Last week at the 8th World Water Forum that UN Water launched its 2018 World Water Development Report - Nature-Based Solutions for Water (WWDR 2018).
The report (English): Download WWDR_2018_NBS
Here is the Executive Summary: Download WWDR_2018_NBS_ES
Facts and Figures: Download WWDR_2018_NBS_ES
PowerPoint: Download WWDR_2018_PPT
Here is the website. You can download the WWDR and Executive Summary in a nuber of languages besides English.
The blurb:
The 2018 edition of the World Water Development Report (WWDR 2018) 
seeks to inform policy and decision-makers, inside and outside the water community, about the potential of nature-based solutions (NBS) to address contemporary water management challenges across all sectors, and particularly regarding water for agriculture, sustainable cities, disaster risk reduction and water quality.
NBS use or mimic natural processes to enhance water availability (e.g., soil moisture retention, groundwater recharge), improve water quality (e.g., natural and constructed wetlands, riparian buffer strips), and reduce risks associated with water-related disasters and climate change (e.g., floodplain restoration, green roofs).
The WWDR2018, titled Nature-based solutions for water, demonstrates how nature-based solutions (NBS) offer a vital means of moving beyond business-as-usual to address many of the world’s water challenges while simultaneously delivering additional benefits vital to all aspects of sustainable development.
Currently, water management remains heavily dominated by traditional, human-built (i.e. ‘grey’) infrastructure and the enormous potential for NBS remains under-utilized. NBS include green infrastructure that can substitute, augment or work in parallel with grey infrastructure in a cost-effective manner. The goal is to find the most appropriate blend of green and grey investments to maximize benefits and system efficiency while minimizing costs and trade-offs.
NBS for water are central to achieving the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development because they also generate social, economic and environmental co-benefits, including human health and livelihoods, food and energy security, sustainable economic growth, decent jobs, ecosystem rehabilitation and maintenance, and biodiversity. Although NBS are not a panacea, they will play an essential role towards the circular economy and in building a more equitable future for all.
Working with nature improves the management of water resources, helps achieve water security for all, and supports the core aspects of sustainable development.
More - key messages.
Key Messages:
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Ecological processes driven by vegetation and soils in forests, grasslands, wetlands, as well as in agricultural and urban landscapes, play a major role in the movement, storage and transformation of water.
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Nature-based solutions (NBS) use or mimic natural processes to enhance water availability (e.g., soil moisture retention, groundwater recharge), improve water quality (e.g., natural and constructed wetlands, riparian bu er strips), and reduce risks associated with water-related disasters and climate change (e.g., floodplain restoration, green roofs).
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NBS o er significant potential to address contemporary water management challenges across all sectors, and particularly regarding sustainable agriculture and sustainable cities.
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NBS contribute to reversing trends in ecosystem degradation, a major cause of water problems worldwide.
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NBS are essential to achieving the water-related Goals and Targets of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable
Development and directly contribute to meeting several other interdependent Goals and Targets.
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NBS generate social, economic and environmental co-benefits, including human health and livelihoods, food and energy security, sustainable economic growth, decent jobs, ecosystem rehabilitation and maintenance, and biodiversity.
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NBS include green infrastructure that can substitute, augment or work in parallel with human-built (‘grey’) infrastructure in a cost-e ective manner, providing alternative options for coping with insu icient or ageing water infrastructure while improving system-wide resilience and performance.
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NBS, like grey infrastructure, have limits: NBS are not a panacea and must be evaluated and deployed based on locality specific conditions.
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Water management remains heavily dominated by grey infrastructure, such that the considerable potential for NBS is largely under-utilized.
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The objective is to find the most appropriate balance between green and grey infrastructure that maximizes benefits and system e iciency while minimizing costs and trade-o s.
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There are emerging innovative options for financing NBS, such as payment for ecosystem services schemes and green bonds.
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The substantial value of the co-benefits from NBS can tip investment decisions in their favour.
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Sustainable water security will not be achieved through business-as-usual, and NBS provide an essential means of moving beyond conventional approaches.
Enjoy!
"Everybody is stupid, only on different subjects." - (apologies to Will Rogers)
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