Promoting nature-based solutions in municipalities in Hungary

Nature-based solutions (NbS) aim to maintain, enhance and restore ecosystems to address a variety of social, economic and environmental challenges, including climate change and biodiversity loss. This paper applies the OECD’s framework to provide recommendations for how to encourage the use of NbS by Hungarian municipalities. It illustrates some of the key challenges in the local implementation of NbS in Hungary and provides international examples of how they are tackled in diverse contexts. It also discusses the role of reforms about the enabling environment to mobilise further public and private investment in climate adaptation.

This paper finds that the uptake of NbS has grown over the past 10 years, with more than a hundred projects currently underway. Subnational governments in Hungary increasingly recognise NbS as a valuable tool to address multiple policy goals, particularly in relation to urban development and water management. Recommendations for Hungary include developing a common statutory definition of NbS, mainstreaming NbS throughout relevant national strategies, conducting regulatory reforms and creating a national Competence Centre for NbS, as well as developing new funding models.