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How measuring nature at the DNA level unlocks financial growth
Katie Critchlow is CEO of NatureMetrics, a company that, well, measures nature. But how?
"We use eDNA; that's all the DNA that's left behind in the environment by every species because every species in the world contains DNA," she explains during the livestream discussion "Time for nature: Turning biodiversity risk into opportunity," hosted by GZERO in partnership with Suntory.
But the animals and plants you see, Critchlow points out, are only a tiny fraction of total life on earth. There's a lot of very small stuff too.
Those microbes, fungi, and nematodes are what matter most to business risk because they "drive the nutrient cycles and the carbon cycles and basically keep us all alive."
Learn more about this GZERO Media live discussion: https://www.gzeromedia.com/sustainability
How to stop greenwashing on biodiversity investments
Investors are starting to pay attention to biodiversity. But how can we be sure that interest doesn't result in greenwashing?
With transparency and rigorous information sources, FNZ Group sustainability chief Vian Sharif says during "Time for nature: Turning biodiversity risk into opportunity," a livestream conversation hosted by GZERO in partnership with Suntory.
Also, it's early days for something very complex to measure and report.
"We're in a very nascent phase right now," says Sharif. "This is right at the start of the journey."
Learn more about this GZERO Media live discussion: https://www.gzeromedia.com/sustainability
Will the DOJ hold Trump responsible for Jan. 6?
Ian Bremmer shares his insights on global politics this week on World In :60.
Now that Congress recommends charges against Trump, will the DOJ take action?
Increasingly, the answer appears to be yes, especially now that the attorney general has a special counsel on the case, and he has recused himself, that makes it a lot easier to proceed with charges. This is unprecedented territory. We've never seen a Congress actually refer criminal charges of a former president before. But of course, former President Trump was also pretty unique historically for the United States. Either way, he's considerably damaged much more so than he was after January 6th. You remember then Kevin McCarthy went down and was kissing the ring in Mar-a-Lago within a few days, that's not happening this time around. So it's a much bigger hole for him to dig himself out of, even though he's ostensibly running for the presidency already, we don't see much of that yet.
With Putin making a rare visit to Belarus, is further escalation ahead in the Ukraine war?
Yes, though I'd be very surprised if it's coming from Belarus. In fact, I expect that the big new counteroffensive is not coming from the Russians, but rather the Ukrainians, as soon as the ground is hard enough to easily get tanks through and the like. Which would probably be an effort to either take a Melitopol, Mariupol, one of those areas back that would sever the land bridge between Russia and Crimea. That is what it appears the Ukrainians are trying to do, and if they were to make it all the way down to the coast, then potentially Crimea is within HIMARS's range. That would be quite a significant escalation in terms of Ukraine's position and would be deeply concerning for Putin and for Russia. Watch this space over the coming weeks.
A "Paris Agreement for nature." More talk or are the biodiversity targets set at COP15 achievable?
They are achievable. It's interesting. A week ago, all the developing countries basically walked out to show they were angry that the West wasn't moving, the wealthy countries weren't moving in favor of progress at these talks. These are biodiversity talks that's very different from carbon emission talks. The big announcement is a commitment by everyone attending, which is pretty much the world, that 30% of the world's nature will be protected by 2030. It's a start. We're in a hole there as well, especially given that over half of the animal life on the planet in the last 50 years has already gone away. One of the most depressing statistics I've ever read. But it's nice to see that the world recognizes this and is starting to turn all of that around. It's taking too long. It's a little too late. But nonetheless, it is a hell of a lot better than not doing it at all.
Biodiversity loss: Is nature-positive the new net zero?
The world has been in a climate emergency for years now. But much less attention is paid to biodiversity loss — which is a very big deal since we're on the brink of a sixth mass extinction.
On the heels of the ongoing COP15 UN Biodiversity Conference in Montreal, Canada, we gathered experts from the public and private sectors to discuss the gravity of the problem and, more importantly, how to fix it. The solution lies with businesses, although it needs help from policymakers to figure out how to make money in a sustainable way that not only protects life on earth but actually reverses the course of its destruction.
Here are a few highlights from "Time for nature: Turning biodiversity risk into opportunity," a livestream conversation hosted by GZERO in partnership with Suntory.
Ko Barrett, vice chair of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change and senior adviser for climate at NOAA, offers a primer on the importance of biodiversity to human life and explains why we can't solve climate change without addressing biodiversity loss simultaneously.
Eurasia Group President Ian Bremmer delves into the geopolitics of biodiversity as an economic issue and identifies the three types of risk companies face from biodiversity loss.
Suntory CEO Tak Niinami gives his take on why companies should do more to coexist with nature long-term and share their know-how to reverse biodiversity destruction.
Kathleen McLaughlin, Walmart's executive VP and chief sustainability officer, shares how retailers can work not only to conserve but also protect nature with successful examples from Walmart's Project Gigaton.
Ingrid Kukuljan, head of Impact & Sustainable Investing at Federated Hermes, laments how investors have ignored nature despite the many opportunities in public markets and dismisses metrics as the big obstacle to mobilizing more money for biodiversity.
FNZ Group sustainability chief Vian Sharif addresses greenwashing related to biodiversity and admits that the financial sector is only at the beginning of its nature-positive journey.
NatureMetrics CEO Katie Critchlow explains how her company "measures nature," which many people are not aware can actually be done.
International Council on Mining and Metals CEO Rohitesh “Ro” Dhawan shares how even extractive companies can have a positive impact on biodiversity via conservation, restoration, and data, and want governments to be more ambitious on this issue.
Magali Anderson, Holcim's chief sustainability and innovation officer, says that the world's biggest cement company wants two things from COP15: a framework for corporations and a commitment to reverse biodiversity loss by 2030.
Taskforce on Nature-related Financial Disclosures technical director Emily McKenzie comments on why markets are ready to take action on biodiversity and gives an update on what's cooking with the TNFD.
Anthony Watanabe, chief sustainability officer at Indorama, gives a rundown of what his company is doing on nature-positive.
COP15 biodiversity wish list for the private sector
What does the private sector expect from the ongoing COP15 biodiversity conference in Montreal, Canada? Eurasia Group’s Franck Gbaguidi asked three experts during the livestream discussion "Time for nature: Turning biodiversity risk into opportunity," hosted by GZERO in partnership with Suntory.
Vian Sharif, head of sustainability at FNZ Group, wants the finance sector to get a set at the table.
Ingrid Kukuljan, head of impact and sustainable investing at Federated Hermes, would like to tweak subsidies and get started on regulation.
Katie Critchlow, CEO of NatureMetrics, hopes that COP15 will be the North Star for nature-positiveLearn more about this GZERO Media live discussion: https://www.gzeromedia.com/sustainability
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- Biodiversity loss: Is nature-positive the new net zero? - GZERO Media ›
- Biodiversity loss: Is nature-positive the new net zero? - GZERO Media ›