Joining the biodiversity, climate and resilience dots

26 November 2024

Dr Julia Baker, technical director for nature services at Mott MacDonald, explains why an integrated approach to biodiversity net gain, climate change and resilience is especially critical for the water sector.

The UK water sector is navigating a complex landscape as it enters the AMP8 cycle. Alongside the need to maintain and upgrade aging infrastructure, water companies are having to adapt to climate change, which threatens water availability and quality, and work to meet ambitious targets set to enhance biodiversity and protect natural ecosystems. 

The bigger picture

At the same time, we face a global biodiversity and climate crisis. Nature decline is at disastrous levels across the globe, and rising temperatures and more frequent severe weather events because of climate change will only accelerate the problem. According to a recent study by the National Biodiversity Network, the UK is one of the most nature-depleted countries on Earth, with all areas of nature affected, including water. Nearly one in six of the more than 10,000 species assessed in the study are at risk of being lost from Great Britain. It’s clear that urgent action is needed.

Embedding nature 

The impetus to enhance nature on infrastructure developments is growing.  The introduction of England’s mandatory Biodiversity Net Gain (BNG) for most new developments this year was a major turning point. But we need to go further and embed the value of nature into business decision-making. So, what does this look like in practice? 

Firstly, getting rid of silos. While setting targets for nature, net zero and climate resilience is essential for water companies, tackling them individually is far less effective in terms of delivering meaningful change on the ground. What’s needed is a holistic approach that embeds nature in the day-to-day operations of water companies. This means designing, building and maintaining water infrastructure in ways that enhance nature, increase greenhouse gas absorption by the natural environment and strengthen resilience to climate change through nature-based solutions.  

Enhancing nature is intrinsically connected to our efforts to tackle climate change and to strengthen our resilience to its effects. For example, there’s no point in designing biodiversity-rich habitats around a new wastewater treatment facility if the impact of future climate change isn’t taken into account from the beginning. By building climate resilience into biodiversity-rich habitats, these environments can strengthen the resilience of the water network.

Waterfall in Forest. Credit: Pexels / Priscila Sousa

However, this joined-up approach requires a radical mindset shift. We need to see nature as an asset, alongside traditional hard engineering assets, and mainstream the integration of nature, climate and resilience into our decision-making. Nature-based solutions, such as incorporating wetlands into designs to naturally filter effluent before it’s released into watercourses, should become the norm. 

There is a wider drive for sustainability across industry and the starting point is to recognise the connections between nature, climate and resilience so that ‘nature’ is not another silo but integrated within a single sustainability strategy. By adopting this consolidated nature-climate-resilience approach, the water sector can truly leave a positive legacy. 

What do we need to do? 

An integrated approach to nature, climate and resilience within the sector will require: 

1. Culture change supported by clear and sustained leadership driving the adoption. 

1. An understanding of the performance of nature, just as we understand the performance of assets. For example, we have climate thresholds for hard engineering assets – we need to also monitor and collect the evidence on where and how nature strengthens climate resilience. 

1. Making the evidence of the benefits of nature-based solutions engineers and designers within the industry.  

1. Assessing and measuring all impacts from the water sector on nature across value chains. Only then can we see the actions needed to avoid and reduce impacts on nature, and then make sure the sector plays its part in supporting a nature positive future.  

Ultimately, our water networks should provide safe, clean water to communities in ways that truly support our planet. By pulling all sustainability, climate resilience and biodiversity goals together into one cohesive strategy with nature’s recovery at its heart, we can harness the power of nature to help fulfil many of the AMP8 commitments and improve outcomes for people and planet.

Author: Dr. Julia Baker, Mott MacDonald technical director of nature services