Nature-Positive Cities

About the Nature-Positive Cities  initiative

Creating cities that live in harmony with nature.

Only 37% of the world's 500 most populous cities have a dedicated strategy on nature or biodiversity preservation.

Urban centres are the primary drivers of the global economy, contributing 80% of the world’s gross domestic product (GDP). However, their rapid expansion has adversely affected natural ecosystems. An estimated 44% of global GDP – $31 trillion – generated in cities is vulnerable to disruption due to nature loss. 

We are rebalancing cities' relationship with nature

Urban leaders and decision-makers must prioritize nature in their investment decisions to both improve the resilience and liveability of their cities, and to secure a sustainable future for humanity.

44%

of global GDP in cities ($31 trillion) is estimated to be at risk of disruption from nature loss

1.4 bn

people living in the world’s largest urban centres are threatened by natural hazards

~75%

of world's population will live in cities by 2050

Our Champion Cities

Five cities have committed to advance a Nature-Positive vision through increased public-private collaboration:

  • Barranquilla, Colombia
  • Belem do Pará, Brazil
  • Durban, South Africa
  • Incheon, South Korea
  • San Francisco, USA

Our City Profile reports seek to illuminate the ongoing efforts that sectors and cities around the globe are making to contribute to the Global Biodiversity Framework and foster a nature-positive future.

Durban, South Africa

Durban, South Africa’s second-largest city, is home to an extraordinary range of species, including 2,267 plants, 526 birds and 25 endemic vertebrates. Despite its natural wealth, Durban faces significant urban development challenges, such as climate resilience, housing, waste and water management, and energy access.

San Francisco, USA

San Francisco, USA is the host to hundreds of plants and animals in a diversity of ecosystems including Indigenous plants, animals and species found nowhere else, such as the Franciscan Manzanita and Mission Blue Butterfly.

Barranquilla, Colombia

Barranquilla, Colombia, recorded a 45% increase in GDP between 2011 and 2021. Economic growth has been paired with an increase in access to public healthcare, more public green space and high-quality infrastructure.

Our Communities

The World Economic Forum has convened two international groups to fuel the initiative's efforts: the Global Commission on Nature-Positive Cities and the Expert Task Force on Nature-Positive Cities.

The Global Commission for Nature-Positive Cities

The Global Commission on Nature-Positive Cities is convened by the World Economic Forum and brings together mayors, business leaders and world-renowned urban planners and practitioners who will raise awareness of the role that healthy ecosystems play in building more liveable and resilient cities. 

The Commission will outline real-time urban challenges, share learnings and success stories, identify barriers to unlock financing and advocate for nature-positive city design and delivery at global fora and events. The Commission will influence other partners, networks and stakeholders wanting to embark in a journey of nature-positive transformations at the urban scale.

Edmilson Rodrigues

City Mayor, Belem do Pará, Brasil

London Breed

City Mayor, San Francisco, USA

Jaime Pumarejo

Outgoing City Mayor, Barranquilla, Colombia

Yoo Jeong-bok

City Mayor, Incheon, Korea

Mxolisi Kaunda

City Mayor, Durban, South Africa

Mark Watts

Executive Director, C40

Mikolaj Sekutowicz

Chief Executive Officer, Impact One

Cha-ly Koh

Chief Executive Officer, Urbanmetry

Mauricio Rodas

Ex-Mayor of Quito, Ecuador, Senior Fellow, Arsht-Rock Resilience Center

Kotchakorn Voraakhom

Chief Executive Officer, Landprocess

Marie Lam-Frendo

Chief Strategy Officer, Meridiam

Esther An

Chair of Corporate Advisory Board, World Green Building Council

Arjun Dhawan

Vice Chairman, Hindustan Construction Company

Heather Thompson

Chief Executive Officer, Institute for Transportation and Development Policy

Nollaig Forrest

Chief Sustainability Officer, Holcim

The Expert Task Force for Nature-Positive Cities

The Expert Task Force on Nature-Positive Cities will be integrated by 18 subject experts in a multistakeholder environment to advise the Global Commission on Nature-Positive Cities and support the development and implementation of tried and tested models that could be replicated around the world to build resilient, equal and prosperous cities by 2030 with biodiversity as an anchor. In particular, the Expert Task Force will address three key challenges faced in nature-positive transformation at urban scale:

Finance

Increasing finance and accelerating public-private collaborations for nature-positive interventions cities around the world


Policy  and regulation

Crafting policy models, regulation and incentives allowing to break down the barriers for a successful transition towards nature-positive cities

Urban planning and design

Devising innovative ways to spatially integrate nature in the built environment and deploy nature-based solutions in pilot cities

Sandra Villars

CO-CHAIR, FINANCE

Finance & Risk and Natural Capital Partner, Oliver Wyman

Carlos Correa Escaf

CO-CHAIR, POLICY AND REGULATION

Former Minister of Environment and Sustainable Development, Colombia

Federico Cartín

CO-CHAIR, URBAN PLANNING AND DESIGN

Founder, Rutas Naturbanas

Global Sustainability Innovation Lab, Accenture

Maryam Golnaraghi

Director, Climate Change and Environment, The Geneva Association


Craig Holland

Senior Director, Investments, Healthy Cities Program, The Nature Conservancy

Laura Fox

Managing Partner, Streetlife Ventures

George Benson

Sr. Manager, Economic Transformation, Vancouver Economic Commission

Francisco Macedo

Sr. Program Associate, Cities Climate Finance Leadership Alliance, Climate Policy Initiative

Tatiana Gallego-Lizon

Division Chief, Housing and Urban Development, Inter-American Development Bank


Carlo Angeles

Former Metropolitan Councillor and Chairman of Environmental Commission, Metropolitan Government of Lima

Madhumitha Ardhanari

Principal Sustainability Strategist, Forum for the Future

Andre Kwok Ka Ming

Founder and Chairman, Good City Foundation

Kate Meyrick

Director, Urbis

Piali Das Gupta

Strategy Director, London’s Future, London Councils


Martin Anzellini

Director, Sustainable Urban Development, ProBogota

Nora Van Cauwenbergh

Associate Professor, IHE Delft;
Co-founder, BitaGreen

Pamela Conrad

Founder, Climate Positive Design 

Faculty Lecturer,  Harvard Graduate School of Design

Andreas Kipar

Co-Founder and CEO, LAND

The Nature-Positive Cities initiative is embedded within the World Economic Forum’s Centre for Nature and Climate and Centre for Urban Transformation

Centre for Urban Transformation

Advancing public-private collaboration in cities for resilient, future-ready communities and economies.

Centre for Nature and Climate

Accelerating net-zero climate action, regenerating food, water and ocean systems, and promoting circular economies.

Nature-Positive Cities

A World Economic Forum Initiative
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