At a time when climate change, biodiversity loss, and pollution converge into a global triple planetary crisis, the need for solutions that work in harmony with nature has never been greater. It is against this backdrop that Lloyd’s Register Foundation commissioned the ‘Foresight review on nature-positive engineering,’ led by ICSI in 2024/25.
The foresight review explores the emerging field of nature-positive engineering (NPE) through an in-depth examination of three key sectors where engineering and natural systems interact significantly: coastal protection and adaptation; ports; and offshore renewable energy. The insights gathered aim to bring clarity, catalyse action within the engineering community, and support the safe, scaled adoption of NPE. Its findings and recommendations are designed to be relevant to all stakeholders involved in infrastructure development and transferable across all sectors.
Relationship of NPE with existing concepts and approaches
What is nature-positive Engineering?
NPE refers to engineering practices that protect, restore, and enhance natural systems, delivering measurable gains for nature alongside societal wellbeing and need.
NPE challenges the paradigm by reframing nature as a critical ally and integral part of achieving human and planetary wellbeing. It is a systems-based practice that aims to deliver measurable gains for nature – protecting and restoring habitats, enhancing biodiversity, and strengthening ecosystem services. This approach recognises nature as infrastructure in its own right that provides essential functions such as water filtration, climate regulation, and coastal protection.
While sustainability has long been part of the engineering discourse, a shift is needed for simply minimising environmental harm (‘doing less harm’) towards proactively protecting, restoring and enhancing ecosystems (‘doing more good’). NPE supports this evolution by promoting a deeper, more intentional integration of engineering expertise with ecological principles in decision-making.
The foresight review identifies ten guiding principles to support NPE implementation:
- 1. Foster a mutually enhancing human-nature relationship
- 2. Take a whole lifecycle approach to ecological impacts
- 3. Deliver measurable nature improvements
- 4. Recognise interconnectedness across scales and timeframes
- 5. Co-develop solutions with communities and Indigenous Peoples
- 6. Design multifunctional, regenerative systems
- 7. Manage complex risks and trade-offs
- 8. Address the climate-nature-health nexus through adaptive management
- 9. Foster interdisciplinary collaboration
- 10. Anticipate and manage potential unintended consequences
As defined in the foresight review, scaling up NPE implementation requires coordinated action across three complementary pathways, each supported by a set of key recommendations:
- 1.Creating an enabling environment for the nature-positive transition: Leverage technology to identify synergistic planning and development opportunities and integrate nature-positive outcomes into permitting and procurement processes. Financial frameworks should also evolve to incorporate natural capital risk assessments to better reflect the value of ecosystems.
- 2. Building technical capacity for NPE: Develop NPE knowledge modules for engineering education and professional development and create lifecycle guidance for implementing nature-positive solutions. Additional priorities include developing toolkits for the climate–nature–health nexus and strengthening research on metrics, evidence, and potential unintended consequences of NPE interventions.
- 3. Advocating and partnering to accelerate nature-positive action: Establish a global NPE alliance and community of practice to support collaboration and knowledge sharing. Engineers and stakeholders should also advocate for safe nature-positive engineering practices across sectors and stakeholder groups.