Role of Nature-Based Solutions in India's Climate Strategy: Can Nature-Based Solutions Deliver a Win-Win for India’s Biodiversity and Climate Change Adaptation?

India’s battle against climate change is at a critical point. With 18% of the global population and only 2.4% of global land, India shows a higher dependency on its natural resources. On one hand, India ranked seventh among the world’s most climate-vulnerable countries, constantly at the risk of climate-related disasters such as episodes of heatwaves, frequent forest fires, and sea-level rise, while on the other hand, India also has exceptional natural resources that can be leveraged as climate solutions.

Illustration by The Geostrata

In this context, the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) defined Nature-Based Solutions (NbS) as actions to protect, sustainably manage, and restore natural ecosystems that address societal challenges effectively and adaptively while simultaneously providing human well-being and biodiversity benefits. Thus, NbS encompasses strategies that use biological processes and natural ecosystems to combat climate change while simultaneously providing multiple co-benefits such as ecosystem services, livelihood improvement, and biodiversity conservation. NbS offers culturally relevant, cost-effective, achievable, and long-term measures to help restore natural ecosystems over the years.

TRANSITIONING NATURE-BASED SOLUTIONS INTO CLIMATE CHANGE MITIGATION PRACTICES

With a forest cover of approximately 5.8 million hectares, sequestering nearly one-third of the nation's carbon emissions, India's forests remain the mainstay of its efforts to mitigate climate change. In 2024, India holds 24.62% forest cover of the country’s total area, below the global benchmark. Hence, India pledged to increase its forest cover by 2030 to 33% through afforestation and reforestation efforts. India is home to the Himalayas in the north and the Western Ghats in the south, which are rich in biodiversity and are significant carbon sinks. Together, they provide around 7% of global carbon sinks.

India's 7,500-kilometre-long coastline is also vulnerable to climate impacts. NbS offers blue carbon solutions for coastal ecosystems, which are mainly composed of mangroves, seagrass, and marshes, having the potential to sequester 702.42 million tonnes of CO₂ equivalent (CO₂e), according to recent studies. 

In degraded mangrove locations, like the Adyar Estuary in Chennai, restoration efforts have shown an annual carbon sequestration rate of 1,195 tonnes of CO₂e. Community participation has stood the test of time and proven to be highly effective; for example, in Gujarat's Jambusar taluka, local communities have built a coastal bioshield, creating a barrier of salt-tolerant trees behind mangroves along the shore, followed by fodder plants closer to the village, helping to support local livelihoods.

In comparison to coastal ecosystems, wetlands, like the Sundarbans, often have a very high capacity for sequestering carbon, thus helping in climate mitigation. The presence of mangroves provides essential ecological services for flood control, groundwater recharge, and freshwater filtering. India faces water scarcity and growing danger to food security and development; wetland protection offers cost-effective solutions. Community-based wetland conservation is an example of how sustainable use and restoration efforts can increase ecosystem resilience while maintaining traditional livelihoods.

Additionally, as India aims to become a developed nation by 2047, it faces unprecedented urbanisation issues, such as urban floods. NbS for urban flood management have emerged as crucial adaptation strategies. According to a geospatial analysis, certain nature-based solutions can significantly reduce the likelihood of floods in rapidly expanding cities like Delhi. Urban green infrastructure interventions, like rain gardens, bioretention systems, green roofs, and restored urban wetlands, not only reduce the risk of floods but also enhance ecosystem services, air quality, and the impact of urban heat islands. These actions are particularly helpful in densely populated urban areas.

India is home to one of the largest global biodiversities; it comes under 7 megadiverse nations of the world. Thus, conservation of India's biodiversity hotspots, the Eastern Himalayas, Northeast India, and the Western Ghats, accounts for the adoption of nature-based solutions. Indigenous knowledge of eco-conservation among communities demonstrates that biodiversity protection and management together help to improve long-term climate adaptation outcomes. Safeguarding freshwater resources, conserving biodiversity, and sustaining hydrological cycles show ecological and cultural values integration into adaptation strategies.

By diversifying community participation and boosting restoration practices, India's nature-based solutions directly support in achieving Sustainable Development Goals (SDG 1 - No Poverty and SDG 2 - Zero Hunger).

CHALLENGES

Implementation of NbS comes with a unique set of challenges, and the traditional one-size-fits-all approach may no longer help India in achieving the end goals of climate sustainability, adaptation, and mitigation. Successful implementation of nature-based solutions requires tailored, region-specific, socio-political study and planning climate mitigation accordingly. In coastal communities, co-production of knowledge with integrated scientific approaches based on older traditions significantly increased community resilience. Given that local solutions are more equitable and sustainable.

India's strategy must place an equal emphasis on participatory governance with minimal support and the right people on the ground, which protects biodiversity, infrastructure, and communities. Despite India’s potential and will to adopt nature-based solutions, it faces substantial scalability constraints. Among the challenges, prominent ones are a lack of public-private partnerships, fragmented governance, inadequate finance, and the need for consistent monitoring practices.

CONCLUSION AND WAY FORWARD

India needs innovative finance strategies, such as green bonds and payment for ecosystem services programmes, to mobilise resources. Successful scaling also requires sector-wide policy coherence and institutional cooperation by developing standardised, long-term monitoring mechanisms beyond just satellite imaging. Adaptive management is crucial as climate vulnerability increases over the years. Thus, nature-based solutions need to be made to adapt to changing circumstances, which calls for community involvement, development of a PPP model, flexible governance, and long-term monitoring.

Treatments that offer "triple wins"—simultaneous advantages for biodiversity, adaptability, and climate mitigation—should be prioritised. Interventions that combine forest protection, biodiversity conservation, and community livelihood support are the best course of action for India. As the nation approaches its 2030 climate targets and beyond, nature-based solutions need to gain traction. They should be seen as the foundation of long-term substance, climate adaptation, and the well-being of its ecosystems and people, not as supplementary initiatives.

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BY PRIYANKA YADAV

TEAM GEOSTRATA

info@thegeostrata.com