Nature at the Nexus: COP30 FEBA Event Champions Ecosystem-based Adaptation as a Pathway to Resilience

17 November 2025, Belém, Brazil, IUCN – At COP30, the side event “Nature at the Nexus: Accelerating Ecosystem-based Adaptation at COP30 and Beyond” convened leading voices from across the climate, biodiversity, and sustainable development communities to highlight the central role of Ecosystem-based Adaptation (EbA) in strengthening resilience and reducing climate vulnerability. Organised by the IUCN-led Friends of Ecosystem-based Adaptation (FEBA) network, the session provided evidence of how integral approaches to protecting and restoring ecosystems for climate resilience are a cornerstone solution to the interconnected crises of climate change, biodiversity loss, and land degradation. 

The event opened with Ali Raza Rizvi, Director of the Global Climate Change and Energy Transition team at IUCN, who reflected on FEBA’s evolution over the past decade. He noted that while synergies among the Rio Conventions have only recently begun to deepen, FEBA was created precisely to foster this collaboration. Larissa Stiem-Bhatia, Policy Advisor at Germany’s Federal Ministry for the Environment, Nature Conservation, Nuclear Safety and Consumer Protection (BMUKN), affirmed that COP30 is a “COP of action,” focused on scaling existing initiatives, and emphasised that EbA embodies this integrated approach. She praised FEBA’s instrumental role in advancing Nature-based Solutions (NbS) for adaptation and highlighted the alignment between FEBA’s work, the IUCN’s Global EbA Fund, and BMUKN’s priorities. 

Greg Davies-Jones, Programme Officer at IUCN’s Global Climate Change and Energy Transition team, presented recent FEBA milestones, highlighting FEBA’s recommendations for COP30 distilled from the 2025 EbA Knowledge Day and the establishment of the new Loss and Damage Working Group in collaboration with the Partnership for Environment and Disaster Risk Reduction (PEDRR). He also showcased recent knowledge products, including: a policy guidance brief supporting indicator selection for the Global Goal on Adaptation, developed with the Mangrove Breakthrough NDC Task Force, as well as officially launched of a set of case studies by the Targets 8&11 Working Group demonstrating how EbA embodies many of the Section C considerations that guide the implementation of the Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework (KMGBF). These insights set the stage for a dynamic panel discussion moderated by Rizvi. 

Tristan Tyrrell, Programme Management Officer at the CBD Secretariat, stressed the importance of integrating cross-cutting approaches such as EbA into the implementation of the KMGBF and the Paris Agreement. He emphasised that headline targets must be pursued “the right way,” ensuring that solutions are grounded in the realities of those most affected. Mirey Atallah, Chief of the UN Environment Programme’s (UNEP) Adaptation and Resilience Branch, addressed the urgent need to unlock nature-based finance. Citing the UNEP Adaptation Gap Report, she noted that the challenge is not a lack of capital, but misaligned financial flows—less than 2 percent reaching Indigenous Peoples and less than 20 percent flowing to the communities most affected. Atallah called for simplified, trust-based financing mechanisms, with Rizvi adding that demonstrating nature’s long-term value is essential to mobilising sustained investment. 

Jeffrey Qi, Policy Advisor at the International Institute for Sustainable Development (IISD), outlined the defining characteristics of EbA as a catalyst for transformational change. He cautioned against prioritising short-term material gains over long-term resilience, framing EbA as an approach that protects and restores nature for its intrinsic value while generating multiple benefits for people. He noted that genuine transformation requires shifts in knowledge, policy structures, and social behaviours. Tyrrell added that adopting Global Goal on Adaptation indicators would mark a major step forward, with EbA integral to this process and international cooperation creating vital spaces for exchange.