Economics of drought — investing in nature-based solutions for drought resilience

This report makes the business case for nature-based solutions to drought -drawing on a wealth of evidence and case studies from various countries -including Chile, India, Jordan, Kenya, Spain and Tunisia- practices that restore ecosystem functions and soil health to enhance water cycling, storage, and supply in support of human wellbeing - for example, reforestation, grazing management, and the management, restoration and conservation of watersheds. As droughts fueled by human destruction of the environment are projected to affect three in four people by 2050, investing in sustainable land and water management is essential to reduce their costs, which already exceed $307 billion per year globally.

Main messages and recommendations of the report include: 

1. Nature-based solutions to drought include many tried-and-tested sustainable land management practices that offer no-regret options for strengthening resilience. 
2. Investing in land and water management to reduce drought risk makes economic sense.
3. Building drought resilience through nature-based solutions requires investment in building capacities of people and institutions.
4. Nature-based solutions to drought may require investment to be leveraged through public-private partnerships.
5. Investments can be enabled by strengthening evidence and monitoring of the true impact of nature-based solutions.
6. Cost-benefit analysis of nature-based solutions to drought need to be further strengthened with improved methodologies and data collection.