Lessons from the friendly fish - Part 2
Updated: Oct 1
Another September, another New York Climate Week and UNGA, and another quick exit to make it home for my daughter's birthday (I made it!). This year, the energy in the rooms felt different—more urgent. There was an eagerness to mobilize with real resources on the table.
This is the kind of energy that advances what we believe are four key streams of activity needed to close the ~$1T annual nature finance gap.
Continuing from part 1 of “Lessons from the Friendly Fish”, let’s dive into part 2!
Awareness: Grow the School
Nature underpins the global economy and is investable beyond philanthropy. The more we talk about it, the more we normalize it. The more fish, the better!
When we launched THE NAT, the goal was to bring culture and nature closer together. THE NAT Gala kicked off New York Climate Week and showed once again that we can increase awareness of nature’s value while being joyful through moving reflections, music, art, and sustainable fashion. And, while fashion trends aren't my forte (though, I was quoted in Vogue!), you're hearing it here first — resilience is the new sustainability.
Throughout the Gala, we experienced:
beautiful art from Sophie Hunter,
show-stopping sustainable fashion from Gabriela Hearst,
moving reflections from Sabrina Elba, Deejay Two Bears, Jesper Brodin, and,
a powerful reminder from Tenzin Seldon to think more about capacity than extraction, and Gross Domestic Regeneration as opposed to Gross Domestic Product.
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Must watch (and share!): Open Planet’s new film, How to Live on Earth, is now mainstreaming nature on YouTube. Presented by Benedict Cumberbatch, the film explores the ultimate hack for building a future in which nature thrives, and so do we. The film also introduces Natural Asset Companies (NACs) to the broader public, showcasing how healthy ecosystems can become investable assets. |  |
policies and Frameworks: Swim in the same direction
Let's move together! Fish move effectively because they align. Same goes for policies and frameworks that are foundational for enabling and aligning demand and capital flows.
Countries around the world are advancing biodiversity offset and credit markets, aligning with Target 19 of the Global Biodiversity Framework, including the UK’s Biodiversity Net Gain (BNG) and dozens of countries establishing policies for a 2028 timeline. With enabling policy at the domestic and international levels, there will be more levers to compel an assets and liabilities framework for the fundamental asset we have, nature.
For Canada, our Nature Strategy and Expert Taskforce for Natural Capital Accounting and Nature Financing continue to advance the necessary policy environment to make nature investments easier, with Indigenous leadership and governance at the heart of discussions.
And especially on September 30, National Day for Truth and Reconciliation, we recognize that this work is not possible without centering Indigenous leadership, knowledge, and governance. Not 'land-use planning', but 'land-relationship collaboration'.
Coming soon on October 13: The Nature Positive Initiative will launch its State of Nature Indicators and Metrics Framework to help companies and organizations align and measure, track, and drive progress toward halting and reversing nature loss by 2030. |  |
Demonstrating operational resilience
Proof attracts participation. Nature-positive and commercial returns can coexist. Early adopters may face resistance—swimming against strong currents—but collective action helps to draft and streamline, making it easier for others to join.
During Doconomy’s Stage of Impact session, Oath Biome and Soul Forest show that nature-positive and commercial returns can coexist. Watch for webinars and recordings here.
To help move the needle even faster, the Nature Now working session convened corporate leaders to collaborate to transform fertilizer systems and natural assets, building resilience across value chains. One big table. Lots of discussions. More to come at Davos.
MIT Solve's 2027 Global Challenges are now open for applications with a prize pool of over $1 million in unrestricted funding for winners. Know of any innovators who are building global climate, learning, health solutions in the US and Canada? Deadline to submit: November 2, 2026.
For inspiration, these innovative Solvers were announced during MIT Solve’s 10th Anniversary Global Challenge.
Diversified Investments
Nature-based investments are growing and create room for all types of capital to close the nature finance gap.
The latest Financing Nature: A Mid-Decade Update from the Paulson Institute, The Nature Conservancy and World Wildlife Fund, provides practical guidance and case studies on policy, subsidy reform strategies and finance, including treating nature as critical infrastructure — productive capital.
Check it out!
My takes:
Nature-as-infrastructure is picking up steam as an investable proposition. The physical limitations to growth are becoming more prescient. That means our collective growth will be dictated more by limits to energy, land, and water than ever before.
There is also increased public and private sector interest in developing nature offsets and credit markets as reflected in the work of our colleagues at the Biodiversity Credit and Alliance, Conservation International and Pollination Foundation.
Creative capital structures where public and private capital combine to support resilient infrastructure projects, including energy, water, and the built environment, exist. Lloyds Banking Group’s Built to Last: Unlocking Investment for a More Resilient Economy report provides some great case studies. And we’re seeing more private landholders building nature credit banks, and growing support for the Tropical Forest Forever Facility, Natural Asset Companies, and green bonds, to name a few.
Let’s harness the energy in the rooms to grow the school, and swim in the same direction. Let’s provide the proof that attracts others — across sectors, the capital stack, and schools of thought. The more people understand that nature underpins the economy, the easier it becomes to mobilize action and investment.
And while my daughter’s birthday party wasn’t a nature or a fish theme, I’d like to think that “K-Pop Karaoke” still counts as a win for resilience — joyful, unexpected, and also full of energy.
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