Win–win for everyone? Reflecting on nature-based solutions for flood risk management from an environmental justice perspective

Abstract

Nature-based solutions (NbS) are often framed positively in terms of win–win options or no-regret measures. However, are NbS equally beneficial for everyone? Are burdens and benefits of NbS really equally distributed and projects embraced by everyone? Is the process leading to the implementation of NbS always fair and inclusive? This chapter provides a broad overview of different environmental justice issues, critically reflecting on NbS through recognition justice, procedural justice, and distributive justice. Whereas the current critical literature focuses particularly on urban NbS, this chapter focuses on the wider translocal consequences of NbS projects. The theoretical reflections are illustrated with case studies of NbS from various countries: the recognition of marginalised women in Vietnam in mangrove restoration projects, the challenges when introducing procedural justice in implementing NbS in Serbia, the legal injustices locals are faced in the Czech Republic when they want to implement NbS, the trade-off between public collective and individual economic interest when implementing a sand nourishment project in the Netherlands, and the development of a beneficiary-pays based upstream–downstream compensation scheme in Austria