An account of experiences written by one of the Nature’s Way team on the UN Climate Change Conference, 2021. Second talk in a series at COP26.
This was an event hosted by Russel Dalgleish – known as the ‘Tall Scottish Man’ and a serial entrepreneur. The venue was The Prince & Princess of Wales Hospice, gracious hosts in a stunning building close to pleasant walks, a maze, and Glasgow’s Ski and Snowboard Centre. A beautiful and fitting place to alleviate the physical and emotional pain of people receiving end of life care. For anyone in the area interested in elder care and architecture and landscape design, it is well worth a visit.
Entrepreneurism and Environmentalism
This event, part of both COP26 and Global Entrepreneur Week with StartUp Planet, followed straight on from the ‘Ecocide’ event I attended earlier in the day. A complete juxtaposition. Big business in the docks for the criminal harm wreaked on nature. Then entrepreneurs discuss how their SMEs are developing new products, services and business models to address these same challenges as well as saving people and the planet.
From the perspective of our Nature’s Way project, I was interested in ideas about how the project can lead to lasting legacy that is economically viable.
The panel included Forbes Journalist Joan Michelson, with a particular interest in interviewing women innovators in energy, climate and sustainability. And a panel including leading politicians, businesses, entrepreneurs globally from Denmark, Finland, USA, Kenya and Malaysia to name a few.
Speakers and panellists considered regional and global barriers, the changes needed and policy recommendations to improve access to nature and the protection of the environment.
Blue or Green?
Howard Gunstock, CEO of Carbon Kapture provided a few unforgettable facts. Water makes up most of our planet, with just 30% space remaining for our infrastructure, people, assets and agriculture. There is a need to establish more trees in just the next 8-9 years to save ecosystems, but problematically, it takes trees around 20 years or more after being planted to become fully useful. These unfortunate truths inspired Howard to look in another direction: from Green to Blue Infrastructure.
A solution, kelp, a type of seaweed grows faster in its near zero gravity marine environment and is less carbon intensive to grow. These organisms immediately start removing CO2 from oceans. In turn, the sea provides more oxygen than trees. In fact, 2 out of every 3 breaths we take is from oxygen produced from oceans. Kelp rapidly improves biodiversity and provides numerous opportunities for positive social impacts including jobs for coastal communities.
Entrepreneurism (business) versus Idealism (politics)
Tommy Ahlers – Danish politician returning to entrepreneurship – says that he can affect more positive change through business than he ever could as a minister in politics . He argues that it’s tough to break short-term gain thinking, election cycles, a term in office of 4 years, or a business plan, of no more than 5 -10 years, and even that letting go of some things, e.g. old industries and approaches is what’s needed.
It’s all about challenging the status quo, being radical. Tommy is a proponent of the polluter pays principle. Advocating for a carbon tax which could be used e.g. to fund community development such as Nature Based Solutions (NbS) , of the types the Nature’s Way project is currently exploring (a policy recommendation which is nothing radically new https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-56212195 and https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-52851185 and the IPPR’s Environmental Justice Commission 70,000 word report which includes recommendations directly to use Carbon Tax to provide more public green spaces). Other such solutions in response could be tax exempt and eligible for government subsidy e.g. through the government’s Levelling Up fund of £200mn.
At the heart of this are some challenging questions. Given the destructive harm caused to nature and the environment by dominant government and business paradigms is it realistic to expect reform from within? Can either of these driving forces be part of the solution on the scale and pace needed to address global challenges including the climate and mental health crisis? Other tensions include the viability of maintaining economic growth for growth’s sake versus the protection of nature and the environment for generations now and into the future.
Big versus small
On reflection, across the two talks, local small and medium sized businesses can not be seen in the same light as older much larger established businesses with vested interests in maintaining a status quo. And beyond the obvious fossil fuel, chemical and big pharmaceuticals; some NGOs and large trusts may have potential to provide the solutions needed.
In the BIPOC talk I mentioned, a small voice in COP26, some indigenous cultures think about the implications of decisions for at least 7 generations. Compare this to a term in office of 4 years, or a business plan, of no more than 5-10 years. Local SMEs however could represent the real drivers of employment growth and innovation.
Nature’s Way is considering how NbS in Walsall and Bradford, and the digital platform the project is developing can be maintained, sustained and grow and evolve. Partnership working with communities, the voluntary and community sector as well as larger ‘anchor’ institutions is vital.
Cost of everything, value of nothing
The Concept of nature and the environment having value and applying Natural capital accounting has attracted a great deal of attention recently including from the UK’s Department for Environment Forest and Rural Affairs and Office of National Statistics. I sense from COP26 that we could learn a great deal from both indigenous people (see my earlier blog post, COP26 BIPOC )and business through synthesising in some way their positions.
If this could be done effectively, I believe we could then better understand the true costs and value of nature. We could appreciate more fully both the upsides and downsides to the prevailing economic system and current monoculture. This could lead to a revolution in values and more sustainable ways of developing NbS and the supporting systems and platforms that such approaches and solutions depend upon.
Through applying for example principles of exchange and through attempting to achieve something closer to true full lifetime and circular costing, we can perhaps learn to value nature more. Therefore, opening up access to it far more equitably for greater societal resilience in times both inside and outside of pandemics. The question at the nub of all of this is. What is nature worth to us? What is it worth to you? We need answers before we go past a point of no return.