Making money from oil-drilling takes a long time. Matthias Pitkowitz is on a mission to show that making money from saving forests doesn’t. 

Pitkowitz, founder of EQX Biome, is working with the government of the Democratic Republic of the Congo to show that protecting rainforests can be more lucrative than sucking out the oil underneath them. His plan would channel some $3 billion in tax revenues to DRC over 20 years and guarantee the country’s rainforest ecosystem — a priceless natural asset — would remain intact. 

It turns out we can save the planet. Find out how.