Nature-Based Infrastructure: How Natural Infrastructure Solutions Can Address Sustainable Development Challenges and the Triple Planetary Crisis

This report examines how nature-based infrastructure can support the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals, the Paris Agreement, and the Global Biodiversity Framework. It identifies five functions through which nature delivers infrastructure benefits and finds that nature-based infrastructure across eight sectors can influence up to 79% of Sustainable Development Goal targets, increasing to 95% when combined with built infrastructure. Across individual sectors, integrating nature-based and built infrastructure can influence 24–47% more targets than built infrastructure alone by providing multiple co-benefits. The report concludes that nature-based infrastructure uniquely supports simultaneous progress across these global frameworks while helping direct infrastructure investment towards closing the nature finance gap.