In honor of COP16, the biodiversity ‘Conference of the Parties’, which begins next week in Cali, Colombia, I’ve put together a special compilation episode featuring four insightful conversations on nature-focused investment strategies. Each segment explores different approaches to nature-based investing, highlighting the diverse asset classes and strategies designed to protect and enhance natural capital.
Here are the featured guests:
Alina Donets, Lead Portfolio Manager at Lombard Odier Investment Managers
Alina Donets manages the LO Funds-Natural Capital portfolio, which invests in publicly traded companies focused on biodiversity and the circular economy. The fund addresses issues like resource overuse and pollution while aiming for strong financial returns. In this segment, Alina discusses the importance of investing in natural capital, noting that over half of the global GDP depends on it.
Full episode here: https://sri360.com/podcast/alina-donets
Tammy Newmark, CEO and Managing Partner of EcoEnterprises Fund
Tammy Newmark has been a leader in impact investing for over 30 years, particularly through EcoEnterprises Fund. It is a Venture Capital fund that invests in small businesses in Latin America that preserve natural capital. In this episode, Tammy explains how EcoEnterprises integrates local communities into their investments to ensure long-term sustainability and success.
Full episode here: https://sri360.com/podcast/tammy-newmark
Charlotte Kaiser, Head of Impact Finance at BTG Pactual’s Timberland Investment Group (TIG)
Charlotte Kaiser brings a wealth of experience from her leadership roles in conservation finance. At BTG Pactual’s TIG, she oversees $6 billion in assets, creating real asset impact investing strategies that support biodiversity, water conservation, and climate action through timberland investments. Charlotte highlights how her team is transforming traditional timberland investing into a tool for both profit and global sustainability.
Full episode here: https://sri360.com/podcast/charlotte-kaiser
Martin Berg, CEO of Climate Asset Management
Climate Asset Management is dedicated to scaling real asset natural capital investments and recognizing biodiversity as a financial asset. Drawing on his experience at the European Investment Bank and the UN Climate Change Conference, Martin Berg highlights the urgent need for large-scale capital to support nature-based solutions to tackle the urgent climate and biodiversity crises.
Full episode here: https://sri360.com/podcast/martin-berg
Listen to the episode on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Overcast, Podcast Addict, Pocket Casts, Castbox, YouTube Music, Amazon Music, or on your favorite podcast platform. You can watch the interview on YouTube here.
What was your favorite quote or lesson from this episode? Please let me know in the comments.
SHOW NOTES:
[00:00] Introduction
[03:50] Alina Donets on natural capital
[13:21] The LO Funds-Natural Capital’s investment strategy and portfolio
[28:35] Tammy Newmark on EcoEnterprises Fund’s type of investments
[46:26] Downsides of nature-focused investment strategies
[50:23] The impact washing issue
[51:57] Charlotte Kaiser’s experience at The Nature Conservancy/NatureVest
[59:51] Transition to BTG Pactual’s Timberland Investment Group
[01:04:35] Sustainable forestry’s role in climate change & biodiversity
[01:16:16] Martin Berg on Climate Asset Management’s mission and key strategies
[01:43:11] Key risks to consider with natural capital investments
QUOTES FROM THE INTERVIEWS:
“We’re transitioning from a linear economic model, where resources are extracted, processed, consumed, and eventually discarded, to a circular model. Our goal is to make the economy leaner by optimizing industrial processes to use fewer resources while producing the same amount of goods, and ensuring we maximize product use to reduce waste and idle resources. ”
— Alina Donets
“The idea of natural capital – the planet as an asset – has been around for some time. At EcoEnterprises Fund, it’s been our core investment thesis for years, and it’s the value we consistently deliver to our investors. ”
— Tammy Newmark
“At BTG Pactual Timberland Investment Group, we’re already harvesting trees, thinning, and creating streamside management zones. But we’re tweaking those practices so that the biodiversity benefit can be optimized. ”
— Charlotte Kaiser
“Natural capital investing is about moving nature’s economic value into a real financial value. And if you can build a strategy around that and improve nature while also creating a return, then that’s the gold standard of natural capital investing. ”
— Martin Berg
