World Sustainable Development Summit - WSDS 2023

 

22-24 February 2023. New Delhi, India. The 22nd World Sustainable Development Summit (WSDS)—the flagship annual event of  The Energy and Resources Institute (TERI)—The summit deliberations will focus on the theme: Mainstreaming sustainable development and climate resilience for collective action.

23/02. Nature based solutions for addressing climate vulnerability and ensuring food security

Nature-based solutions (NbS) are interventions designed around the management, conservation, and enhancement of natural resources that yield multiple environmental, social, and economic benefits and co-benefits including food security and climate resilience. According to the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN), NbS are defined as actions to protect, sustainably manage and restore natural or modified ecosystems, that address societal challenges (e.g., climate change, food and water security or natural disasters) effectively and adaptively, simultaneously providing human well-being and biodiversity benefits.

A study published in Nature Climate Change in 2021 finds that the global average increases in farm productivity over the past 60 years have been 20 per cent lower than they would have been without climate change. IPCC finds that the overall direction of climate change impacts on food systems is negative with high confidence for general impacts, temperature, precipitation and phenology & seasons.

The panel discussed: 

• Good practices on NbS which has contributed to food security/ climate resilience? How can these be upscaled?
• Types of policies and participatory process are needed when it comes to NbS for addressing climate vulnerability and ensuring food security
• The role of market mechanisms and economic instruments for promoting NbS

• IFPRI Director for South Asia, Shahidur Rashid, spoke on a panel entitled: Crop-based Agriculture Systems and Climate Adaptative Solutions. More information (PDF). Watch the recording.
• CGIAR System Board Chair, Lindiwe Majele Sibanda, spoke at the Ministerial Session: Nature-based Solutions for Addressing Climate Vulnerability and Ensuring Food Security. More information. Livestream.