NbS effectively address societal challenges
The purpose of this Criterion is to ensure that NbS respond to the societal challenges such as climate change, disaster risk, biodiversity loss and ecosystem degradation, unsustainable resource use and pollution, ensuring food security, water security, human health, and social and economic development, amongst others. These challenges should be identified, understood and prioritised through participatory processes (Criterion 5) involving those who are or will be directly affected.
1.1 The societal challenges addressed are clearly identified, understood, and documented
NbS must address clearly specified challenges that have significant and demonstrable impacts on society, economy, ecosystems and biodiversity. To optimise the NbS and ensure future accountability, it is important to establish a clear and documented rationale of the societal challenges and their drivers and ensure this is well communicated and understood by affected stakeholders and right holders. Societal challenges should be assessed at the relevant levels (local, subnational, national, and international) as interactions across levels are critical for achieving the NbS outcomes levels as interactions across these four levels are critical for achieving the NbS outcomes (Criterion 2).
1.2 The most pressing societal challenges for stakeholders and rights-holders are prioritised
Prioritisation of the most pressing societal challenges to be addressed by the NbS is best informed by a transparent, inclusive and participatory process (Criterion 5), through which stakeholders and rights-holders share their knowledge and concerns and contribute to an equitable and just prioritising of the challenges.
1.3 NbS outcomes for people and nature are identified, benchmarked and periodically assessed
Actions to protect, conserve, restore, sustainably use or manage natural or modified terrestrial, freshwater, coastal and marine ecosystems must deliver tangible and substantive benefits to human well-being, biodiversity and ecosystem integrity (Criterion 3). Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Relevant, and Time-bound (SMART) outcomes should be established and used to address the prioritized societal challenges (Indicator 1.2). Specific indicators/Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) are associated to these outcomes (benchmark) and regularly assessed to monitor impact (for accountability) and to inform adaptive management (Criterion 7).
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