HRH The Prince of Wales announces Lombard Odier-backed Natural Capital initiative at the One Planet Summit

Developed in partnership with the Prince of Wales, the Natural Capital Investment Alliance aims to attract members of the finance community to bring USD 10 billion of investment to Natural Capital interests across a range of asset classes by 2022. It will also serve as a resource hub for corporations and financial institutions worldwide who are looking to invest more in Natural Capital, as well as sharing knowledge and expertise that will help bring a focus on investing in Natural Capital into the mainstream. 

National leaders such as Boris Johnson, UK Prime Minister, Emmanuel Macron, President of France, Angela Merkel, German Federal Minister and Justin Trudeau, Prime Minister of Canada were among the attendees at the One Planet Summit where HRH The Prince of Wales explained: “The interdependence between human health and planetary health has never been more clear. For so many of the problems we face, Nature, with the benefit of billions of years of evolution, has already provided us with the solutions. But time is fast running out and we are rapidly wiping out, through mass extinctions, many of Nature’s unique treasure trove of species from which we can develop innovative and sustainable products for the future. As we urgently seek to rescue the situation, we must now look to invest in Natural Capital as the engine of our economy.”

Speaking of the Terra Carta (or the Earth Charter), HRH The Prince of Wales appealed to leaders to support the ten areas of action which together constitute a roadmap for the next decade, and that will ensure a meaningful contribution to a sustainable future. He declared, we “need to bring prosperity into harmony with nature, people and planet over the coming decade...and I can only encourage, in particular, those in industry and finance to provide practical leadership to this common project, as only they are able to mobilise the innovation, scale and resources that are required to transform our global economy.”

The event put a much-needed spotlight on the Great Green Wall, an initiative designed to mitigate desertification in North Africa. Initially launched in 2007, the Great Green Wall will bring food security, jobs and a reason to stay for millions of people through a mosaic of green and productive landscapes across North Africa. Now around 15% complete, the initiative has already done much to bring life back to some of Africa’s most degraded landscapes. The initiative has received at least USD 14 billion US dollars in new funding. Once finished, the Great Green Wall will be around 8,000 km in length and three times the size of the Great Barrier Reef, resulting in the largest living structure on Earth and a new natural wonder of the world.

Relaunching the Great Green Wall initiative, President Macron said, “We are restoring 100 million hectares of land, creating 10 million jobs and sequestering 200 million tons of CO₂. This is a real contribution from the African continent to the fight against global warming.”

World leaders also focussed on biodiversity and the link between humanity and nature, which was brought into Earth-shattering focus this past year through the devastating Covid-19 pandemic.

Marco Lambertini, Director General of the World Wildlife Fund, remarked at the summit, “The next virus is in waiting. We need to rethink the way in which we farm animals. Deforestation is a fundamental driver of disease. Many commitments from governments have fallen short, so we need to think differently. Managing nature sustainably is not just an option, it is the only option. We depend more on nature than nature depends on us.”

Speaking at the summit’s forum titled ‘Mobilising Financing for Biodiversity’, several world leaders renewed their government’s commitments to addressing the problem over the coming years. Prime Minister of Canada, Justin Trudeau, stated that “Canada will provide USD 55 million to the UN Land Degradation Fund” and United Kingdom Prime Minister, Boris Johnson, pledged “GBP 3 billion into protecting nature, whether it's marine life or timber conservation or sustainable food production"” and promised to “protect 30% of the UK’s land and ocean by the end of the decade.” The Chancellor of Germany, Angela Merkel, added that Germany would join the High Ambition Coalition for Nature and People (HAC). This coalition is a group of 50 countries committed to protecting 30% of land and sea habitats over the next 10 years in order to halt species extinction while addressing climate change issues.

In closing, President Macron reiterated the vital importance of initiatives like the Natural Capital Investment Alliance, the Great Green Wall project and the Coalition for Convergence on Climate and Biodiversity, which aims to increase the share of climate financing to at least 30% by 2030.

At Lombard Odier, we echo these remarks and will continue to further develop our Natural Capital strategy over the coming years. Protecting, nurturing and harnessing nature for future generations is a crucial component of our sustainable future and the sustainability revolution that is now underway. On behalf of our society and our clients, we look forward to playing our part in the vital work that lies ahead.

Statistic source “1 million species are threatened with extinction”
 

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