A new report, "Growing Resilience: Unlocking the Potential of Nature-Based Solutions for Climate Resilience in Sub-Saharan Africa," has been released by the World Resources Institute (WRI) and the World Bank. This comprehensive assessment, with contributions from the African Development Bank (AfDB), examines how Sub-Saharan Africa is leveraging nature to address increasing risks of flooding, drought, and extreme heat. The analysis covers nearly 300 projects over the past decade to determine effective strategies, identify barriers, and propose methods to expand nature-based solutions (NBS) for promoting green and resilient development.
The report reveals a consistent rise in NBS project adoption, with an average annual growth rate of 15% between 2012 and 2021. These initiatives include forest restoration, wetland protection, floodplain management, and coral reef conservation alongside traditional infrastructure. They aim to enhance climate resilience while providing additional benefits like job creation, biodiversity improvement, and social equity.
Despite growing interest in NBS, the report indicates that further investment is necessary. From 2012 to 2021, funding for these projects in Sub-Saharan Africa grew by 23% annually but still falls short of addressing Africa's $100 billion annual infrastructure financing gap.
“Nature loss and climate risks are inherently linked, especially here in Africa,” stated Qimiao Fan, World Bank’s Country Director for Kenya, Rwanda, Somalia and Uganda. “We need to ensure that projects and policies comprehensively address the challenges and offer inclusive and effective solutions for the most vulnerable groups.”
With escalating climate threats such as extreme heatwaves and floods impacting regions like Kenya, Sub-Saharan Africa remains at the forefront of global climate challenges.
The report offers several recommendations to boost NBS adoption across the region. Suggestions include integrating nature into policy frameworks, enhancing technical capacity for project development pipelines, and diversifying financial resources.
Although NBS projects are on the rise, there remains a significant gap in urban areas despite their potential to tackle city-specific challenges. Seventy percent of African cities face severe climate threats including flooding and mudslides while grappling with inadequate infrastructure. While additional investment in traditional solutions like dams is needed, incorporating natural infrastructure could improve resilience and reduce long-term costs.
In response to this need for urban-focused initiatives, WRI is launching the Green-Gray Infrastructure Accelerator. This initiative will support 11 cities across Sub-Saharan Africa by combining NBS with traditional infrastructure approaches. It aims to provide technical assistance along with policy and finance support for these cities' initial project cohorts while connecting them with financiers to expand current efforts.
“We often think of infrastructure in terms of roads, bridges and buildings — just concrete and steel structures,” said Ani Dasgupta, President & CEO of World Resources Institute. “But nature — forests, trees, wetlands, coral reefs — is just as vital... Across Africa...green and gray infrastructure can work together to maximize benefits for people...and climate —and the world should take note.”
This report was developed collaboratively by WRI's Cities4Forests initiative along with GFDRR at the World Bank. Key contributions came from AfDB supported by GGKP; it received funding from SIDA; MAVA Foundation; GFDRR; GIZ; BMZ; DANIDA among others.