#204 The New Biodiversity Investing, Climate Philanthropy, Nature Tech, & More w/ Karl Burkart (One Earth)
Aug 28, 2024
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Karl Burkart, Co-Founder and Deputy Director of One Earth, dives into the world of biodiversity investing and nature tech. With a background in sustainable architecture, Karl shares how biodiversity is becoming an essential, investable sector. He discusses the challenges of measuring and valuing biodiversity and how major corporations are getting involved. The conversation also highlights the importance of clarity in communicating complex climate issues and the urgent need to address the dual crises of climate change and biodiversity loss.
Biodiversity is emerging as an investable space, highlighting the need to measure and integrate ecosystem health into markets.
Community-focused narratives, supported by financial investments like the Inflation Reduction Act, are crucial for advancing climate initiatives across political divides.
Deep dives
Building Infrastructure for Climate Action
To effectively address climate challenges, both moral and campaign infrastructure are essential for supporting governments and companies in making progressive changes. Financial investment plays a crucial role in facilitating these shifts, and the Inflation Reduction Act (IRA) has emerged as a significant catalyst, particularly at state and city levels. Surprisingly, many Republican leaders, despite their public stance, are supportive of the IRA as it enables them to attract funding for community resilience projects. This emphasizes the importance of fostering a narrative focused on community improvement rather than solely labeling actions as climate initiatives.
The Role of One Earth in Climate Philanthropy
One Earth is committed to addressing the climate and biodiversity crises through comprehensive scientific research and modeling. Founded on the necessity to synthesize climate data for informed decision-making, the organization focuses on three main questions: managing the transition to renewable energy, protecting and restoring nature, and feeding a growing global population. Since its inception in 2017, One Earth has produced over 40 peer-reviewed papers that contribute to a broader understanding of these issues through its climate model. This model supports philanthropic efforts and guides private equity by providing actionable insights for investment and asset allocation.
Navigating Political Changes in Climate Philanthropy
Potential political shifts in the U.S. could impact climate philanthropy, yet progress in climate initiatives is expected to persist regardless of administration. The renewable energy transition is driven by financial interests that prioritize sustainability, indicating that industry momentum is largely resistant to political fluctuations. A significant focus on local solutions can circumvent national ideological debates, as many initiatives thrive at grassroots levels. Strengthening the conversation around economic competitiveness in climate strategies may also encourage broader engagement and support across varying political views.
We don’t always have climate philanthropic-learning orgs on, but when we do, it’s always a banger 💥
We're sitting down with Karl Burkart, the Co-Founder and Deputy Director of One Earth. One Earth funds advanced scientific research and technology applications to address the climate crisis at scale across three pillars:
Renewable energy transition
Nature conservation
Regenerative agriculture
Karl's journey is nothing short of fascinating, starting from his early days as an architect focused on sustainable design in the Bay Area and is now leading One Earth.
This episode explores an issue that doesn’t get enough love in climate tech — biodiversity and nature. Right now, the issues are in how biodiversity is measured, valued, and integrated into markets. Karl breaks down how and why biodiversity is becoming an investable space, particularly through monitoring and verifying the health of ecosystems. It’s so promising that Fortune 500s get into this space 💰.
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