Don't Mess with Nature - Don't Mess with Nature: Billion Dollar Bonds

Don't Mess with Nature: Billion Dollar Bonds

07/15/20 • 26 min

What could you do with a billion dollars to save nature? The answer could be a billion dollar landscape bond - a form of green bond that could protect nature while existing in the world of big finance. This podcast will take you on an expedition from bat-infested caves to palm oil plantations and how the idea for the first billion dollar bond was created.

It's a staggering statistic that 50% of the world's palm oil comes from small families with a couple of hectares, who are trying to feed and educate their children. But palm trees only live for about 25 years, and many of these families can't afford the 'valley of death' between planting new trees and being able to harvest. So how can we help reform the palm oil industry in a way which is more sustainable and doesn’t destroy forests?

By aggregating a lot of small financial opportunities and packaging them together, you can make a much bigger one. And that's what you offer to the market. The benefits? Better palm oil plantations, which are not just monocultures, but provide for much more biodiversity. Wouldn't you prefer to have projects like that in your pension plan?

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Previous Episode

Don't Mess with Nature: Chain Reaction

Today’s podcast is about chain reactions, and why they matter. Where our food comes from and how it affects nature is a big story. Supply chains are one of the leading causes of rainforest deforestation. I’ll give you an example of why. You probably know that Africa has the Big Five: lions, elephants, leopards, rhinos, buffaloes. Rainforests have got the Big Four. These are the four things that we need to bag if we're going to stop the destruction of the rainforests, and they are: beef, soya, palm oil and paper and pulp. These Big Four are responsible globally for about 60-70% of all the destruction of biodiversity across the world. But how are we going to stop this chain reaction and save life on our planet? It has to start from the top level - governments and corporates as well as consumers. Listen in as I take you through some global initiatives to clean up our supply chains, and what they’re achieving.

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Measuring Footprints

Did you know that each elephant's footprint has a unique pattern which can be used to identify individuals? In the natural world, evolution tends to make animals bigger, But even the biggest creatures, like elephants, can be extraordinarily gentle with their footprint. In the financial world size matters too. Banks and financial institutions are all getting bigger. In fact, there's a fascinating statistic that the largest 1% of the world's financial houses manage over 60% of total industrial assets. Can you imagine the concentration of power that means?

So what kind of a footprint does finance have? And how can we make finance gentle with its footprint around the world? Impact investing which is focused on producing a social and environmental impact while also generating a profit has gathered a lot of attention in recent years. But how do we transition into impact investments that produce a purpose?

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