The Knowledge Hub

This report assesses opportunities to increase private sector participation and financing for climate adaptation and nature-based infrastructure in Emerging and Developing Economies (EMDEs). Climate change is intensifying hydrological variability, coastal storms, and heatwaves, and these effects are anticipated to intensify as global temperatures continue to rise in the coming decades.

Small Island Developing States are among the least responsible for climate change – yet, they stand to suffer the most in terms of negative impacts. Despite contributing less than one percent of greenhouse gas emissions, small island developing states are highly vulnerable to tropical cyclones, hurricanes, storm surges, and droughts. From 1970 to 2020, these states lost US$153 billion due to weather, climate, and water-related hazards.

This report explores nature-based solutions (NBS) for beach stabilization within the Blue Economy framework, emphasizing sustainable ocean resource use for economic growth and ecosystem health. Coastal tourism, vital to developing regions and SIDS, benefits from these strategies. Targeting governments and tourism stakeholders, the report offers practical approaches to combat beach erosion, stressing that direct interventions should follow evaluation of non-intervention options. It educates the tourism sector on how NBS can enhance climate resilience and tourism outcomes, detailing erosion processes and methods with added social, environmental, and economic benefits for vulnerable communities with limited resources.

This report provides an overview of the potential role that nature-based solutions (NBS) can play in ports. It aims to illustrate how NBS can be effectively integrated into port planning, design, and operations to address various port challenges, while offering opportunities to leverage climate resilience benefits and other cobenefits. The report outlines the types of NBS that could be most applicable to ports, examines their alignment with global policy frameworks (such as the Sustainable Development Goals and the Paris Agreement), and highlights both the opportunities and implementation challenges associated with their use. NBS are receiving attention globally and in various sectors, with several NBS approaches demonstrating technical feasibility and cost-effectiveness.

Bangladesh is highly vulnerable to extreme weather events due to its frequent exposure to floods and extensive low-lying areas. Coastal flood risks are expected to increase due climate change. Therefore, Bangladesh has been upgrading its coastal embankment system to enhance flood safety. This initiative includes not only hard flood defense infrastructure, but also nature-based solutions through planting mangroves on the seaside of embankments. Mangroves, serving as natural flood barriers, have been utilized in Bangladesh for coastal protection since the 1960s. However, their integration with embankment designs and their benefits in carbon sequestration remain underexplored. This paper consolidates current knowledge on the role of mangroves in coastal resilience in Bangladesh, incorporating recent studies and new analyses on their benefits on (i) flood risk reduction, (ii) livelihood enhancement, and (iii) carbon sequestration.