WHAT ABOUT NATURE? A separate issue to solve or critical to tackling climate change?

Fossil vs Future

Nature is essential to our survival and wellbeing, yet we are rapidly destroying it. Human activities like urbanisation, pollution, deforestation and commercial fishing are all degrading Earth’s biodiversity at an alarming rate. While they have historically been treated as two separate issues, climate change and biodiversity loss are deeply connected.

In this episode, James and Daisy discuss nature. Why is protecting nature important? What exactly is natural capital? What emerging incentives are there to prevent biodiversity loss?

SOME RECOMMENDATIONS:

• The Dasgupta Review – an independent, global review of the Economics of Biodiversity led by Prof. Sir Partha Dasgupta, commissioned in 2019 by HM Treasury. It looks at how we think, act, and measure economic success to protect and enhance the natural world.
• The Taskforce on Nature-related Financial Disclosures (TNFD) has developed a set of disclosure recommendations and guidance that encourage and enable business and finance to assess, report and act on their nature-related dependencies, impacts, risks and opportunities.
• Radical Realist – the weekly newsletter from The Conduit, that “brings you the biggest impact stories from across the globe.”

OTHER ADVOCATES, FACTS, AND RESOURCES:

• Living Planet Report (WWF) – a comprehensive study of trends in global biodiversity and the health of the planet. Over the past 50 years (1970–2020), the average size of monitored wildlife populations has shrunk by 73%, as measured by the Living Planet Index (LPI).
• Stop Ecocide International – Polly Higgins was a British barrister who fought for ‘ecocide’ to be recognised as a crime, just as genocide is. Philippe Sands KC helped draw up the definition of ecocide.
• Climate Asset Management – formed in 2020 as a joint venture of HSBC Asset Management and Pollination, with the ambition to grow the world’s largest asset management company dedicated to natural capital.
• Nattergal is a company with a mission to deliver nature recovery at scale, to provide vital benefits for society and sustainable financial returns.
• Highlands Rewilding seeks to help rewild and re-people the Scottish Highlands by increasing carbon sequestration, growing biodiversity, creating green new jobs and generating sustainable profit for purpose.
• Faith In Nature – this beauty company has appointed a director to represent nature on its board.
• Ingka Young Leaders Forum – a global youth advisory council where Ingka Group's senior decision-makers and the Young Leaders Forum members co-create actionable and transformational strategies together. Ingka Group is the largest IKEA franchisee.
• Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework (GBF) – the framework agreed at COP15 consisting of global targets to be achieved by 2030 and beyond to safeguard and sustainably use biodiversity. It includes the “30x30” conservation target, that calls for 30% of the earth’s land and sea to be conserved through the establishment of protected areas (PAs) and other area-based conservation measures (OECMs).
• Thames Tideway Tunnel (or super sewer) – a £4.5 billion project to increase the capacity of the sewage system. It is a 25km tunnel running from west to east London which will help protect the River Thames from sewage pollution.
• Earth Overshoot Day – this year’s date was Thursday, 1 August 2024.
• The Joni Mitchell song James mentioned is called Big Yellow Taxi. It’s one our favourites!

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Music: “Just Because Some Bad Wind Blows” by Nick Nuttall, Reptiphon Records. Available at https://nicknuttallmusic.bandcamp.com/album/just-because-some-bad-wind-blows-3

Huge thanks to Siobhán Foster, a vital member of the team offering design advice, critical review and organisation that we depend upon.

Stay tuned for more insightful discussions on navigating the transition away from fossil fuels to a sustainable future.