Presentation short abstract

Implementers of NbS often ignore the root causes of the socioecological issues that NbS aim to solve. To address this, we analyzed the limitations of mainstream NbS and propose transformation through Critical NbS, addressing socioecological issues from DFPE towards environmental and climate justice.

Presentation long abstract

This paper develops the framework “critical Nature-based Solutions” (NbS) to advance just environmental actions based on the situated and embodied experiences of local actors who steward vital social-ecological systems through their everyday practices. We combine insights from ongoing collaborative research with Afro-descendant women who steward mangroves on Colombia’s Pacific Coast with a critical literature review of mainstream NbS approaches. By identifying the theoretical, conceptual, and practical limitations of mainstream NbS and highlighting alternative pathways enacted in Colombia, we advance a decolonial feminist political ecology approach to advocate for critical NbS.

Mainstream NbS approaches promise to protect ecosystems and address social challenges simultaneously, showing success in diverse contexts, including environmental peacebuilding, food security, and local governance. However, examining their implementation reveals critical blind spots. Our review shows that mainstream approaches systematically overlook power relations, colonial legacies, and gendered dimensions, essential to understanding the socioecological issues that NbS protagonists claim to solve. Hence, by pursuing apolitical and universalist strategies, current NbS often reproduce the problems they seek to address—including knowledge erasure, environmental degradation, maladaptation, greenwashing, and land grabbing.

We argue that critical NbS moves beyond technocratic solutions by challenging the apolitical, universalist, and deterministic assumptions underlying mainstream approaches. Rather than abandoning NbS entirely, our framework harnesses their potential while embedding transformative and critical dimensions. This ensures that interventions advance environmental and climate justice rather than perpetuating historical injustices. By making power and politics visible, critical NbS offer a pathway toward transformative socioecological solutions that address both symptoms and causes of environmental challenges.