Justice in nature-based solutions: Research and pathways

Nature-based solutions are quickly rising to the top of the sustainable urban development agenda as an ecosystem-based approach to mitigate and adapt to climate change, while also improving livelihoods and biodiversity. Achieving sustainability and resilience through nature-based solutions is an important means for cities and communities across the globe to take climate action and experiment with new forms governance, infrastructure, and planning and design. In this paper, I map the academic research structure of nature-based solutions and find that issues of social and environmental justice remain peripheral. To center justice in research and practice, I argue for a re-orientation towards just nature-based solutions—approaches that utilize the power of nature and people to transform the social, political, and economic drivers of socio-spatial inequality and environmental degradation into opportunities to create progressive, cohesive, antiracist, and social-ecologically sustainable communities. Based on the findings of the literature review and bibliometric analysis, I propose three pathways for just nature-based solutions: (1) race and class; (2) transformative co-production; and (3) value articulations. These starting points link to current principles in nature-based solutions and help bring clarity for scholars, activists, and planners on how to critically engage with the politics of environmental governance and decision-making.