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Life on Earth is changing faster than ever. Second Nature introduces you to the people driving that change.
Join host Rich Stockdale as he sits down with some of the most interesting people working at the intersection of nature, business, finance, adventure, leadership, and politics. Together, they uncover the stories, lessons, and truths that will shape the future of our planet.
Expect everything from extreme journeys in the wild to high-performance insights, from conservation breakthroughs to the realities of building purpose-driven organisations. These conversations challenge assumptions, spark new thinking, and shine a light on what it really takes to make an impact in the world at scale.
Started in 2023 and brought to you with support from Knight Frank, Second Nature is your chance to learn from the people pushing boundaries and creating change—one honest conversation at a time.
165 Episodes
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A $1 billion bet on nature sounds like impact. It’s actually something far more uncomfortable. Martin Berg isn’t guessing where this goes—he’s building it. From inside global finance to running a $1BN natural capital platform, this is what happens when markets collide with ecosystems. Land becomes strategy. Carbon becomes currency. Biodiversity becomes… investable. But beneath the ambition sits tension. Investors want returns, not ideals. Corporates want certainty, not risk. And the market? I...
Dimple Patel didn't arrive at the CEO chair via the usual route. She grew up on a council estate in the north of England, the daughter of immigrants who had their house burnt down and opened the shop the next morning anyway. She got to Cambridge on scholarships, traded through the 2008 financial crisis at Goldman Sachs, scaled a coffee chain to 37 stores and sold it to private equity, pivoted into tech, exited a second company days before the consumer market collapsed — and then walked into t...
Can investing help solve environmental challenges — while still delivering strong returns? In this episode of the Oxygen Conservation Podcast, Rich Stockdale speaks with Ian Simm, Founder and CEO of Impax Asset Management. For more than two decades, Ian has been investing in companies that enable the transition to a more sustainable economy — from renewable energy and water infrastructure to smart materials and pollution control. Today, Impax manages around £25 billion on behalf of institutio...
What happens when financial markets finally realise nature isn’t external to the economy — but fundamental to it? In this episode of the Oxygen Conservation Podcast, Rich Stockdale speaks with Vian Sharif, Founder of NatureAlpha — a company using AI and environmental data to help financial institutions understand how their investments impact the natural world. Today, NatureAlpha’s insights inform institutions representing over $25 trillion in assets, helping investors identify risks linked to...
What if the fastest way to fund nature isn’t through donations… but through the global payments system? Will Foulkes left elite structured finance at a Magic Circle law firm to build something radical: a “green margin” embedded into everyday transactions that automatically funds nature restoration. From adding 1p to supermarket products, to integrating directly into Europe’s largest payment processor, this conversation goes far beyond sustainability theory. It’s about rewiring capitalism itse...
Everyone thinks Oxygen Conservation is a land company. It’s not. It’s a data platform from its absolute DNA. In this rare behind-the-scenes conversation, Rich sits down with the team building the engine that powers every acquisition, every restoration plan, and every carbon model. From screening every square metre of the UK using 50+ datasets, to deploying drones capturing 3cm resolution imagery, to building digital terrain models and LiDAR maps that expose what the naked eye can’t see — this...
Rob Gardner isn’t trying to make nature sound good. He’s trying to make it investable. As CEO of Rebalance Earth, he’s building the UK’s first natural capital asset manager — structuring real revenue models around flood mitigation, water resilience, peatland restoration, and even oyster reefs. With a £25m cornerstone portfolio backed by West Yorkshire Pension Fund, this is institutional capital moving into ecosystems — not as philanthropy, but as infrastructure. We explore how ecosystem servi...
What does real leadership look like when the country’s rivers are polluted, the public is angry, and the system feels stuck? Giles Bristow, CEO of Surfers Against Sewage, has lived both sides of the fight — from environmental lawyer inside the corporate machine to leading one of the UK’s most recognisable grassroots movements. This is not a comfortable conversation. Rich and Giles go head-to-head on profit versus public good, the ethics of finance in an environmental crisis, and whether the l...
Most banks talk about values. Very few are willing to let those values shape decisions. Mark Clayton, CEO of Triodos Bank UK, leads a bank that treats impact as a discipline, not a slogan. Having worked at the heart of big finance, he understands how neutrality, risk, and growth are used to avoid responsibility — and what it takes to do things differently. This conversation goes inside the real trade-offs of values-led banking: how credit decisions are made, why nature-based solutions challen...
