Don't Mess with Nature - Don't Mess with Nature: Chain Reaction

Don't Mess with Nature: Chain Reaction

06/25/20 • 27 min

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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Previous Episode

Don't Mess with Nature: Thunder and Lightning

Over the last 50 years, catastrophic weather-related events have dramatically increased in frequency. Just to put it into perspective, in 2018, there were 42 catastrophic events that cost more than a billion dollars each. Why? The concern is that as the planet warms, the sea surface temperature rises. And even the smallest increase in sea surface temperature has the potential to significantly increase the strength of a hurricane. Just last year in Britain, storm Ciara and Dennis were estimated to cost around £350M in damage. This comes at a huge cost to insurance companies. A cost which ultimately gets passed on to us through increased insurance premiums.

But the question is, how are the insurance companies spending your money and mine on the premiums they collect? Are they in fact contributing to the problem? And that affects all our premiums. It's all tied to nature. That's why the one thing we all need to learn is that looking after nature is the best insurance policy you could ever have.

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Next Episode

Don't Mess with Nature: Billion Dollar Bonds

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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