Macroscope | Nature is an asset: investors must do more to support biodiversity
- As stewards of global capital, investors are uniquely positioned to help build an economy that works with, rather than against, nature
- They can help shift capital flows away from businesses and projects that degrade the natural environment, towards regenerative and circular initiatives
The past 30 years have seen a bigger improvement in human prosperity than all the past centuries combined. We have built more roads, buildings and machines than ever before. More people are living longer and healthier lives, and access to education has never been better.
The average gross domestic product per capita has grown 15-fold since 1820. More than 95 per cent of newborns now make it to their 15th birthday, as opposed to just one in three in the 19th century.
But, such efforts should not be confined to the policy arena. Investors, too, must play a more active role. As stewards of global capital, they are uniquely positioned to help build an economy that works with, rather than against, nature.
Data shows that, from 1992-2014, the amount of capital goods – such as roads, machines, buildings, factories and ports – generated per person doubled. But the world’s stock of natural capital – water, soil and minerals – per person declined by nearly 40 per cent.