Let’s break sectoral silos to make NbS impactful

In Bangladesh, everything is often viewed through a sectoral lens, especially by senior policymakers and administrators. That is why, when it comes to conserving nature or celebrating World Environment Day (5 June), the Ministry of Environment is usually found leading the effort alone. Yet nature sustains us all and inspires us all. Therefore, nature conservation should be the responsibility of every sector.

Since November 2022, I have written extensively and spoken passionately about how Bangladesh's National Adaptation Plan (NAP 2023–2050) embraces Nature-based Solutions (NbS) to address climate change. NbS involves protecting, sustainably managing, restoring and creating ecosystems to tackle major challenges such as food insecurity, disasters, climate change and poverty. While addressing these challenges, NbS not only benefits people but also enhances the wellbeing of biodiversity in the areas concerned.

The NAP's Goal 4 therefore encouragingly states: "Promote nature-based solutions for the conservation of forestry, biodiversity and the well-being of communities." A closer look reveals that, to achieve this goal, the NAP identifies 21 interventions under the sector titled Ecosystems, Wetlands and Biodiversity. This represents 19% of the 113 interventions listed in the document. 

However, the NAP budget allocates only US$5.9 billion over 28 years for NbS interventions, amounting to just 2.6% of the total US$230 billion required for all 113 interventions. These figures indicate significant discrepancies in investment priorities. However, a relatively small budget does not necessarily imply limited attention to NbS. Rather, it highlights how cost-effective NbS can be—a fact that has been widely documented in Bangladesh and around the world.

Returning to my earlier point about the sectoral lens, our current understanding of NbS underscores three realities.

First, one might expect that most of the 21 NbS interventions (and the 120 activities under them) listed in the NAP would fall under the responsibility of the Ministry of Environment and its affiliated departments. However, this is not the case. Only nine NAP interventions are led by the Forest Department and the Department of Environment. The remainder are led, either independently or jointly, by agencies such as the Bangladesh Water Development Board, the Department of Agricultural Extension, the Chittagong Hill Tracts Development Board and seven other government bodies. In addition, 26 other government agencies, along with the private sector, NGOs, local government institutions and universities, are identified as supporting implementation partners. Yet I wonder whether all these agencies are aware of their NbS responsibilities.

Second, it is not only Goal 4 or the Ecosystems, Wetlands and Biodiversity sector that concerns itself with NbS. Most of the NAP's eight sectors incorporate NbS, often quite explicitly. When the Water Resources sector discusses conserving wetlands, reservoirs and natural springs for drinking water supplies, or implementing eco-engineering solutions for flood and drainage management, it is talking about NbS. 

When the Agriculture sector promotes conservation agriculture and improved water-use efficiency in crop production, or when the Fisheries, Aquaculture and Livestock sector encourages ecosystem-based fisheries management, they too are advancing NbS. Similarly, when the Urban sector promotes the revitalisation of urban rivers, canals and wetlands, community conservation areas and rooftop gardening, it is also embracing NbS.

We therefore need to move beyond the misconception that NbS is solely the domain of environmentalists, conservationists and foresters, or that it is the responsibility of environmental NGOs and the Ministry of Environment alone. The NAP has clearly broken down this silo mentality on paper. The question is whether we can do the same when implementing NbS on the ground.

Third, it is encouraging to see that many agencies have begun to recognise this opportunity and incorporate NbS into their projects and programmes. Among government institutions, the Local Government Engineering Department (LGED) has emerged as a frontrunner by integrating NbS into its Climate Resilient Infrastructure Management (CRIM, 2018–2028) and Coastal Towns Climate Resilience (CTCR, 2023–2029) projects.

For an NbS intervention to be effective and impactful, we must first understand the problem we intend to address and design the solution accordingly. An NbS should be economically viable and endorsed by local communities, who should be fully informed about its impacts. We should also adopt evidence-based adaptive management approaches, recognising that we live in a dynamic society increasingly affected by climate change. Most importantly, we must ensure that our NbS interventions contribute positively to local biodiversity.

Recently, the University of Liberal Arts Bangladesh and SAJIDA Foundation conducted research on NbS. They evaluated the NGO's integrated farming activities in Gabura, Satkhira—activities that can be considered an NbS—against the IUCN Global Standard for Nature-based Solutions. The study found that the integrated farming approach performed well across most NbS criteria, including problem analysis, intervention design, financial assessment, participatory planning and adaptive management. However, it performed less well on the biodiversity criterion.

The reason is straightforward. NGOs working in community development are often highly effective at monitoring livelihoods, economic empowerment, capacity building, gender equity and governance outcomes. 

However, they frequently lack the vision, capacity, manpower and financial resources required to assess how their work contributes to biodiversity conservation, ecological integrity and ecosystem services. Encouragingly, the study also found that the organisation learned from its initial shortcomings and took positive steps to address them.

To mainstream NbS in climate action, all relevant stakeholders must move beyond a sectoral mindset and embrace evidence-based action with a positive attitude. After all, just like climate change itself, NbS is a concern for every sector.

Dr Haseeb Md Irfanullah is an independent consultant working on environment, climate change, and research system. Email: [email protected]

Disclaimer: The views and opinions expressed in this article are those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect the opinions and views of The Business Standard.