Why expand into Europe now — and why Elena Doms? This conversation marks a defining moment for Oxygen Conservation as it steps into Europe, with Elena Doms joining as Director of Europe. It’s not an expansion driven by ambition alone, but by timing — capital is mobilising, regulation is hardening, and credibility is suddenly the limiting factor. Rich Stockdale and Elena unpack what it really takes to scale natural capital across Europe: the regulatory complexity, the cultural differences, the...
What does elite talent really look like in conservation — and why do most hiring systems miss it completely? Rowan Martin is a walking contradiction to the sector’s stereotypes. A PhD scientist in butterfly vision. A mountain biker with an instinctive grasp of risk. An estate manager running real land, real projects, and real decisions in West Wales. A mother, creator, and operator who refuses to separate who she is from how she works. This conversation goes far beyond ecology. We get into wh...
British politics has a problem — and it isn’t policy. It’s belief. Ben Gascoigne has lived at the heart of the machine. From Downing Street to the House of Lords, he’s seen how power is won, how it’s lost, and why so many leaders fail to hold the country’s attention once they get there. This conversation cuts straight through the spin. Why politics feels empty. Why no one’s listening. Why authenticity beats caution every time. And why playing it safe might be the most dangerous strategy in ...
Britain’s food system looks calm on the surface. Underneath, it’s under strain. Tom Bradshaw, President of the NFU, sits down with Rich Stockdale for a raw, wide-ranging conversation about what it really takes to feed 70 million people — and why UK farming is being pushed to the edge. From balancing family life with national leadership, to fighting for farmers inside Westminster, Tom pulls back the curtain on the political, economic, and emotional realities of modern agriculture. This isn’t n...
Alok Sama has lived where most people only speculate. Inside Morgan Stanley. Inside SoftBank. Inside the long, lonely thinking of Masayoshi Son. Rich and Alok strip away the mythology of success — the status, the deals, the adrenaline — and examine what’s left when the noise dies down. From the absurd rituals of high finance to the quiet psychological cost of ambition, this is an unvarnished look at what it really takes to operate at the edge of global power. They explore how language shapes ...
English wine didn’t evolve — it accelerated. And now it’s facing the consequences. Ed Mansel-Lewis, Head of Viticulture at Knight Frank, joins Rich Stockdale for a wide-ranging conversation about what really determines success in modern wine — and why the industry is quietly shifting from rapid expansion to ruthless consolidation. From Champagne houses planting vines in Kent, to £30 non-alcoholic wines generating eye-watering margins, to marketing stunts that outperform heritage overnight, th...
Nye Gordon, Director at Guidehouse, joins Rich Stockdale PhD for a conversation that moves fast — from politics to engineering, from nature markets to climate resilience, from imposter syndrome to the dream of working from a lochside in Perthshire. Nye argues that nature isn’t a backdrop to energy infrastructure — it is infrastructure. A tool for resilience. A shield for assets that are about to face more pressure than ever as the UK electrifies everything. They dig into the cultural clash be...
Tom Sobey built Origin Coffee long before specialty coffee became a trend — and long before the industry understood what “quality” actually meant. ☕️ This episode goes deep into the real story behind one of Europe’s most respected coffee brands: the early graft, the relentless focus on culture, the obsession with craft, and the uncomfortable decisions needed to scale without selling your soul. We talk about the defining moments — losing Soho House after years of partnership, watching COVID wi...
Dryrobe didn’t just invent a product — they created a culture. In this episode, Rich sits down with Tasmin Chilcott, the unstoppable force behind Dryrobe’s sustainability mission, to unpack how a cold-car-park problem became one of the most influential outdoor brands in the world. From a mum’s homemade prototype to GB Olympic kit, Dryrobe has become the Hoover, Dyson and Google of its category — and Tasmin reveals the real reason why. They dive into the stories no one sees: the 100% recycled ...
What happens when an ecologist stops waiting for government — and builds the system himself? Professor David Hill CBE, founder of Environment Bank and the architect of biodiversity net gain (BNG), joins Rich Stockdale PhD for a conversation that rewrites the rules of conservation. From founding the UK’s first environmental consultancy to forcing Westminster to legislate for nature, David’s journey is proof that change doesn’t come from policy papers — it comes from people willing to fight the...
Neil Beamsley doesn’t just build homes — he builds habitats. As Group Head of Biodiversity at Bellway Homes, Neil is leading one of the UK’s biggest housebuilders into uncharted territory: a world where development enhances nature, not erases it. From his early days in archaeology and ecology to shaping national policy on Biodiversity Net Gain (BNG), Neil’s story is one of balance — between progress and preservation, ambition and accountability. He talks openly about Bellway’s decision to go ...
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