Scientific Conference "Nature-Based Solutions: What Russia Can Offer to the World?"

On 16 November 2023, European University at St. Petersburg, with the support of the Andrey Melnichenko Foundation, organised a scientific conference entitled "Nature-Based Solutions: What Russia Can Offer to the World?" More than twenty leading Russian and foreign climate change experts from natural and social science shared their views on the potential of using nature-based solutions (NBS) as a means of countering the negative effects of global warming. The conference outlined the main areas in which NBS can be realised. The focus was on scientific research on present and past ecosystems, as well as models that offer scenarios of future climate development. Russian NBS initiatives, both current and potential, were discussed through the prism of historical experience and international practices. The conference consisted of five thematic panels and ended with a general discussion involving young scientists and graduate students specialising on various components of the Earth system. The first panel was devoted to discussing the role of climate science in building climate policy, as well as the place of the NBS among other measures to deal with global warming. In the second panel, participants discussed the existing tools needed for successful implementation of NBS. The third panel focused on the presentation and discussion of NBS already being implemented in Russia: Pleistocene Park and the Carboniferous polygon network. Finally, the fourth and fifth panels were devoted to discussing potential mitigation and adaptation of NBS that could be implemented in Russia in the near future.