CNVP is member of IUCN, the International Union for Conservation of Nature.

The IUCN Commission on Ecosystem Management (CEM) and the Global Ecosystem Management Programme (GEMP) is inviting participation in a public consultation towards the development of a Nature-based Solutions Global Standard. The public consultation will run until 31 March 2019 (see IUCN Global Standard - Public Consultation).

At the 2016 World Conservation Congress, IUCN's members adopted a resolution on a definitional framework for Nature-based Solutions (NbS) with a set of eight preliminary principles. The resolution defines NbS as “actions to protect, sustainably manage and restore natural or modified ecosystems that address societal challenges effectively and adaptively, simultaneously providing human well-being and biodiversity benefits”. The membership also called on IUCN's Director General and the Commissions to finalise the principles, parameters and guidelines for applying NbS, noting that users of the NbS concept need a common definition and guidance on its application.

In order to guide the sustainable and efficient use of nature for societal benefit, IUCN is developing a Global Standard on NbS that is relevant and widely applicable, yet robust in being able to inform design and verification of actions and initiatives that are put forward as NbS. As such a standard is possible through collective knowledge and inputs, IUCN is inviting partners and interested parties to contribute to the development process of the standard which requires knowledge, expertise and experiences from a range of backgrounds e.g. ecology, social science, ecosystem governance and sustainable development.