The toolkit "Nature-based solutions for comprehensive disaster and climate risk management: toolkit for integrated planning and implementation of disaster risk reduction and climate change adaptation" supports countries in integrating nature-based solutions into comprehensive disaster and climate risk management. Developed by UNDRR and UNU-EHS, it connects disaster risk reduction and climate change adaptation through five practical tools covering risk and environmental assessment, policy screening, NbS selection, stakeholder engagement and integrated planning. The toolkit combines technical guidance, planning templates and country examples to help governments identify appropriate ecosystem-based interventions, strengthen inclusive governance and embed NbS across national, sectoral and subnational policies while delivering resilience, biodiversity, ecosystem-service and human well-being benefits.
Key Insights
The toolkit defines nature-based solutions using the 2022 United Nations Environment Assembly definition: actions that protect, conserve, restore, sustainably use and manage ecosystems while addressing social, economic and environmental challenges and delivering resilience, biodiversity and human well-being benefits.
The approach integrates disaster risk reduction and climate change adaptation within comprehensive disaster and climate risk management, supporting greater coherence between DRR strategies, National Adaptation Plans and other national planning frameworks.
The toolkit is structured around five connected tools: compiling environmental and risk information; reviewing NbS in existing policies; selecting appropriate NbS measures; engaging stakeholders through inclusive governance; and integrating NbS into planning.
Tool 1 follows the IPCC risk framework, treating risk as the result of interactions among hazards, exposure and vulnerability, while also assessing environmental conditions, climate trends, ecosystems and disaster impacts.
Country assessments should consider land cover, topography, ecosystems, temperature, rainfall, climate projections, hazards, exposed populations and assets, social and economic vulnerabilities, and losses and damages.
Tool 2 provides a systematic way to identify NbS in existing plans using concepts such as ecosystem-based adaptation, ecosystem-based disaster risk reduction, climate-smart agriculture, green and blue infrastructure, watershed management, restoration and traditional knowledge.
Tool 3 recommends selecting NbS by first identifying the relevant hazard, then the ecosystem concerned, the appropriate NbS category and finally specific interventions suited to the national or local context.
