How Nature-Based Urban Planning is Reshaping Your Outdoor Training Grounds

1,005 cities. 80 countries. 1.32 billion people. That's the scope behind a new CDP analysis showing 55% of subnational governments are now deploying nature-based solutions against climate risk — and if you train outside, that math now touches your training ground.

The disclosure platform CDP published "Nature for People and Places" this August, drawing on data from governments covering roughly 1.32 billion people. It found that 70% of subnational governments with climate adaptation goals prioritize nature-based solutions. Ecological restoration, green roofs, urban afforestation, rewilded corridors — pilot project status is over. This is policy now.

Your training route is climate infrastructure

Extreme heat, urban flooding, and heavy rain top the list of climate hazards that regional governments reported as most critical. London alone could face £36bn in annual climate-related losses by 2050, according to a separate report from the Mayor of London and London Councils — productivity loss, health system strain, and damaged infrastructure all in the mix.

Run that through a runner's lens. Hotter streets turn your easy effort into a stress test. Flooded park loops wreck your weekly mileage. Stripped canopy removes shade from your long run. Green corridors, rewilded riverbanks, and urban forests aren't aesthetic luxuries anymore. They're the load-bearing structure for year-round outdoor training in cities. Regional solutions vary — Latin American and African governments focus on ecological restoration, European and North American governments on green infrastructure, and Southeast Asian, Indian, and Japanese governments on afforestation and reforestation — but the goal is identical: cooler, more livable outdoor space.

The health math you already know

CDP found 65% of subnational governments identified at least one public health co-benefit from nature-based solutions: better air quality, improved physical and mental health. Heart-related illness and respiratory disease are the top health concerns those governments are trying to address. Outdoor training already hits both. The infrastructure that lets you train through August is increasingly climate-coded.

Don't mistake mainstream for funded

46% of regional governments told CDP their budgets are blocking further adaptation. In 2025, subnational governments sought $33.51bn for climate adaptation projects, with only $2.85bn specifically requested for nature-related work. The gap is structural, not cosmetic.

Maryke van Staden, director of non-profit ICLEI's Carbon Climate Center, framed the opportunity as designing "win-win approaches for people and place, by exploring integrated climate action — resilience, adaptation and mitigation — in combination with nature, also to protect biodiversity." Katie Walsh, global director for cities, states and regions at CDP, made the link blunt: climate change and nature loss are not separate issues, and as climate impacts intensify, damaged and degraded ecosystems leave communities ever more vulnerable.

Watch whether your municipality discloses to CDP, where the adaptation budget actually lands, and whether the green corridors near your training routes get funded or cut. Your long run lives downstream of that vote.