Really good (and short) article on corporate ESG and Natural Capital markets. Many of Eleanor M Harris points resonate with how we at iNovaland® develop projects - focus on partnerships and good governance, and that will unlock the opportunities with communities, carbon, conservation and crops.
New article: The state of the Natural Capital Market Is the ESG market over? This was the question put to Lee Clements, head of applied investment research at FTSE Russell, on a recent episode of the Responsible Investor podcast. No, he replied: the ESG party might be over, but the ESG market isn’t going away, and is beginning to grow up. It’s just like tech didn’t go away after the burst of the dot-com bubble, but is now one of the biggest sectors of the market and intrinsic to everything. The same could be said of natural capital markets. Until last year, there was something of a natural capital party in the young market. Land was being purchased at inflated prices by investors excited to capture carbon and restore biodiversity. There was excitement amongst both the investors and the rural economy: selling this marginal land could raise valuable capital to invest in other rural business like food production or tourism. This year, that bubble appears to have burst. Purchasers struggling with the complexity and cost of implementing change on the ground, never mind making a financial return, have been in the headlines. The land market has cooled, and it feels as if activity has paused. The natural capital party might be over, yet there are plenty of signs that the natural capital market is here to stay, building, maturing, and even accelerating. We are seeing the rise of the partnership project. Instead of a funder buying land to achieve nature restoration single-handedly as king in their own domain, they work in collaboration with long-standing landowners, research institutions, communities, government agencies. This seems more complex at the outset, but returns rich rewards. The partnership enables the funder to draw on the vital human capital which makes a project work. They retain the gamekeeper, ornithologist, shepherd, forester who have lived and worked on the land for decades and understands its ways. They tap existing links to local projects such as Rivers Trusts, nature networks, or community nature clubs, bringing expertise, support and added value to the project. They do not bear all financial liability for the land: local partners running food, timber, energy or tourism businesses generate income contributing to sustainable management, and share risk and reward. Partnership strengthens the governance of projects, by ensuring strong organisations ... [Read full article at the link below] https://lnkd.in/efRDbAui
Natural Capital and Carbon Leader at Galbraith
3moThis is no coincidence! Much of it was learned from you. Although I like to think some influence went both ways ☺️