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Green Infrastructure and Climate Resilience

Green infrastructure (GI) is the network of natural and semi-natural spaces, habitats, and green features that runs through and around our towns, villages, and countryside. It includes parks, street trees, green roofs, hedgerows, rivers, wetlands, and woodland – assets that together deliver significant benefits for biodiversity, climate resilience, public health, and quality of life.

As climate change increases the frequency of flooding, drought, and extreme heat, well-planned green infrastructure is one of the most effective nature-based responses available. It reduces surface water runoff, provides urban cooling, sequesters carbon, and supports the ecological connectivity that allows species to adapt and move as conditions change.

SBIS data and green infrastructure planning

SBIS data is a key resource for GI planning. Our species records, County Wildlife Site data, and LiDAR-derived hedge and tree canopy datasets can help identify existing ecological networks, locate areas of high biodiversity value, and inform decisions about where new habitat creation and connectivity would have the greatest impact. Request data from SBIS to support your GI strategy or local plan evidence base.

Natural England’s Green Infrastructure Framework

Natural England launched the Green Infrastructure Framework in January 2023. It is the primary national tool for planners, developers, and local authorities developing green infrastructure strategies and policies. The framework is structured around five key standards:

  • Green Infrastructure Strategy – supports local authorities in developing strategic GI policies and delivery plans
  • Accessible Greenspace Standards – promotes access to good quality green and blue space within a 15-minute walk from home
  • Urban Nature Recovery – aims to boost nature recovery, restore wildlife habitats, and build climate resilience in towns and cities
  • Urban Greening Factor – a planning tool targeting 40% green cover in urban residential developments
  • Urban Tree Canopy Cover – promotes increased tree canopy in urban environments to deliver cooling, carbon sequestration, and biodiversity benefits

The framework includes an interactive GI Mapping Tool that overlays greenspace data with socio-economic and health indicators to help target investment where it is most needed.

Green infrastructure and the Local Nature Recovery Strategy

The Norfolk and Suffolk Local Nature Recovery Strategy provides the strategic framework for identifying where habitat creation, restoration, and GI investment will have the greatest ecological impact across the two counties. GI strategies and local plans should be developed in alignment with the LNRS to ensure that green infrastructure contributes meaningfully to nature recovery at a landscape scale.

Further information