Morocco and Tunisia are the two Mediterranean countries that have given the greatest attention to NBS-type measures in their NDCs. Following their example, and based on research conducted with the participation of public authorities and NGOs in these countries, some initial recommendations can be made. These have a more general scope for countries wishing to mobilise ecosystems in their climate strategies and to develop synergies with their biodiversity conservation policies.
KEY MESSAGES
- For each country, analyze the NDC in order to identify the NBS it contains and classify these according to their level of ambition and the guarantees they provide in terms of biodiversity protection.
- Prioritise NBS measures that are based on policies that already explicitly integrate ecosystem protection or restoration objectives, and understand how their translation into “climate NBS” can effectively provide additional support for their implementation.
- Integrate biodiversity objectives into climate NBS that do not give them explicit attention. In the NDCs, the majority of NBS are based on biological elements such as trees, but do not explicitly set out any ecosystem conservation objectives.
- Evaluate the additional resources required to implement biodiversity-friendly climate NBS. Characterise the factors that have so far hampered the implementation of biodiversity- friendly policies, and the necessary and feasible additional support coming from climate policies.
- Identify and support project leaders capable of intersectoral implementation of NBS. NBS are at the intersection of many policies (conservation, agriculture, forestry, tourism and so forth) and it will be necessary to identify and support the actors, in both government and civil society, which are able to ensure that biodiversity issues are addressed throughout the NDC implementation process.
