China and the global politics of nature-based solutions

Since 2019, China has emerged as a leading proponent of nature-based solutions (NbS) to improve global environmental management. These solutions – from regrowing forests to restoring wetlands to regenerating agricultural soils to greening cities – can, at least in theory, simultaneously reduce greenhouse gas emissions, protect biodiversity, and enhance community wellbeing and resilience. For some advocates, nature-based solutions also entail a radical rethinking of how humans should be interacting with nature, requiring new responsibilities, rights, and governance mechanisms. This article explains how and why China has been promoting NbS in multilateral and domestic policy settings. By analyzing the content of English- and Chinese-language policy briefings, diplomatic remarks, and government documents from 2019 to mid-2021, it reveals that China’s NbS goals and actions differ significantly in domestic and international settings. Internationally, Chinese policymakers have been reframing the country’s pre-existing large-scale afforestation, green financing, disaster risk reduction, and ecotourism projects as NbS, broadly defined. In multilateral forums, meanwhile, Chinese diplomats and practitioners are promoting NbS as an umbrella term to enhance the legitimacy of domestic projects now labelled as NbS, project an image of climate action and global environmental leadership, and increase China’s discursive power within global environmental governance. China’s embrace of NbS, as this article reveals, has far-reaching consequences for the future of nature-based solutions within multilateral climate and biodiversity governance, with the potential to turn NbS into a diplomatic and rhetorical tool to portray conventional approaches to environmental management as innovative, nature-positive solutions. • Internationally, China is reframing pre-existing policies as nature-based solutions (NbS). • What China is labelling NbS includes large-scale afforestation, green financing, flood controls, and ecotourism projects. • Internationally, China is advocating for NbS to enhance its image and soft power. • China’s NbS discourse is mainly aimed at an international audience, with domestic policy and rhetoric largely unchanged. • China’s NbS leadership could further mainstream NbS discourses in multilateral forums, but hinder meaningful implementation.