The United Nations world water development report 2018 : nature-based solutions for water

As the fifth in a series of annual, theme-oriented reports, the 2018 edition of the United Nations World Development Report (WWDR) focuses on opportunities to harness the natural processes that regulate various elements of the water cycle, which have become collectively known as nature-based solutions (NBS) for water. This is considered to be an essential step to ensuring the long-term sustainability of water resources and of the multitude of benefits that water provides; from food and energy security to human health and sustainable socio-economic development.

Following an introduction to NBS and water, the report discusses the role of NBS in managing: water availability; water quality; and water-related risks, variability and change. It then gives experiences with and frameworks for implementation of NBS at national and regional level, and in particular at basin scale and within urban areas. The report concludes with an assessment of challenges to implementing NBS and draws conclusions regarding the three key questions concerning NBS: (1) what is the current status of NBS applications?; (2) what is the potential for their further application?; and what needs to change to realize that potential?