COP15 launches program collecting Asian cases of 'nature-based solutions'

MONTREAL, Canada -- A program calling for Asian cases of "nature-based solutions" was launched here on Friday at the 15th meeting of the Conference of the Parties to the UN Convention on Biological Diversity.

It was jointly launched by the Asian Development Bank (ADB) and the Institute of Climate Change and Sustainable Development of China's Tsinghua University.

"We are trying to collect nature-based solutions cases, which means the cases that are using nature-based approaches, and that can achieve climate change mitigation and biodiversity conservation through the protection, sustainable management, and the restoration of ecosystems," Zou Yueyu, an environment specialist with the ADB, told Xinhua.

There is solid scientific evidence that nature and ecosystems have the potential to adapt and mitigate the climate crisis, she said.

Zou said various "UN agencies and different environment conventions are now trying to synergize their efforts. They are not fighting alone but together."

Evidence of nature-based solutions in Asia will be presented at the 28th edition of the Conference of Parties (COP28) to the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change in Dubai next year.