Authors: Gregory Fuchs, Rebecca Noebel (Ecologic Institute)

Key messages

• The UN Decade on Ecosystem Restoration urges to prevent, halt and reverse the degradation of ecosystems worldwide to achieve climate goals. Ecosystem restoration is considered a ”natural climate solution“ since healthy ecosystems can make a crucial contribution to both mitigation and adaptation to climate change. The restoration of ecosystems can be an effective ecosystem-based adaptation and ecosystem-based disaster risk reduction and hence is one of the most powerful nature-based solutions to tackle climate change.
• Under the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) and in particular under the Paris Agreement (PA), the importance of restoration activities can be stressed in the following ways: countries can include restoration actions in their Nationally Determined Contributions (NDCs); restoration actions can be part of the REDD+ mechanism (Reducing Emissions from Deforestation and forest Degradation ‘PLUS’ the conservation, sustainable management and enhancement of forest carbon stocks); ecosystem restoration can receive more attention in the vulnerability and adaptation assessment of ecosystems in National Adaptation Plans (NAPs).
• To realise the adaptation potential of restoration, scaling up of finance is crucial. It includes increasing funding for adaptation in ongoing and new commitments and channelling funds to regional and national restoration and adaptation programmes and initiatives. Furthermore, blended finance approaches can be used to leverage private sector funding. On behalf of: In cooperation with: 1 The role of ecosystem restoration for the UNFCCC and the Paris Agreement A