Table 1.
The elements of the question scope underpinning the search string, review selection criteria, and exclusion criteria.
Fig 1.
Schematic of systematic review stages from the searches to the coding of studies included in this review.
Fig 2.
Number of reviews covering (a) world region (World Bank, 2020), and number of interventions by (b) the broad type of NbS (c) ecosystem category, and (d) economic outcome type. A review or intervention can cover more than one of each category; note that only the most represented (top 6) ecosystem types are indicated.
Table 2.
Examples of nature-based interventions identified in included reviews, for each of the five broad intervention types.
Interventions may not meet all guidelines for nature-based solutions (NbS) in practice, but we include evidence from all interventions because it is generally not possible to evaluate which are NbS with the information provided in each review, and it is also needed to build an understanding of what makes for effective NbS. A sample of references for each intervention is provided.
Fig 3.
Systematic map of economic impact outcomes by each of the broad intervention types illustrated as a Sankey diagram, where the thickness of each band corresponds to the number of cases involving the linked intervention type and economic impact outcome.
Fig 4.
Number of reported outcomes, per economic impact category and effect direction.
Fig 5.
Number of underlying studies supporting reported outcomes.
Fig 6.
Count of reviews reporting each outcome pathway for income/revenue, along with the associated effect (GI = Green Infrastructure, e.g., green roofs and walls).
Fig 7.
Count of reviews reporting each outcome pathway for labor demand/job creation, along with the associated effect.
Fig 8.
Prevalence of mediating factors identified across reviews.
For each category, the number of reviews specifying one or more mediating factors was summed up. See S4 Text for category definitions.
Fig 9.
Development outcomes from nature-based interventions for climate change adaptation (based on the dataset created by Roe et al., 2021).