1.1_REVISED_2020_12_14-en

The world is facing unprecedented climate challenges.
Many of those challenges can be directly

directly connected to human activity.
unchecked industrialization, unplanned urbanization,
unregulated drilling, overfishing and bottom trawling,
deforestation, strip mining, fracking, the list goes on.
So humanity is faced with a choice:
continue on an unsustainable trajectory
or stop and think.
Stop and listen, stop and learn from nature.
Nature offers multiple solutions to the many problems
facing humanity today,
and there is perhaps still time to apply them.
But time is running out
and the need for action is immediate.
This course offers an overview of nature-based solutions to
one of the greatest challenges humanity faces: climate change
and the increasing frequency and violence of the events that
that change is driving.
It is an opportunity to learn, but it is also an opportunity
for you to interact with experts in the field,
get involved in nature based initiatives and propose nature
and propose nature-based solutions of your own.
My name is Nathalie Doswald and together with my colleagues
Xinyue Gu and Mikhail Fernandes, we will be guiding you through
this exciting new course, nature-based solutions for
disaster and climate resilience.
Whether you are a civil society organization or youth leader,
a faith based leader, policymaker, researcher,
engineer or just a business owner,
this short online course will provide you with jargon-free,
clearly articulated ideas and concrete examples that will
enable you to better understand what is at stake,
what the solutions are, and how you can learn more and engage
In promoting Nature's solutions to reducing disasters
and climate-related risks to human health.
We will embark on a journey together through six thematic units
structured around real life examples of nature-based
of nature-based initiatives from around the world.
You can follow along at your own pace
and obtain the certificate at the end,
or just audit the course at your leisure.
Each unit comes with a challenge,
which is an opportunity for you to send in your ideas and examples
and get feedback from others.
You will hear from world leaders, interact with experts
and meet online participants in the course
through online discussion forums.
Our first question is, how does nature provide solutions to
reducing the impacts of the climate crisis?
As the climate crisis intensifies,
disaster events are increasing around the world.
These are partly due to climate change,
partly due to the way in which we manage or mismanage our land
and natural resources.
This course will provide you with a better understanding of
what causes disasters such as floods and landslides,
what can be done to reduce them, and how to help communities adapt to
climate change and better withstand its harmful effects.
Nature-based solutions for climate and disaster resilience
are already being implemented worldwide,
and many can be scaled to have a global impact.
As this course will show, nature-based solutions
are sustainable, cost effective and beneficial
in multiple ways.
They can be applied to a range of challenges
from reducing carbon emissions
to solving societal problems such as
income inequality, food security
and other inequities.
For example, they may present many opportunities
for achieving better health.
It is known, for example, that bringing greenery into
urban areas strengthens the immune system
and promotes better mental health.
Or better management of ecosystems can prevent
the emergence of pathogens like COVID-19.
We need to work with nature rather than against it,
and now is the time to start.
Civil society and young people are calling
for fundamental change in the way we interact with
the natural world,
demanding that governments,
UN agencies and the international community as a whole
join efforts to address the climate and biodiversity
emergency our planet is facing.
Applying nature-based solutions is as crucial to meeting
those demands as it is vital to achieving
the Sustainable Development Goals.
Nature is much, much older than we are and will be around
long after we are gone.
By working with rather than against Nature
we improve our chances of following it,
at least some of the way, into what will undoubtedly be
a brilliant future.
So let's get started.

1.1_REVISED_2020_12_14-en

Uploaded by

Copyright:

Available Formats

1.1_REVISED_2020_12_14-en

Uploaded by

Document Information

Copyright

Available Formats

Share this document

Share or Embed Document

Sharing Options

Did you find this document useful?

Is this content inappropriate?

Copyright:

Available Formats

1.1_REVISED_2020_12_14-en

Uploaded by

Copyright:

Available Formats

The world is facing unprecedented climate challenges.

Many of those challenges can be directly

You might also like