{"id":14189,"date":"2023-01-12T16:27:22","date_gmt":"2023-01-12T21:27:22","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blogs.edf.org\/growingreturns\/?p=14189"},"modified":"2025-12-04T13:41:07","modified_gmt":"2025-12-04T18:41:07","slug":"bidens-roadmap-to-nature-based-solutions-could-be-key-to-future-resilience-planning","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blogs.edf.org\/growingreturns\/2023\/01\/12\/bidens-roadmap-to-nature-based-solutions-could-be-key-to-future-resilience-planning\/","title":{"rendered":"Biden\u2019s roadmap to nature-based solutions could be the key to future resilience planning."},"content":{"rendered":"

In early December 2022, the Biden-Harris administration announced the release of a Roadmap to Accelerate Nature-Based Solutions<\/a> to address climate change, inequity, and nature loss. This roadmap outlines five strategic recommendations for federal agencies designed to put the U.S. on a path to maximizing the use of nature-based solutions.<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

Nature-based solutions are essential to ensuring people and nature thrive<\/strong><\/p>\n

Building on the momentum from President Biden\u2019s Executive Order 14072<\/a>, which acknowledged nature-based solutions as key to tackling the climate crisis, the roadmap marks the first instance of a U.S. strategy aimed at scaling up these solutions. This strategy highlights the effectiveness of natural infrastructure and emphasizes the multiple benefits created by the improvement of human, economic and ecosystem health.<\/p>\n

Other interagency commitments aligned with the roadmap were also announced, including agency actions to ensure over $25 billion in infrastructure and climate funding to support nature-based solutions, a new guide for utilizing nature-based solutions to ensure resilience of military bases and a new technical working group to better account for nature-based options in benefit-cost analyses that inform federal decisions. A companion resource guide<\/a> was also released, with examples of nature-based solutions and over 150 resources to spur action.<\/p>\n

Five strategic recommendations for maximizing these solutions<\/strong><\/p>\n

However, many agencies, tribal nations, and stakeholders have identified significant challenges to putting these solutions into action. A lack of awareness, hurdles in current policies and regulations, insufficient or over-complicated funding, and the shortage of a workforce that can engineer these solutions often hinder stakeholders from scaling up natural infrastructure practices. However, the Roadmap is an all-of-government approach, aiming to tackle these challenges by providing federal agencies with five synergistic recommendations:<\/p>\n

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  1. Update federal policies and guidance, making it easier to consider and adopt nature-based solutions.<\/strong> The roadmap encourages agencies to update federal policies and offers guidance to make it easier for nature-based solutions to be considered. The major areas for advancement include policies and guidance for federal planning, permitting, cost-sharing, risk management and benefit-cost analysis.<\/li>\n
  2. Unlock funding for domestic and international projects and encourage federal agencies to prioritize nature-based solutions in funding decisions.<\/strong> Integrating nature-based solutions into financial assistance and incentive programs, as well as increasing the amount of funds available, can help to scale-up the use of nature-based solutions. There are key funds from the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law<\/a> (BIL) and the Inflation Reduction Act<\/a> (IRA) for resilient infrastructure, and simplifying access, increasing coordination, and streamlining application processes can ensure this funding will serve its intended purpose.<\/li>\n
  3. Lead with federal facilities and assets that provide direct climate and conservation benefits and send a strong signal to others.<\/strong> The roadmap recommends that federal agencies continue efforts to improve resilience in their facilities, operations, and programs by requiring the use of nature-based solutions (i.e., expanding green stormwater infrastructure, living shorelines, or green roofs), where applicable.<\/li>\n
  4. Utilize agency programs to train a knowledgeable workforce.<\/strong> Agency programs can help train individuals to develop the skills needed to plan, design, build and maintain nature-based solutions. Developing a diverse, equitable workforce can fill the skill gaps in community planning, law, finance, ecology, engineering, and maintenance for these projects.<\/li>\n
  5. Prioritize research, innovation, knowledge and adaptive learning.<\/strong> The roadmap recommends that agencies incentivize continual learning about how and where nature-based solutions work best. Agencies are encouraged to review existing research on nature-based solutions, develop interagency best practices for monitoring the benefits of nature-based solutions, and improve their adaptive management processes.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n

    The roadmap will be a key resource in future resilience planning<\/strong><\/p>\n

    The roadmap showcases a strong federal commitment towards a future where nature-based solutions are a first choice for combating climate change, addressing injustices, creating prosperous communities and building resilient infrastructure. Though new challenges will emerge, the roadmap provides a guide to using these solutions as powerful tools to increase resilience now and in the future.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

    The Biden-Harris administration announced the release of a Roadmap to Accelerate Nature-Based Solutions to address climate change, inequity, and nature loss. It could be the key to future resilience planning. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":152969,"featured_media":14191,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[107017],"tags":[107027,120479],"coauthors":[],"class_list":["post-14189","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-coasts-watersheds","tag-climate-resilience","tag-coasts-and-watersheds-tag"],"acf":[],"aioseo_notices":[],"aioseo_head":"\n\t\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t