Nate Hagens and Alexa Firmenich discuss the importance of biodiversity, its connection to the economy and climate, and the need to create financial mechanisms for nature preservation. They explore shifting consciousness, the role of art in the biodiversity movement, and personal advice for challenging times. They also contemplate changing the default trajectory of humans and the potential for connecting and collaborating for a common purpose.
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Quick takeaways
Biodiversity is critical to the climate and other natural systems, and understanding its importance is essential for human survival.
70% of animal populations have been lost in recent years, highlighting the urgent need for action to protect biodiversity.
Financial mechanisms should be intelligently designed to restore and protect nature while benefiting communities and aligning with our values.
Cultivating a worldview that recognizes the interconnectedness of humans and nature is crucial for addressing the ecological crisis.
Deep dives
The Importance of Biodiversity and Ecological Restoration
This podcast episode discusses the importance of biodiversity and the need for ecological restoration. The speaker emphasizes that our economy is dependent on nature and that biodiversity is interconnected with climate change. The episode explores the concept of rewilding and the reintroduction of keystone species to restore ecosystems. It also delves into the challenges and possibilities of financializing nature, such as biodiversity credits and offsets. The conversation touches on the need for a cultural shift towards valuing and protecting nature, and the potential for integrating love for nature into our incentives and economic system.
The Impacts of Human Actions on Biodiversity
This podcast episode addresses the impacts of human actions on biodiversity. The speaker highlights the alarming statistic that 70% of animal populations have been lost in recent years. It explores the ecological risks and potential consequences of replacing intrinsic values with extrinsic motives, such as monetizing ecosystem services. The episode also discusses the importance of coexistence between humans and wildlife, and the need for collective grief and ritual to help navigate the emotional toll of the ecological crisis. It emphasizes the importance of hope, emergence, and the potential for change in restoring and reconnecting with nature.
The Role of Finance in Restoring Nature
This podcast episode delves into the role of finance in restoring nature. It explores the challenges and opportunities of using finance to pay the debt we owe to nature. The speaker discusses the need for intelligent design in financial mechanisms that protect and restore nature, while also prioritizing communities and benefit-sharing. The episode discusses the concept of regenerative finance and the task force for nature-related financial disclosures. It also examines the relationship between economic systems, incentives, and our intrinsic values, emphasizing the importance of linking love for nature with our financial systems.
The Intersection of ESG Investing and Nature Conservation
This podcast episode explores the intersection of ESG (environmental, social, and governance) investing and nature conservation. It discusses the importance of cultivating a worldview that acknowledges the indivisibility of humans and nature. The episode focuses on ground-effect, an animist investment vehicle that channels financial capital towards initiatives that support the thriving and regeneration of other beings in the natural world. It touches on various categories of funding, including earth living processes, advocacy and journalism, and human inner consciousness development. The conversation highlights the need for a shift in our economic system to align with our values and support the protection and restoration of nature.
Importance of Cultivating a Different Worldview Around Nature
The podcast episode emphasizes the need to cultivate a different worldview and relationship with nature. The focus is on moving away from a culture steeped in duality and separation (I vs. them, human vs. nature) and towards a more integrated and interconnected perspective. The guests on the podcast are people who are adept in their respective fields and are actively working towards this shift in consciousness. The aim is to think and act like ecosystems, taking their interests into consideration when making decisions related to rewilding, restoration, agriculture, law, and finance. By embracing this new worldview, not only can we make more intelligent interventions, but also undergo psychological and spiritual transformations that are needed in the current times.
Empathy and Shapeshifting as Powerful Tools for Understanding Nature
The podcast episode explores the power of empathy and shapeshifting as ways to understand the lived experiences of other creatures and ecosystems. It highlights the importance of embodying the perspectives of other beings and deepening our sensory connection with the natural world. Through practices like sit spots and nature reconnection exercises, individuals can tap into a deeper form of knowledge and develop a profound relationship with the environment. By adopting a sincere curiosity and contemplating life from the viewpoint of other creatures, we can make more holistic and informed interventions in nature. Additionally, the episode suggests that shapeshifting and embodying different beings have been part of human culture throughout history, allowing us to perceive and connect with the wider world.
The Role of Art, Culture, and Faith in Shifting Consciousness
The podcast episode highlights the role of art, culture, and faith in shifting consciousness towards a more sustainable and interconnected world. It emphasizes the need for the climate and nature movement to become a cultural and artistic movement that engages people at a deeper level. By expressing the beauty and interconnectedness of the world through various art forms, such as poetry, music, and visual arts, we can evoke profound emotional responses and make the realities of climate change and biodiversity loss more visible and relatable. Furthermore, the episode suggests the creation of spaces or temples dedicated to our relationship with nature, where people from different cultural backgrounds can gather and connect with the wider whole. These cultural interventions can inspire and mobilize individuals to care for the Earth and foster a sense of stewardship for the natural world.
On this episode, Nate is joined by Alexa Firmenich, whose work spans biodiversity advocacy, ESG investing, wilderness excursion facilitating, and podcasting/creative writing. Together, they philosophize on the importance of developing a connection to nature and understanding the - often overlooked - but critical function of biodiversity to the climate and other natural systems. Alexa also delves into her thinking about new economic and cultural models on human systems that could work within the biosphere. How can acknowledging our individual roles as a part of the Earth’s larger system give us a new perspective on what it means to live among its other inhabitants? Why does a system full of external incentives ultimately disincentivize our natural human inclination toward pro-sociality? Will a future of lower energy throughput result in each of us rekindling the inherent connection with the land that we live on, leading to simpler lives - yet perhaps more fulfilling ones?
About Alexa Firmenich:
Alexa Firmenich is an investor, consultant and facilitator focused on climate and biodiversity. She is the co-director of SEED, a new center of the Crowther Lab at ETH Zurich. SEED is developing the world's most holistic measure of biodiversity that reflects multiple scale’s of nature's complexity for any location on the planet, with the goal to steer financial and political decision-makers to crystallize the value of nature into the global economy. Alexa is also the founder of Ground Effect, an animist investment vehicle that supports early stage nature-based solutions, scientific research and new economic models. Parallel to this work she is trained as a group facilitator in leadership development and ecological pedagogy, designing multi-day learning journeys through her role at Leaders' Quest. She is also an author, podcast host of Lifeworlds, a founding board member of Terra Habitus, a Mexican environmental fund that operates large-landscape conservation and watershed restoration, and a wilderness guide.
