Humanity’s future resides in cities: By 2050, up to 70 percent of the world’s population will live in urban areas. As cities grow and the global climate warms, these billions of urban people face increasing threats from air and water pollution, sea-level rise and extreme weather events. But it doesn’t have to be this way. Far from being inconsistent with urban development, nature offers real benefits for city residents and increases the resilience of cities. This series, created in partnership by ICLEI – Local Governments for Sustainability and The Nature Conservancy, makes the case for investing in nature-based solutions and explores mechanisms to leverage the funding and political will for such investments. By investing in nature now, we stand to build a better world for cities and nature.
Over three billion people depend on marine and coastal biodiversity for their livelihoods while 1.6 billion people, including 70 million…
In the last decade, the campus of Peking University in Beijing has recorded sightings of over 200 bird species –…
The health of natural ecosystems is crucial to the health of cities and urban populations. From essential services like water…
By Ingrid Coetzee, Senior Manager, Biodiversity and Nature-based Solutions, ICLEI Cities Biodiversity Center (CBC) and Kobie Brand, Director of the…
For over 10,000 years people have been irresistibly drawn to urban life, where they live, work and play in close…