The Wealth of Nature

Mission-related investment is increasingly becoming a convergence of mission and impact themes with sustainable economics. We spoke with Tom Mitchell, Managing Director at Cambridge Associates and founding member of Cambridge's Mission-Related Investing (MRI) Group, about the model of mission-related investing and how it’s helping solve social and sustainability challenges of our generation. 

Globally, renewables are the fastest growing source of energy generation, driven primarily by wind and solar. But did you know that electricity from solar is also cheaper than coal or nuclear? Join us for a conversation with Sol Systems Vice President Andrew Gilligan about how solar projects are financed, what is driving investors to get involved, and the exciting future of a growing renewables industry. 

How can we stop eight million tons of plastic from entering the ocean each year? And how can we recycle that plastic into something useful? In this episode, we speak with Bureo cofounder Ben Kneppers about how his company is turning discarded plastic fishing nets into skateboards and sunglasses, helping to reduce marine plastics and create the sustainable circular economy of the future.

Did you know that 10% of people on the planet are employed in the tourism industry? Neither did we, until we spoke with Dr. Harriet Hentges. Check out this episode for a conversation about what considerations go into development of a sustainable tourism industry at the country level, the challenge of mobilizing capital to get it going, and what all of this looks like in the face of pandemic-related economic disruption.

This episode is the second in our series on sustainable construction and design. Recorded in march of 2020, we spoke with Diana Horvat, a member of AIA and Principal of 23/Consulting LLC, on sustainability trends in the architecture and construction industry.

Mark Bryan, Director of the U.S. Green Building Council for the National Capital Region, talks about LEED, an international standard for buildings certified as environmentally friendly. We discuss his work, the program, and why owners, investors, architects, and developers are changing the way they build here at home and around the world. 

This is part two of our carbon capture town hall and the final episode in our series on carbon capture. Cathy Novelli along with Drs. Greenberg, Saadi, and Stark answer questions from the audience on the policy landscape of carbon capture technology. To learn more about carbon capture technology, how it works, and why it's important, check out this video by Zero Emissions Platform on youtube!

This episode is taken from a town hall event held in February of 2020. Dr. Sallie Greenberg, Dr. Fadl Saadi, and Dr. Addison Stark talk carbon capture moderated by our own Cathy Novelli. They discussed the technology’s landscape and it’s potential to lead the US to a carbon dioxide free future. 

We talked with Dr. Fadl Saadi about his company C-Zero, a company that is working on a technological innovation that can be paired with carbon emitting fuels, like natural gas, to completely decarbonize them. Such an innovation could revolutionize the energy industry, and help us reach international carbon emissions goals faster. 

In this episode, we spoke with Dr. Sallie Greenberg from the Illinois State Geological Survey about carbon capture and storage innovations. This tech Is slated to quickly become one of the biggest reducers of carbon dioxide in our atmosphere.

Retail companies are some of the largest contributors to anthropogenic climate change. What can they and what are they doing to decrease their impact? In this episode we talk with Eric Jen, former Director of Renewable Energy for some of the world’s largest retailers and Founder of Ren Energy.

How much is a tree worth to you? This episode we are joined by Dr. Carter Ingram, Senior Manager at Ernst & Young, and expert in natural capital accounting or how we put a price tag on nature.

Can you pay for conservation without taking a cent out of your own pocket? This episode, join us and Ian Rinehart, Founder of Conserve with Us, which is a conservation crowdfunding platform that connects individuals and communities with projects backed by land conservancies.

Join us for the second part of our discussion with Mayor Annise Parker of Houston. Today she shares her thoughts on various political complications with climate change. Including the failed Washington State Carbon Tax Referendum, and the Yellow Vest movement in Paris.

Join us as we talk to Mayor Annise Parker, Mayor of Houston from 2010 - 2016, on climate politics. How do you convince voters that climate action is in their interest? What is the role of local government in international conservation efforts? Join us for a 2 part series to find out.

In this episode, we speak with Avery Michaelson, CEO of UCapture, a firm that offers coupons to customers for a variety of online stores and funds environmental conservation projects, thus reducing the carbon footprint of every consumer that uses their service.

In this episode, we talk to The Good of the Hive bee muralists who pledged to draw 50,000 bees across America to raise awareness around the central role that bees have in the preservation of our planet. Join us to find out why and how art could be a medium to drive environmental conservation.

In our second episode we talk with Stefan Oberman, Innovation Manager at AeroFarms, about hydroponic and aeroponic farming, which has seen an explosion in popularity in recent years.  Hydroponics aren’t just limited to pet projects any more. More and more high-tech start-ups are popping up around the country making big business out of these little plants, and we speak with Stefan to learn more about this growing green industry.

In this episode, The Wealth of Nature podcast mentor and Centennial Fellow Catherine Novelli host a town hall event to discuss why profit-minded solutions are so important to sustainable conservation efforts. Ms. Novelli is an Ocean Elder and serves on the boards of the Pristine Seas Initiative of the National Geographic Society and the National Wildlife Federation. She also runs Listening For America, a non-profit organization that strives to understand American views on international trade and globalization. Ms. Novelli was also the former Under-Secretary of State for Economic Growth, Energy and the Environment from 2014 to 2017 where she spearheaded a $10 billion ocean conservation project called Our Ocean and served as VP of Worldwide Government Affairs at Apple from 2005 to 2013.

Have you ever considered how art can influence conservation and be a profitable business model? Neither had we. Join us for a conversation with The Good of the Hive team who has shared their mission to build community around honey bees with engagements across the world including work at the United Nations, the FAO in Washington DC, Burt’s Bees Global HQ, and the Smithsonian’s National Zoo.