This report analyzed nearly 300 nature-based solutions (NBS) projects across sub-Saharan Africa from 2012 to 2023. It offers a comprehensive overview of NBS in the region: what climate resilience objectives projects are addressing, where projects are occurring and at what scale, how they are funded, and intended co-benefits. It also provides recommendations to scale NBS projects for climate resilience. This report was co-developed by the WRI and the World Bank, with key contributions from the African Development Bank.
Sub-Saharan Africa is already contending with the impacts of climate change, with severe flooding, extreme heat, and historic droughts affecting the region. In response, communities across the region are increasingly using nature-based solutions like restoring and protecting forests, floodplains, wetlands, and coral reefs to build climate resilience. Nature-based solutions can also be used in combination with traditional “gray” infrastructure (known as green-gray infrastructure), which often increase their resilience and cost-effectiveness. When done right, these projects can provide multiple benefits beyond protecting people from climate shocks, like enhanced biodiversity or improved socio-economic outcomes. They can provide jobs and livelihoods, advance gender and social equity, and support economic growth.
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This report explores the current landscape of NBS across the region. Growing Resilience: Unlocking the Potential of Nature-Based Solutions for Climate Resilience in Sub-Saharan Africa surveys nearly 300 projects from 2012 to 2023, painting a picture of how nature-based solutions are being deployed for climate resilience and what actions can be taken to fill existing gaps.
Key Findings
- The number of new NBS projects initiated across sub-Saharan Africa increased by an average of 15% annually from 2012 to 2021.
- More than 83% of observed projects were designed to meet multiple climate objectives, including water quality improvements, water supply enhancements, flood mitigation, erosion and landslide control. Critically, these projects also resulted in co-benefits like job creation and biodiversity protection.
- The 297 projects observed secured over $21 billion to deliver climate resilience, largely from multilateral development banks, international donors and funds, and domestic budgets. Project developers can increase access to funding by tapping into infrastructure finance and increasing domestic budgets through dedicated funding mechanisms.
- NBS can further advance and scale up in sub-Saharan Africa by incorporating it into policies and planning frameworks, improving early project preparation and technical capacity, better quantifying and tracking the benefits of NBS, and ensuring projects are responsive to community needs.
