NATURE HIRES:How Nature-based Solutions can power a green jobs recovery - WWF International & ILO

The report, Nature Hires: How Nature-Based Solutions Can Power A Green Jobs Recovery, confirms the potential of Nature-based Solutions to provide job-intense economic recovery while having a multiplier effect in achieving the Sustainable Development Goals.

  As we entered 2020, the dual global crises of climate and nature loss were in the public eye as never before. Within weeks, the COVID-19 pandemic had triggered a third crisis, plunging countries around the world into recession as governments struggled to halt the spread of the novel coronavirus and prevent health systems becoming overwhelmed.

  That third crisis, and the economic disruption and loss of employment it has brought with it, is further increasing global inequality, and threatening prosperity around the world. It is also contributing to the first two crises, as efforts to address climate change are deprioritized, and as desperate communities lean more heavily on the natural systems on which they depend.

  These natural systems play a vital role in supporting employment. Some 1.2 billion jobs in sectors such as farming, fisheries, forestry and tourism are dependent on the effective management and sustainability of healthy ecosystems. Half of the world’s Gross Domestic Product is, to a greater or lesser degree, dependent on nature. Stressing or destroying vital ecosystems will have enormous economic as well as environmental and social costs.

  Nature-based Solutions offer an opportunity to create immediate “no harm” jobs, while at the same time supporting a transition to a greener and job-rich economy. They also enable better alignment and integration of agriculture and energy sectors with economic, employment, social, climate and biodiversity goals. Nature-based Solutions also provide a way to bridge the immense mental disconnect between residents of rural and urban areas. 

  Yet obstacles and constraints to scaling and main streaming Nature-based Solutions remain and  conditions generated by the COVID-19 pandemic provide a unique opportunity to make much more rapid progress on the following enablers.  

Credit: WWF International