How Can Investment in Nature Close the Infrastructure Gap?
An estimate of how much nature-based infrastructure can save costs and create value relative to traditional grey infrastructure
How does nature-based infrastructure (NBI) perform compared to grey infrastructure? How can NBI help to bridge the infrastructure gap? And what outcomes would emerge from shifting investments from built infrastructure to nature? Building on this overarching question, this working paper aims to shed light on these questions. We answer these questions by bringing together two elements of research: a literature review on infrastructure investment needs and the results from IISD’s Sustainable Asset Valuations (SAVi) of NBI projects. This research shows that NBI is up to 50% cheaper than traditional “grey” infrastructure to provide the same infrastructure service. In addition, NBI provides 28% better value for money than grey infrastructure. It also shows that this infrastructure swap could create additional benefits worth up to USD 489 billion every year—a figure that rivals the annual GDP of countries such as Austria, Ireland, or Nigeria.
You might also be interested in
How Can We Work With Nature to Tackle Drought and Desertification?
Drought is one of the most devastating and pervasive challenges exacerbated by climate change. However, we can work to reduce its effects through nature-based solutions for land restoration and climate-smart agriculture.
IISD Annual Report 2022–2023
At IISD, we’ve been working for more than three decades to create a world where people and the planet thrive. As the climate crisis unfolds on our doorsteps and irreversible tipping points loom, our team has been focused more than ever on impact.
The 'spongy' cities of the future
Tangled mats of muddy vegetation line the footpaths of Underwood Park, a narrow stripe of green winding along a creek beneath the small volcanic cone of Ōwairaka (Mt Albert) in Auckland, New Zealand. In the water, clumps of sticks and the occasional plastic bag are marooned on protruding rocks and branches.
Sustainable Asset Valuation of the Nutrition Sensitive Agriculture Capacity Strengthening Project in Ethiopia
This report analyzes the social, economic, and environmental outcomes of implementing agroforestry and climate-smart agriculture in Ethiopia.