Articulating Social and Environmental Policy for post-COVID-19 Recovery: Opportunities to Respond and Build Back Better while Leaving No One Behind in Latin America and the Caribbean - Policy Brief

This policy brief examines how nature-based solutions can support sustainable development and climate resilience within rapidly growing cities across Africa, Asia, and Latin America. Originating from an international expert seminar and workshop, the document investigates the critical capacity, regulatory, and financial barriers that impede municipal governments from planning and implementing these ecological strategies effectively. By synthesising stakeholder consultations and academic literature, the text establishes that extensive urban growth and accelerating climate hazards severely threaten infrastructure and human well-being. The text details how structural constraints, fragmented institutional arrangements, and limited private sector financing stall progress, whilst outlining general frameworks to integrate natural systems into municipal planning, establish cross-organisational roles, and pilot collaborative financial models.