Voluntary guidelines for the design and effective implementation of ecosystem-based approaches to climate change adaptation and disaster risk reduction and supplementary information
This report provides information on principles, safeguards, tools, and a flexible framework for planning and implementing ecosystem-based approaches, to support countries in integrating ecosystem-based approaches into their national biodiversity strategies and action plans, but also into other sectoral policies. The voluntary guidelines can also be used by relevant organizations, indigenous peoples and local communities, the private sector and civil society.
These guidelines offer concise information for policymakers on why integrating ecosystem-based approaches into policy frameworks matters; they provide practical steps for planners and practitioners to design and implement effective strategies for ecosystem-based adaptation and disaster risk reduction; furthermore, they provide guidance on how to reach out to key sectors such as planning, finance, agriculture, infrastructure, water and forestry. By combining key policy elements and tools applied under the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) and the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD), they make a significant contribution towards the achievement of multiple targets under UN conventions, in particular on biodiversity conservation, climate change, disaster risk reduction and combatting land degradation.