This article is also available in Italian / Questo articolo è disponibile anche in italiano
The Think Tank section of Renewable Matter Issue 53, dedicated to Nature-based Solutions, features a rather diverse set of voices. Believing as always that a plurality of viewpoints is necessary for fruitful debate, we have invited experts from the worlds of scientific research, business and human sciences to our virtual roundtable.,
The segment opens with internationally renowned economist Sir Partha Dasgupta, author of the world's most prominent review on the economics of biodiversity. Next we have Vincent Doumeizel, Senior Advisor on Oceans to UN Global Compact and author of the book The Seaweed Revolution, and Massimo Labra, scientific director of Italy's National Biodiversity Future Centre, with whom we discussed the link between business and biodiversity protection. Finally, we sat down with Eduard Müller, founder and dean of the Universidad para la Cooperación Internacional and promoter of a new “nature-based” approach to education.
Below is a summary of the topics we talked about. You can read the full interviews in Renewable Matter #53.
Partha Dasgupta: Valuing Nature Is the MissingIngredient. Not GDP
In recent years, interest in Nature-based Solutions has surged, with policy makers, investors, and academics increasingly praising strategies that leverage ecosystems to tackle environmental challenges. However, a crucial question arises: do we truly understand what nature means, now that we try to replicate it? Can our current economic model accurately assess the value of complex ecological dynamics – such as biodiversity, the carbon cycle, water purification, and soil regeneration? More importantly, if we lack a clear understanding of the economic value of the ecosystem services that nature provides, how can we accurately evaluate the return on investment in these Nature-based Solutions? Relying on traditional business practices could lead to significant distortions in our assessments and outcomes.
To answer these questions, Giorgio Kaldor interviewed world-renowned Indian-British economist Professor Sir Partha Dasgupta. In 2021, Dasgupta published the seminal The Economics of Biodiversity: The Dasgupta Review report, commissioned by the UK Treasury, which highlights how economic growth has come at the expense of nature.
Vincent Doumeizel: Algae, the Futurefrom Under the Sea
Food, material, binder, biofuel, ecosystem agent, Nature-based Solution. Algae, which produce half the oxygen in our atmosphere, have never received more global attention than in recent months. Although they have been used for thousands of years in Asian food (in Japan, algae make up 10% of the country’s nutritional intake), several startups and research centres have been giving the world of algae the centrality it deserves.
And there is no expert more enthusiast than Vincent Doumeizel, author of the book The Seaweed Revolution (Legend Press US, 2023) and Senior Advisor on Oceans to the UN Global Compact.
Emanuele Bompan met with him in Milan to discuss, in an interview, the algae economy, discovering an underwater world that many are unaware of.
Massimo Labra: Biodiversity Is the Solution
Conserving, restoring, monitoring, and enhancing Mediterranean biodiversity. This is the key mission of one of Europe’s leading biodiversity centres, funded with NextGenerationEU funds. Emanuele Bompan met Massimo Labra, Scientific Director of the National Biodiversity Future Center, on the side lines of MedFest in Cagliari to learn about this new excellence in nature research and outreach.
“In 2022, the Italian Constitution introduced the concept of “protecting biodiversity,” emphasising the importance of preserving it for future generations”, Labra says. “It means that new generations also need biodiversity as a reservoir from which to draw elements for future sustainability. This was the origin of the idea of the previous Italian government, but backed by the current one as well, to establish a National Center for Biodiversity. However, this is not an institute created to conduct merely curiosity-driven research. The purpose is to find tangible solutions to address four challenges: conserve biodiversity, monitor it, restore it, and give it economic value.”
Eduard Müller: Regeneration is putting Life at the Centre
Unlearn, and relearn from nature. A radical change in the educational system can give humanity a thriving future of biodiversity according to Eduard Müller, Founder and Dean of the Universidad para la Cooperación Internacional (UCI), Head of Costa Rica Regenerativa, member of the Global Council of the Wellbeing Economy Alliance, and committed to addressing the challenges of biodiversity and land regeneration for over four decades.
With Müller, who was involved in the negotiation of the Convention on Biological Diversity and in the definition of the UN Sustainable Development Goals and the Earth Charter movement, Antonella Totaro spoke about regeneration, education, the future, and disappearing companies.
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