Natural Assurance Scheme: A level playing field framework for Green-Grey infrastructure development.

Area of Science:

• Environmental Science
• Climate Adaptation
• Infrastructure Development

Background:

• Growing need for climate-resilient infrastructure.
• Limited integration of Nature-based Solutions (NBS) in infrastructure planning.
• Insurance and public investment sectors can incentivize disaster resilience.

Purpose of the Study:

• Propose a conceptual framework to systematize NBS use through Natural Assurance Schemes (NAS).
• Integrate resilience potential of NBS into NAS, using insurance value for awareness and valuation.
• Align research and pilot projects with infrastructure development priorities.

Main Methods:

• Integrating resilience potential of NBS into NAS.
• Valuing natural infrastructure's contribution to Disaster Risk Reduction (DRR).
• Exploring NAS benefits and trade-offs through Disaster Resilience Enhancement (DRE) lens.
• Matching knowledge gaps with NAS development stages from a project designer perspective.
• Highlighting the roles of the insurance industry and public sector.

Main Results:

• NAS framework facilitates valuation of natural infrastructure for DRR.
• Identified key roles for insurance and public sectors in promoting NBS.
• Explored alignment of Integrated Water resources planning and Public investment systems.
• Framework supports design of no-regret NBS and Grey-Green infrastructure systems.

Conclusions:

• NAS offers a potential pathway to address the global water infrastructure gap.
• Investing in natural capital protection, enhancement, and restoration is an effective climate adaptation strategy.
• The framework provides insights into knowledge and know-how limits for NAS development.