Businesses in Europe and around the world can save money and benefit from nature - but many simply aren’t aware of the multitude of advantages.

A newly launched course hopes to fill that gap, clearly outlining the business case and business drivers for natural infrastructure.

UN Environment and the World Business Council for Sustainable Development, along with partners including Wetlands International, ARCADIS and Shell, recently launched the training, titled Natural Infrastructure for Business.

Natural infrastructure, such as healthy mangroves, forests or wetlands, can help businesses in many ways. From treating industrial water, reducing exposure to climate-related risks and restoring productivity to degraded land, natural infrastructure solutions can be an excellent alternative to ‘grey’ infrastructure such as dams and seawalls.

Furthermore, solutions using natural infrastructure can be vital to safeguarding the ecosystems themselves, providing us with additional benefits such as clean air, food and livelihoods: the ultimate win-win solution.

The course builds on the Natural Infrastructure for Business Platform and aims to help companies both understand and implement natural infrastructure projects.

Erik Solheim, Head of UN Environment, underlined the benefits of the course: "In the coming years, business will be further hit by the impacts of climate change, such as by droughts, floods and fires. But there is a solution within reach. By investing in natural infrastructure, such as forests and wetlands, companies can increase their resilience. We are proud to present this course with the World Business Council for Sustainable Development to enable companies understand the multiple benefits of natural infrastructure."

The training can be accessed here. For more information about UN Environment’s work in the field of Ecosystem-based Disaster Risk Reduction, supported by the European Commission, please click here or visit the Partnership for Environment and Disaster Risk Reduction website here.

For more information please write to sophie.brown@unep.org