Presentation short abstract

This paper synthesizes findings from the BIO-JUST project, which examines the environmental justice of watershed NbS across several case studies spanning Europe and South America.

Presentation long abstract

Nature-based solutions (NbS) have emerged as promising interventions for addressing interconnected environmental challenges, offering potential benefits for climate adaptation, mitigation, and biodiversity conservation. Despite their growing prominence in policy frameworks, critical questions remain about whether NbS deliver on their dual promise of ecological effectiveness and social equity. This paper synthesizes findings from the BIO-JUST project, which examines watershed NbS across several case studies spanning Europe and South America to investigate the conditions under which NbS successfully support biodiversity conservation and provide ecosystem services while promoting environmental justice. Our findings challenge assumptions that environmental injustices are concentrated primarily in the Global South, revealing that inequitable outcomes also emerge within EU contexts. We identify critical factors shaping justice outcomes: recognition of rights, different knowledges and worldviews is necessary but insufficient without accompanying redistributive, reparatory and procedural measures; dominant framings of water security that emphasize provision inadvertently create inequalities, necessitating a relational approach that acknowledges dynamic water-society interactions; and injustices are most often created or reinforced when NbS implementation privileges powerful actors meanings of "nature" while marginalizing alternative understandings. We conclude with recommendations for policy and practice to ensure NbS interventions advance biodiversity conservation while upholding principles of environmental justice across diverse geographical and political contexts.