We develop and implement solutions to the challenges presented by climate change; strengthen resilience of communities, organisations, and systems; and support our clients and partners to achieve sustainable environmental outcomes.
Climate change is one of the greatest contemporary threats to equitable and sustainable development, with the potential to undermine decades of investment and progress towards the UN Sustainable Development Goals. As a 'crisis multiplier', climate change is rapidly accelerating and intensifying pressures on food, water, and land resources. The most profound impacts are felt by the poorest and most vulnerable communities, who have contributed the least to climate change and are amongst the least equipped to cope and adapt to the increasing frequency and intensity of climate impacts and related disasters.
Urgent action is needed at all levels to mitigate greenhouse gas emissions and implement lasting solutions that minimise future climate impacts. At the same time, countries and communities must be supported in their efforts to build resilience, advance climate change adaptation (CCA) actions, and strengthen disaster risk management (DRM).
Our work in climate resilience and environment
At NIRAS, we are dedicated to sustainable development, with adaptation and mitigation central to our mission and vision. Over the last 40 years, NIRAS has integrated an interdisciplinary approach to tackling the interconnected challenges of climate change, environmental degradation, and poverty. We offer a wide range of advisory services across sectors, in combination with our results-oriented project management. Our committed staff comprises engineers, water resource management professionals, disaster/emergency planners, and specialists in adaptation, climate financing, livelihoods, forestry, gender, monitoring, evaluation, learning, agriculture, and value chains, among others.
We work in partnership with a wide range of clients from multilateral and bilateral donors, to national governments, foundations and private-sector organisations. Our expertise spans advising governments on adaptation planning, policy and climate financing at both international and national levels, to managing the implementation of extensive technical assistance programmes that benefit hundreds of thousands of people through improved climate resilience and environmental sustainability. Through our efforts, we aim to enhance the livelihoods of the world’s poorest communities, develop evidence-based and impactful solutions to foster resilience, and promote nature-based solutions that benefit both people and the planet.
Our work in the blue economy
Our work in water management
A flagship Scottish Government programme, Climate Just Communities is developing and delivering climate justice interventions in Rwanda, Zambia and Malawi. As implementing partner for Zambia, NIRAS will work to empower the marginalised to advocate for climate justice and create long-term sustainable change.
Effective disaster and climate risk management hinges on thoroughly identifying, analysing, and prioritising risks. By understanding the components of risk — namely hazards, exposure, vulnerabilities, and capacities within a specific context — a risk assessment forms the basis for implementing targeted risk reduction strategies. NIRAS facilitates disaster and climate risk assessments for governments and international agencies, focusing on developing and implementing cross-sectoral disaster risk management and adaptation plans. We help partners identify, quantify, and monetise climate risks, integrating these risks into their adaptation strategies. Our efforts raise awareness of climate change at both strategic and operational levels, fostering organisational readiness, developing analytical tools, and training staff on prioritising risk management solutions based on evidence and available resources.
Disaster risk planning and management involves coordinated actions to develop and implement strategies that reduce disaster risks through prevention, mitigation, and preparedness activities. By proactively addressing risks prior to hazardous events such as floods or earthquakes, the impacts of disasters can be minimised. Effective disaster risk management requires the collaboration and coordinated efforts of various stakeholders, with capacity-building being a critical component often emphasised in these efforts.
In our increasingly urbanised world, where populations, critical infrastructure, and economic assets are concentrated in cities, there's a growing recognition of the need to enhance urban resilience to climate impacts and disasters. NIRAS brings extensive experience in addressing urban resilience through programmes in Nordic capitals like Copenhagen, as well as megacities such as Nairobi and Dar es Salaam, and rapidly growing secondary cities like Kisumu in Kenya, Beira in Mozambique, and Sikasso in Mali. A significant part of our resilience work focuses on building resilient institutions capable of understanding and managing current and future challenges. We provide capacity-building support aimed at strengthening these institutions' ability to mitigate and respond to shocks, ensuring they can effectively translate climate data into resilient policies.
Public infrastructure is a cornerstone of social and economic development in many countries. Each year, developing nations invest billions of euros in crucial infrastructure projects spanning transportation, communication, water, energy, industry, agriculture, and other key sectors. However, traditional infrastructure design often relies on historical climate data, leading to structures that may not withstand future climate conditions. As a result, critical infrastructure is increasingly at risk from climate impacts that could cause significant damage, disruption, or even catastrophic failures. Recognising this, there is a growing global and national emphasis on enhancing the resilience of public infrastructure investments to safeguard and advance social and economic development.
With the increased occurrence of water stress and flooding as well as deteriorated water quality, there is a clear demand for innovative approaches and solutions towards managing water whether at the local or regional level. Integrated Water Resource Management (IWRM) addresses the management of water resources at both local and regional levels, considering economic, social, and ecological factors within a specific river basin. The goal of IWRM is to achieve a more holistic and coordinated approach to managing water, land, and related resources. This coordinated approach supports social, economic, and ecosystem development by ensuring that policies, strategies, and programs involving other natural resource areas are analysed for their impact on water demand.
Over the past decades, NIRAS has delivered services in a range of water-resources-related fields, including abatement of flood hazards, water stress/scarcity, storm water diverting infrastructure (canals, tunnelling and dikes) and planning and managing for related risks as well as addressing weak water management both technically and institutionally. Sustainable institutional solutions are at least equally critical as the technical ones. NIRAS has provided a broad range of services in such areas, including institutional reviews and capacity development to water management institutions.
Healthy ecosystems and the services they provide are fundamentally important to livelihoods, food systems, and water and energy security. However, environmental degradation, biodiversity loss, and significant increases in greenhouse gas emissions, and waste, have undermined the balance of ecosystem services across the globe, resulting in greater unpredictability and increased vulnerability to climate change. The links between climate resilience and ecosystem health has been brought into focus in recent years through the increasing frequency and intensity of extreme weather events, such as droughts and floods, and their devastating consequences on infrastructure and affected communities.
NIRAS has a dedicated Department for Coastal Protection and holds strong specialist knowledge within coastal protection, flood risk management and climate adaptation planning for coastal zones, both in terms of specific projects and within a framework of Integrated Coastal Zone Management. We develop our projects based on a holistic perspective and include disciplines such as engineering, surveying, social sciences, landscape architecture, environment, master planning and economics. This results in robust and integrated solutions that provide multiple benefits to nature, local communities and society in general.
According to the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC), “climate finance” refers to local, national or transnational financing – drawn from public, private and alternative sources of financing – that seeks to support mitigation and adaptation actions that will address climate change. Climate finance is needed for mitigation, because large-scale investments are required to significantly reduce emissions; and is equally important for adaptation, as significant financial resources are needed to adapt to the adverse effects and reduce the impacts of a changing climate. Unfortunately, at the moment, only 5% of current climate finance targets adaptation. Two of the major climate funds are the Global Environmental Facility (GEF, created in 1994) and the Green Climate Fund (GCF, created in 2010) operated by the UNFCCC’s Conference of Parties (COP). Both funds serve the implementation of the Paris Agreement (2015).
