AIT RRC.AP organised a webinar on “Nature-based Solutions for Climate Change Adaptation: From Concept to Implementation” on 09 September 2021, to help identify opportunities for NbS in adaptation to climate change, particularly, having a common understanding and interpretation of NbS concepts and take advantage of existing traditional ecological knowledge in NbS application. It will provide experiences, and emerging priorities of key donors and implementing agencies in supporting nature-based solutions for adaptation and benefits of investing in nature-based solutions.
This 90-minute-long webinar gathered 175 environment enthusiasts of various affiliations (academia, civil societies, international organisations, local government, national government, and private sectors) from 25 countries around the world.
The webinar formally started with the welcome address from Dr. Naoya Tsukamoto, Director of RRCAP, and continued with the moderation from Mr Phurba Lhendup, Head of Climate Change Cluster, RRCAP. Mr Sanjaya Bhatia, Head of Office for Northeast Asia (ONEA) & Global Education and Training Institute (GETI), United Nations Office for Disaster Risk Reduction (UNDRR), as a keynote speaker stressed Nature-based Solutions (NbS) as one of the approaches for strengthening environmental resilience within the Sendai Framework and a need to build the capacity of stakeholders on NbS solutions.
For the webinar AIT RRC.AP invited a panel from international organisations working on NbS to provide their insights, approaches, roadmaps, and tools. Ms Kathryn Bimbson, Programme Officer, Water and Wetlands, International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) Asia Regional Office, presented on IUCN Global Standard for Nature-based Solutions. She explained the standard developed to help design, verify, and scale up the nature-based solutions. Dr. Elizabeth Allison, Associate Professor at California Institute of Integral Studies, shared about Traditional Ecological Knowledge for Climate Adaptation. In her presentation, she gave her insights on traditional ecological knowledge from an academic point and explained that traditional ecological knowledge is cumulative, developed over time, and handed over across many generations. Presenting various examples, she stressed that the creativity and ingenuity of local indigenous people play a powerful role in climate change adaptation to build a more resilient environment and human beings. Ms Kathryn Michie, Senior Advisor, World Wildlife Fund (WWF) Asia Pacific, shared the five principles that need to be considered while designing an effective NbS including examples from various parts of the world on the application of NbS. Lastly, Ms Emily Goodwin, Programme Officer, IUCN Washington DC, explained the Global Ecosystem-based Adaptation (EbA) Fund, a fund that supports climate change projects around the world through NbS.
The video recording of the webinar can be accessed here.
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