Student Voices I A Maturity Model for Evaluating Nature-Based Solutions Adoption
Graduate | Sep 08, 2026 | Gabelli School of Business
The Responsible Business Center Student Fellowship supports graduate students pursuing research on critical business and societal challenges. Through original research and interdisciplinary inquiry, Fellows contribute new insights that advance responsible business practices. 2026 Responsible Business Center Student Fellow Ivan Avila shares his research, key findings, and reflections on the questions that inspired his work.
A maturity model (MM) is a conceptual artifact designed to help organizations evolve organizational capabilities in a stage-by-stage manner. Originally developed for software development, MMs expanded into a broad range of practices because of their ability to guide improvement in a logical and incremental way. MM’s value lies in its usefulness in identifying and prioritizing initiatives by organizing improvements in progressive levels. For my research project, I aimed to apply MM’s features to provide a baseline for the adoption of Nature-based solutions (NbS) in organizations.
According to the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) report, Nature in the red: Powering the Trillion Dollar Nature Transition Economy (2026), in 2023, $7.3 trillion was directed toward nature-negative activities such as fossil fuel subsidies, while nature-positive financial flows amounted to only $220 billion. Achieving global environmental targets will require nature-positive flows to increase by $571 billion by 2030, alongside a full phase-out of nature-negative flows.[1] At the same time, sustainability practitioners increasingly recognize that environmental challenges are interconnected with social and economic systems.
In this context, NbS have emerged as a solution that addresses environmental challenges while fostering human wellbeing. The concept of ‘Nature-based solutions’ is new in the sustainability literature but has gained traction within global NGOs such as the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) and among policymakers such as the European Commission, which frequently includes NbS in its environmental programs. NbS include a wide range of approaches such as ecosystem restoration, ecosystem-based adaptation, disaster risk reduction, and green infrastructure. For instance, restoring wetlands can reduce flood risk, enhance biodiversity, and improve water quality, while urban green infrastructure can create new urban ecosystems while mitigating heat waves.
Despite the NbS potential, implementation remains limited and inconsistent. One of the main challenges is the gap between conceptual frameworks and their implementation. Organizations often pursue NbS without the rigor needed for implementation, resulting in uncertain benefits and the continued use of practices that harm the environment and communities. The absence of standardized metrics and evaluation frameworks makes it difficult to measure performance and build a robust evidence base. To address these challenges, as a Responsible Business Fellow, I developed the NbS maturity model, a comprehensive tool that enables organizations to assess their current level of NbS adoption, identify gaps relative to their desired state, and establish a clear path for improvement.
The model is built using the IUCN principles for NbS implementation[2] and their associated guidelines, as well as related frameworks such as the Taskforce on Nature-related Financial Disclosures (TNFD LEAP) approach[3], the NbS life cycle[4], the TNFD maturity map[5], Global Reporting Initiative (GRI) standards[6], and the Science Based Targets Network [7](SBTN). The IUCN principles emphasize that NbS should be context-specific, community inclusive, economically viable, and must deliver measurable environmental and societal benefits. The mentioned frameworks provide practical guidance, such as integrating nature-related risks into decision-making (TNFD LEAP), setting science-based targets for nature (SBTN), and standardizing sustainability disclosures (GRI), enabling organizations to operationalize NbS effectively.
The model was developed following established design principles. It is structured as a matrix that combines maturity levels with organizational domains, enabling a multidimensional assessment. The model adopts three maturity levels: non-existent or reactive, implemented, and strategic. The model evaluates NbS integration across key organizational domains: governance and strategy, value chain, and support activities. At the core of the model is the rubric, which defines specific criteria for each domain and maturity level. This rubric provides a logical representation of an organization’s position, allowing users to identify gaps and opportunities for progression consistently. The rubric is operationalized through a scoring tool consisting of a set of questionnaires for each domain, yielding a domain-specific maturity score. These scores can then be aggregated into a single overall maturity score to improve usability.
The model was tested at a large gold mining company, selected for the sector’s high environmental and stakeholder impact and its strict regulatory and reporting requirements. Using public disclosures, the model assessed NbS integration in governance, risk evaluation, community engagement, project implementation, trade-offs between NbS and technological solutions, and organizational culture. The company scored 1.71 (“implemented” level), with evidence including collaboration with an NGO to restore cold-water ecosystems in Alaska and strong community engagement; however, NbS projects were not present across all locations, and their integration into the value chain was limited. This application helped refine the model and evaluate its usability in real corporate reporting contexts.
MM development is iterative and requires testing and validation with organizations to refine its structure. Over time, it can evolve into sector-specific versions or be adapted to different NbS types, as implementation needs vary across industries. Nevertheless, the NbS MM provides a baseline for future development and can already support organizations in structuring NbS strategies and advancing nature-positive investments beyond isolated initiatives toward more strategic integration by helping them assess baselines, identify gaps, and guide NbS implementation in a structured, framework-based way.
References
[1] United Nations Environment Programme, Nature in the red: Powering the trillion dollar nature transition economy – State of finance for nature 2026. United Nations Environment Programme, 2026. doi: 10.59117/20.500.11822/49119.Website: https://wedocs.unep.org/items/a4a8edaa-3896-4811-b527-1583dfce7201
[2] E. Cohen-Shacham et al., “Core principles for successfully implementing and upscaling Nature-based Solutions,” Aug. 01, 2019, Elsevier Ltd. doi: 10.1016/j.envsci.2019.04.014.Website: https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1462901118306671
[3] Taskforce on Nature-related Financial Disclosures (TNFD), “Guidance on the identification and assessment of nature-related issues: The LEAP approach,” Oct. 2023. [4] EUROPEAN COMMISSION, “Nature-Based Solutions Implementation Handbook: A Summary for Practitioners,” 2020. [5] Taskforce on Nature-related Financial Disclosures (TNFD), “TNFD Maturity Map 2023,” 2023. [6] Global Sustainability Standards Board (GSSB), GRI 1: Foundation 2021. 2023. [7] Science Based Targets Network, “A CORPORATE MANUAL: SCIENCE-BASED TARGETS FOR NATURE CORPORATE MANUAL for setting science-based targets for nature,” 2024.
