously providing human well-being and biodiversity benefits”.
How to use this data collection
The Nature-based Solutions for Climate Collection examines nature-based actions for protection, sustainable management, and restoration across different ecosystems to support achievement of the three Rio Conventions -- the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC), the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD), United Nations Convention to Combat Desertification (UNCCD) --, the Ramsar Convention on Wetlands of International Importance, and the Sustainable Development Goals.
Explore the collection in three easy steps:
- Browse the key policy questions provided below.
- Select a question of interest to view a description of the map available, input data layers, and policy relevance.
- Click view data to view a map that provides input to address the question.
Note: These policy-relevant questions and associated data layers are provided for users to develop their own prioritization when pursuing nature-based solutions for climate change. While global layers from the UNBL public platform are used here, users may also want to consider using national data to create similar overlays via our UNBL workspaces.
ⓘ Data layers to address policy-relevant questions
The World Database on Other Effective Area-based Conservation Measures (WD-OECM) was established in 2019, following the adoption of the OECM definition (https://www.cbd.int/decisions/cop/14/8) in 2018. Given that the database and definition were only recently developed, many governments have not yet reported data on OECMs, or have reported only a subset of their OECMs. Users should consider this when using the WD-OECM, and should not assume that countries without OECM data lack OECMs in reality, or that countries with OECM data have reported their full complement of OECMs. Users wishing to provide data on OECMs should contact UNEP-WCMC at OECM@unep-wcmc.org.