The ‘Nature-based solutions to the climate emergency: The benefits to business and society’ report is the first business-facing resource created by the IGNITION project, produced in partnership with Business in the Community (BITC) and Greater Manchester Combined Authorities (GMCA).  

UKGBC is one of 12 partners on the IGNITION project, alongside organisations from local government, universities, and NGOs. Supported by €4.5 million from the EU’s Urban Innovation Actions initiative, this ground-breaking project aims to develop innovative financing solutions for investment in Greater Manchester’s natural environment. This investment will help to build the city region’s ability to adapt to the increasingly extreme impacts of climate change. 

This report curates findings from the nature-based solutions evidence base, to outline how Nature-based Solutions (NBS) can benefit business and building performance; helping organisations make smarter choices on installations by increasing the understanding of who will benefit and how. We have mapped the benefits of NBS across UKGBC’s key impact areas: Climate Change Mitigation and Adaptation; Resource Use; Nature and Biodiversity; Health and Wellbeing; and Socio-economic Impact. 

As UKGBC looks to enable more ambitions targets related to NBS and increase their application in urban areas through our Increasing Nature-based Solutions programme, the IGNITION project will generate financial models and investor confidence in nature-based solutions to support their creation.  

View the recording of the webinar in which we launched this IGNITION report here.

“It is important to understand the needs of businesses and the wider built environment sector when considering nature-based solutions. It is often very easy to look only at the environmental benefits and performance. But it is critical that we also consider how these solutions are viewed through a more commercial and business focused lens if we are going to see nature-based solutions become more mainstream.”  

– Matt Ellis, Environment Agency 

“It’s great to see this work shared so openly and packaged up into a useful report to help us all promote the benefits of nature-based solutions with some key stats to back it up.”  

– George Warren, Greater London Authority 

“Very exciting to see such commitment to nature-based solutions – just what we need in the face of a climate emergency!” 

– Dr. Rosie Anthony, University of Salford 

IGNITION Partners 

IGNITION Sponsors 

 

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