Nature's Fortune: How Business and Society Thrive by Investing in Nature - Softcover

Mark R. Tercek; Jonathan S. Adams

Softcover

ISBN 10: 1610916956 ISBN 13: 9781610916950

Publisher: Island Press, 2016

Synopsis

In Nature's Fortune, Mark Tercek, CEO of The Nature Conservancy and former investment banker, and science writer Jonathan Adams argue that nature is not only the foundation of human well-being, but also the smartest commercial investment any business or government can make. The forests, floodplains, and oyster reefs often seen simply as raw materials or as obstacles to be cleared in the name of progress are, in fact as important to our future prosperity as technology or law or business innovation. Who invests in nature, and why? What rates of return can it produce? When is protecting nature a good investment? With stories from the South Pacific to the California coast, from the Andes to the Gulf of Mexico and even to New York City, Nature's Fortune shows how viewing nature as green infrastructure allows for breakthroughs not only in conservation, protecting water supplies; enhancing the health of fisheries; making cities more sustainable, liveable, and safe; and dealing with unavoidable climate change, but in economic progress, as well. Organisations obviously depend on the environment for key resources, water, trees, and land. But they can also reap substantial commercial benefits in the form of risk mitigation, cost reduction, new investment opportunities, and the protection of assets. Once leaders learn how to account for nature in financial terms, they can incorporate that value into the organisation's decisions and activities, just as habitually as they consider cost, revenue, and ROI. A must-read for business leaders, CEOs, investors, and environmentalists alike, Nature's Fortune offers an essential guide to the world's economic, and environmental, well-being.

About this title

Review:

Winner of the 2014 Green Prize for Sustainable Literature Award in the category of Business. Publishers Weekly

A hopeful message that a sensible marriage of business and environmental interests is in the cards, which until now has mostly been trumped by shortsightedness - William Jefferson Clinton, 42nd President of the United States of America

In this encouraging, intelligent book that comes none too soon, Mark Tercek and Jonathan Adams show that the corporate world ultimately can't flourish unless the natural world does, too. Through stories equally compelling to entrepreneurs or environmentalists, CEOs or scientists, we see how Nature's Fortune and our own are inextricable. If we conserve and nurture our planet's gifts like any other crucial asset or investment, we profit--or, we squander them at our own peril. Happily, this book shows why we needn't, ever. - Chris Anderson, TED Curator

This book makes plain as day why we need to stop taking nature's gifts for granted. Its thoughtful solutions can underpin conservation goals with a powerful business logic. From an alarming premise, we are given reason to hope. - Daniel Yergin, Pulitzer Prize--winning author of The Quest: Energy, Security, and the Remaking of the Modern World

Mark Tercek presents a timely argument for 'valuing' nature that will be meaningful as much to business as to environmentalists. He demonstrates how this can work and why it is important, whether with water and forests high in the Andes, the floodplains of the Mississippi, fisheries off the California coast, or even in the dense centers of major cities. The result is a compelling 'business case' for investment in nature that is also an agenda for action--and cooperation. - Marshall Goldsmith, bestselling author of What Got You Here Won't Get You There, MOJO, and Succession --of protecting the environment. Now, the environmental community needs to talk about nature using the language of business: assets, risks, and innovation. Nature's Fortune is the guidebook that can move environmentalism to this next level."

The authors convincingly argue that corporate responsibility is not only the right ethical tactic, but the right business move...According to this savvy book, both environmentalists and business executives need to understand 'how nature contributes to economic and ecological well-being. --Kirkus Reviews

By breaking conservation down into dollars and cents, Mark Tercek shows that economic growth and environmental sustainability are not mutually exclusive goals. Nature's Fortune takes a pragmatic approach to an important issue, and turns the conversation from ideology to arithmetic. --Alan Weisman, author of The World Without Us and Countdown: Our Last, Best Hope on Earth

Book Description:

A bold proposal to harness capitalism for the sake of environmentalism-a former banker and an environmental writer argue that making money and saving nature go hand in hand

About this edition

• Publisher: Island Press
• Publication date: 2016
• ISBN 10: 1610916956
• ISBN 13: 9781610916950
• Binding: Paperback
• Number of pages: 243