Unpacking the politics of Nature-based Solutions governance: Making space for transformative change
A new open access paper – ‘Unpacking the politics of Nature-based Solutions governance: Making space for transformative change‘ explains that while Nature Based Solutions (NbS) have huge potential to tackle biodiversity loss, climate change, and human well-being, dominant governance approaches can undermine the transformative change we need.
NbS have received significant attention worldwide for their transformative potential to address sustainability challenges, more recently promoting participation and community engagement to support more equitable and socially ‘just’ outcomes. However, overemphasising certain approaches (like Natural Capital, science, or market-driven strategies) risks reinforcing vested interests and sidelining alternative perspectives. Despite efforts for rethinking NbS, there is still a need to make space for different understandings and practices. We argue that too much focus on techno-scientific and market-oriented approaches limits genuinely participatory, democratic, and community led initiatives.
At the surface level, there is a disparity between the value of integrated approaches to NbS and the limited extent to which socio-economic dimensions are considered and fully delivered in practice. Going deeper, there is a tension between ways of governing NbS that require certainty and control (e.g., to deliver positive carbon and biodiversity outcomes), and the inherent complexity and messiness of the social dimensions of landscapes. For example, for natural capital projects aiming to create the conditions needed to secure investment, there can be a conflict in values between investors prioritising measurable financial returns (e.g., carbon and biodiversity credits) and communtiy-based approaches. Perceptions of risk and uncertainty add fuel to the fire, where demand for certainty to secure natural capital benefits can clash with decentralised and participatory approaches which are often perceived as too risky, introducing undesirable levels of complexity, trade-offs, and contested priorities. This can create what we call Democracy Washing, which involves NbS projects projecting an illusion of democratic engagement while (often unintentionally) undermining genuine participatory processes.
Moving forward, we argue that genuinely transformative NbS requires an explicit recognition of these controversies and power inequalities. In addition to leveraging science, technology, and markets, NbS proponents must commit to opening up the space for alternative perspectives, pathways, and possibilities that foster justice and well-being for both humans and nature.
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