From Knowledge to Action: Scaling Coastal NbS for Climate and Communities in the Western Indian Ocean
This COP30 official side event will highlight how the Regenerative Seascapes (ReSea) project is translating knowledge into action for climate adaptation in the Western Indian Ocean. Drawing on lessons from two years of implementation across Comoros, Kenya, Madagascar, Mozambique, and Tanzania, the panel will explore how locally-led, gender-responsive, and evidence-based coastal Nature-based Solutions (NbS) can strengthen resilience, biodiversity, and livelihoods.
This event will highlight how we are advancing evidence-based and gender-responsive NbS for climate adaptation in the Western Indian Ocean (WIO) region through the Regenerative Seascapes (ReSea) project, in partnership with Mission Inclusion and Global Affairs Canada (GAC). A technical presentation, followed by a moderated panel discussion with project partners and implementers, will explore enabling conditions, lessons learned, and remaining barriers for scaling coastal NbS for Adaptation, drawing on lessons from two years of implementation in five countries (Comoros, Kenya, Madagascar, Mozambique, and Tanzania). A summary of key takeaways and calls to action to sustain and accelerate NbS efforts in the region and beyond will follow the panel discussion, while a ReSea project video focused on a community in Kilifi, Kenya developed by the BBC will be screened to conclude the session.
The event will center on interconnected themes:
- Implementation pathways: How NAbSA’s operational framework informs long-term NbS strategies that deliver climate resilience, biodiversity conservation, and socio-economic co-benefits.
- Barriers and Solutions for Scaling Coastal NbS: Lessons from local partners on implementation, governance, technical challenges, and enabling conditions needed to accelerate implementation in the WIO and beyond.
- Inclusive, gender-responsive, participatory approaches: How women’s empowerment, youth leadership, and community-driven planning strengthen NbS outcomes, ensure equity, and make adaptation more sustainable.
Speakers include:
- Andréanne Martel; ReSea Project Director, Mission Inclusion
- Loubna Hamidi; NbS Officer (Comoros), IUCN Eastern and Southern Africa
- Rafa Valente Machava; Executive Director, MULEIDE Mozambique
- Nicholas Hardman-Mountford; Senior Global Director, Blue Climate; Conservation International
- Hercilo Odorico; MRV Specialist for Monitoring Greenhouse Gas Emissions from REDD+, National Fund for Sustainable Development (FNDS)
- Alain Du Cap, Senior International Development Officer, Global Affairs Canada
Learn more about the ReSea project.
See more events by the IUCN Global Climate Change and Energy Transition Team here.