By Nicci Mander and Hank Cauley
Climate-impacted communities can harness nature to build resilience and enhance well-being alongside contributing to global climate mitigation objectives. This use of nature-based solutions to advance social justice lies at the heart of Nature For Justice’s (N4J) global mission. But for external stakeholders supporting such endeavours–foundations, companies, and investors–what ensures their investments at the community level will continue to deliver the intended suites of social, climate, and ecological benefits over the long-term?
In our view, the critical issue of benefit permanence continues to remain widely under-addressed in the nature-based solutions sector, and project performance will soon make this evident.
While robust monitoring and adaptive management are essential given that nature-based solutions projects are essentially focused on facilitating positive changes in often complex social-ecological systems, they alone are insufficient to guarantee benefit permanence. To create projects that effectively and permanently enhance community climate resilience and well-being, sequester carbon, conserve biodiversity, and sustain ecosystem services delivery, we advocate for a three-part framework:
- Partner with local organizations that have established trust networks within local communities.
- Co-assess and fill critical skill gaps collaboratively.
- Adopt holistic, context-specific approaches to benefit sharing.
Identifying Local Partners with Established Trust Networks
While cutting out the “middleman” can be appealing, funders often underestimate the challenges of engaging directly with on-the-ground groups. How do you identify the most capable partners without defaulting to those who simply speak the best English, write compelling proposals, or have strong advocates?
At N4J, we prioritize working with local organizations and leaders who have earned genuine trust within their communities. We refer to these as organizations that have trust networks. Trust may not always align with the specific focus of a project—such as agriculture—but often stems from an organization’s track record of walking alongside the community and reducing the risk of failure.
Beyond this, we help consolidate these trusted organizations into networks that share learning, minimize overhead costs, and leverage local expertise across projects. This “consolidator role” enhances capacity while ensuring community-driven efforts remain sustainable.
Skill Assessments and Gap-Filling
No local organization possesses every skill necessary for long-term project success, and expertise can shift over time. Together with our partners, we evaluate the critical skills required to reduce risks and improve outcomes, and proactively help to integrate these into the organization’s operations through capacity development and network building. Recognizing the limitations of fly-in/fly-out experts, particularly highlighted during the COVID-19 pandemic, we prioritize local and regional experts for skill-building. This approach ensures resilience and continuity in project implementation.
A Holistic Approach to Benefit Sharing
It goes without saying that robust social safeguards are vital for project benefit permanence. While comprehensive safeguards include measures like Free, Prior, and Informed Consent (FPIC) and structured participative governance, here we focus on Benefit Sharing Agreements. (Future blogs will address the broader suite of social safeguards)
Many agreements adopt rigid revenue-sharing models that fail to account for risks, indirect benefits, and the diverse contributions of stakeholders. For example, fixed-percentage revenue-sharing often overlooks the unique dynamics of each project and its participants.
N4J supports the development of equitable, context-specific frameworks that reflect:
- The risks borne by local communities.
- The non-monetary benefits they receive.
- The balance of value among communities, developers, and investors.
Rather than solely focusing on revenue from carbon or nature credits, our approach places a transparent lens on the broader range of costs, benefits, and incentives that are shared between stakeholders, with a view to developing broad consensus on a benefit sharing approach that delivers both fairness and permanence. This nuanced framework requires all parties to engage collaboratively and adapt as conditions evolve.
Ensuring Durable Social Justice Outcomes
Achieving durable outcomes in social justice and project benefits hinges on reducing risks, sharing benefits equitably, and maintaining flexibility to adapt over time. By integrating trust, skills, and fairness into project design and execution, stakeholders can build resilient, lasting systems that sustain both communities and nature.
