Where Nature Meets Capital: 3 Leaders Turning Nature Into a Real Asset Class (#102)

02/09/2025 2h 2min Episodio 102
Where Nature Meets Capital: 3 Leaders Turning Nature Into a Real Asset Class (#102)

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Episode Synopsis

Most investors now accept that climate risk is financial risk. But what about nature loss? What about the fact that half of global GDP is tied to the natural world – from soil health to pollination to forest carbon – and yet almost none of that value is priced into markets? If climate was the first wake-up call, nature is the second.In this 3-in-1 compilation, we revisit past episodes with investors at the forefront of this shift. Each one is building strategies to bring natural capital into the financial mainstream – through listed equities, real assets, or nature-based carbon credits.Here are the featured guests:Martin Berg, CEO of Climate Asset ManagementMartin is pushing to bring natural capital out of the margins and into the financial mainstream.With over $650 million raised and three funds under management, Martin’s building a new category of real asset investing – one that spans sustainable agriculture, forestry, and nature-based carbon. The firm’s strategies include land acquisition and restoration in developed markets, as well as carbon credit partnerships with smallholder farmers in emerging markets. Each is tailored to a different type of investor – but they share the same goal: aligning financial returns with measurable improvements in natural ecosystems.Full episodeIngrid Kukuljan, Former Head of Impact & Sustainable Investing at Federated HermesAt the time of recording our original interview, Ingrid was Head of Impact and Sustainable Investing at Federated Hermes. In that role, she launched the Biodiversity Equity Strategy – the first biodiversity-themed fund in the listed equity space.Her team screened nearly 9,000 listed companies – the standard MSCI All World benchmark – and found only about 150 that qualified as biodiversity champions: businesses aligned with at least one biodiversity-linked SDG and actively working to preserve or restore nature. The gap was striking. Ingrid pointed out that 80% of the UN Sustainable Development Goals depend on biodiversity, yet fewer than 20% are on track – and in the past 50 years, we’ve decimated biodiversity globally.Her team used a detailed KPI framework across emissions, water use, land conversion, and waste, making the case that public equities can play a vital role in financing nature-positive outcomes – and in helping restore ecosystems without compromising returns.Full episodeHelen Avery, Director of Nature Programmes at the Green Finance Institute (GFI)Helen is working to make nature investable. As Director of Nature Programmes at the Green Finance Institute, she leads the GFI Hive – a dedicated platform focused on removing the barriers that keep private capital from flowing into nature. That means shaping the building blocks of nature markets – like biodiversity net gain, mitigation banking, and nature-based carbon – and helping define the standards, infrastructure, and policy frameworks that make them investable at scale.Helen’s team supports the UK’s nature markets and investment readiness funds, partners with farmers and NGOs to build new business models, and works closely with corporates through the TNFD to help them assess their risks and dependencies on nature.Full episode—Connect with SRI360°:Sign up for the free weekly email updateVisit the SRI360° PODCASTVisit the SRI360° WEBSITEFollow SRI360° on XFollow SRI360° on FACEBOOK

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