Official co-operation between the Nordic countries is an effective instrument for helping to achieve the 2030 goal of making the Nordic region the most sustainable region in the world. As part of this work, the Nordic Council of Ministers has allocated 26 million Danish kroner to a four-year programme for nature-related solutions. The programme consists of five projects, which were implemented between 2021 and 2024.

The aim of the programme was to encourage the Nordic countries to work together and to improve the knowledge base on nature-based solutions, restoration, climate change mitigation and blue/green infrastructure. This will help to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and to protect and enhance biodiversity.

Nature-based solutions are considered an essential part of work in the fields of climate, the environment and biodiversity, and they offer many benefits. Examples of nature-based solutions include the sustainable use of land and resources, the protection and restoration of bogs and wetlands, and the restoration or rehabilitation of streams and rivers.

Researchers believe that nature-based solutions could deliver a third of the reduction in greenhouse gas emissions needed to keep global warming below the two-degree limit set out in the Paris Convention. Nature-based solutions help to slow the loss of biodiversity, and they have been shown to have a positive effect on a number of social issues, such as food and water security and human well-being.
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About the programme

On behalf of the Nordic Council of Ministers, the programme was co-ordinated by the Environment Agency of the Faroe Islands. Day-to-day activities were the responsibility of a steering group made up of members from several Nordic countries and chaired by Norway. NordGen was responsible for the fifth project, on crop wild relatives, which is a nature-based solution in the fields of biodiversity, climate change and food security.

https://www.norden.org/en/project/nature-based-solutions