European cities face rising heatwaves and floods, yet nature may hold the key to resilience. Green roofs and urban forests don’t just reduce carbon - they also cool streets, clean the air and boost residents’ wellbeing. With more than 75% of Europeans living in cities, scaling these solutions could transform urban life.

Nature-based Solutions (NbS), such as green roofs, urban forests, soil restoration, regenerative agriculture and green corridors, can play a pivotal role in addressing urban challenges. However, unlocking these multiple benefits requires scaling up investment, which presents a challenge for many cities, due to severely limited financing.

Studies indicate that only a small proportion of urban NbS projects currently attract investment from the private sector. Voluntary nature markets - systems where measurable benefits from nature (such as carbon storage, biodiversity or cleaner water) can be turned into tradeable credits - can play a crucial role by unlocking private sector finance to increase the scale of urban NbS projects. Nature markets must be designed with integrity and oversight to ensure they:

• Achieve real, additional and lasting environmental outcomes that go beyond business as usual.
• Include social and biodiversity safeguards to prevent greenwashing and negative social impacts.
• Ensure the equitable participation of local governments, communities and smaller municipalities.
• Complement urgent direct emissions reductions alongside investment, maintaining a focus on mitigation.

By adopting high-integrity nature markets, cities can attract private investment to increase the scale of NbS projects, reducing their reliance on public budgets while contributing to Europe’s climate-neutral, nature-positive and resilient future. ICLEI Europe is calling for EU policy measures that integrate urban NbS into voluntary certification frameworks, embed social and environmental safeguards, support equitable participation and build local capacity to access and manage finance.

For more information, read ICLEI Europe’s new Position Paper, 'High-Integrity Nature Markets for Cities.'