The new partners include France, the United States of America, Belgium, the Netherlands, Switzerland, Pakistan, and the UN Environment Programme, including its World Conservation Monitoring Centre. They join Germany and Egypt, who along with the International Union for Conservation of Nature launched ENACT (Enhancing Nature-based Solutions for an Accelerated Climate Transformation) at COP27, which took place at Sharm el-Sheikh, Egypt in December 2022. Canada, the European Union, Spain, Malawi, Norway, South Korea, Japan and Slovenia were also founding members of the partnership.

Nature-based Solutions involve working with and for, rather than against nature, which is critical to deliver the climate, biodiversity, and land restoration action necessary to steward human well-being for all. 

"As evidenced by the growth of the ENACT Partnership, the role of Nature-based Solutions is increasingly being recognised as a complement to the rapid phase out of fossil fuels. ENACT provides cohesive and action-oriented leadership that enables us to tap into the massive potential of nature in addressing the climate emergency," said Dr Grethel Aguilar, IUCN Director General.

"We cannot achieve the goals of the Paris Agreement without drastically reducing the threat to biodiversity. Equally, we cannot meet the proposed targets and goals of the Global Biodiversity Framework without more ambitious emission reduction targets and more urgent adaptation actions," said Minister of Environment, Dr Yasmine Fouad, Arab Republic of Egypt. "Egypt believes the success of ENACT in achieving its vision for increased coherence on NbS across the Rio Conventions will only be possible based on the committed participation of its current and potential partners. We urge all states and non-state actors committed to high-integrity NbS to come forward in support of the ENACT. Only with the momentum generated by a collective focus will we be able to achieve the goals set across the Rio Conventions and the SDG Agenda."

"The Biden-Harris Administration sees Nature-based olutions as a critical tool to address the climate crisis," said White House Council on Environmental Quality Chair Brenda Mallory. "I am excited to announce that the United States has joined the ENACT partnership. Not only do the goals of the partnership align with the Biden-Harris Administration’s climate and conservation priorities, they also give the United States a stronger footing to promote equity and justice in the face of climate change at home and abroad."

The ENACT Partnership aims to enhance the protection from and resilience to climate impacts of at least 1 billion vulnerable people, secure up to 2.4 billion hectares of healthy natural and sustainable ecosystems, and significantly increase global mitigation efforts through protecting and restoring carbon-rich ecosystems.

Since the initiative was launched last year, partners have been working on the first State of Nature-based Solutions report, which will provide the most comprehensive quantitative overview of global progress in implementing Nature-based Solutions commitments by both state and non-state actors. That report will be released early 2024, and will initiate the series of annual reports on ENACT’s NbS Goals.

At the same time, ENACT partners are pushing at COP28 for the following with respect to Nature-based Solutions:

• Actions to limit warming to 1.5°C – by phasing out of all fossil fuels, including oil and gas and embracing just transition – to minimise climate-related losses and damage to people and nature. Meeting this goal is also essential to the continued provision of critical co-benefits for nature and people, 
• Increased funding and investment, particularly prioritizing local communities and accommodating an integrated approach to address climate change, biodiversity loss, and human well-being,
• Stronger international collaboration and commitments to the rapid reduction of fossil fuel emissions and a commitment to implementation of Nature-based Solutions,
• Robust data and monitoring systems which are essential for tracking progress and outcomes based on transparent reporting and accountability mechanisms.