Compiled by T. Rhamis Kent for PRI Australia (rhamis_kent@yahoo.com)

Investment Opportunities for Global Earth Repair Work & Ecosystem Restoration:

Making the Case

“The most meaningful indicator for the health of the land, and the long term wealth of a nation, is whether soil is being formed or lost. If soil is being lost, so too is the economic and ecological foundation on which production and conservation are based.” - Dr. Christine Jones, respected Australian Soil Scientist

Fertility

Stability

Productivity

Biodiversity Profitability

Based on the intelligent management of Natural Capital Assets achieved via Recommended Management Practices (RMPs) & the re-establishment of living systems.

RMPs include: • Permaculture (Permanent

Agriculture)/Agroecological Systems • Regenerative Agriculture • Biological Farming • Carbon Farming • Holistic Management • Keyline Design • Pasture Cropping • Farmer Managed Natural Regeneration • Biologically Active Compost/Compost Teas • Water-harvesting Earthworks • Bio/Myco/Phyto-Remediation

Fertility

Stability

Productivity

Biodiversity Profitability

Earth Repair Work (ERW)

Recommended Management Practices (RMPs)

ERW = Auto- & Hetero- trophic Reconstruction

Investment Opportunities

The Land = The Product Natural Capital Asset Management approach based on the latest understandings of the integrated utilization of: • Ecology • Entomology • Soil Science • Hydrology

Focused on the development of PROCESSES, STRATEGIES, & TECHNIQUES - not products, resulting in: • Higher Benefit-to-Cost Ratios • Higher Returns-On-Investment

Investment Opportunities

The Land = The Product Any holders of natural capital/land-based assets: • Nation states; local governments, municipalities, etc. • Sovereign Wealth Funds • Corporate entities; Land developers

• Global NGOs • Individuals/Private owners, etc.

• Community groups/cooperatives (i.e. – land trusts)

Land = Natural Resources = Ecosystem Services = Natural Capital Assets

Degraded Land/Loss of Ecosystem Services = Loss of Production Capacity

Loss of Production Capacity = Loss of Revenue/Profit

Global Environmental & Ecological Crisis =

Symptom of Global Natural Capital Asset

Mismanagement

“- there are no economies without environments, but there are environments without economies.” - The Economics of Ecosystems and Biodiversity (TEEB) Report

Investment Opportunities

The Land = The Product

Self-Imposed Scarcity

VS.

Effortless Abundance

Investment Opportunities

The Land = The Product

Speculative Value

VS.

Functional Worth

Investment Opportunities (cont.)

The Land = The Product According to the UNEP report “Dead Planet, Living Planet: Biodiversity and Ecosystem Restoration for Sustainable Development” Ecosystem Restoration: • Benefit/Cost Ratio = 3 – 75 • Rate of Return = 7 – 79%

Comparative Ecosystem Services Value (Organic VS. Conventional Agriculture): • Market value 21 – 25% higher for Organic • Non-market value 76 – 89% higher for Organic

The Loess Plateau Watershed Rehabilitation Project (The World Bank International Development Agency)

Investment: $500,000,000 USD Area Covered: 35,000 square kilometres (3.5 million hectares) Investment per unit area: $142.86 USD per hectare Results: More than 2.5 million people in four of China’s poorest provinces – Shanxi, Shaanxi and Gansu, as well as the Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region – were lifted out of poverty. Through the introduction of sustainable farming practices, farmers’ incomes doubled, employment diversified and the degraded environment was revitalized. The projects’ principles have been adopted and replicated widely. It is estimated that as many as 20 million people have benefited from the replication of the approach throughout China.

Masdar City, Abu Dhabi, UAE (Mubadala Development Company)

Investment: $22,000,000,000 USD Area Covered: 6 square kilometres (600 hectares) Investment per unit area: approximately $37 million USD per hectare Results: Work in progress; projected to take 8 years to build. Expected to be home to 45,000 - 55,000 people and 1,500 businesses, primarily commercial and manufacturing facilities specializing in “environmentally friendly” products. More than 60,000 worker expected to commute to the city daily. The City will be home to the Masdar Institute of Science and Technology (MIST) - which will be assisted by the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) - and will serve as the headquarters of the International Renewable Energy Agency (IRENA).

The Burj Khalifa (Emaar Properties)

Investment: $1,500,000,000 USD Area Covered (floor area): 464,511 square meters (approx. 46.5 hectares) Investment per unit area: approx. 32.26 Million USD per hectare Results: Burj Khalifa has been designed to be the centrepiece of a large-scale, mixed-use development that will include 30,000 homes, nine hotels such as The Address Downtown Dubai, 3 hectares (7.4 acres) of parkland, at least 19 residential towers, the Dubai Mall, and the 12-hectare (30-acre) man-made Burj Khalifa Lake. The decision to build Burj Khalifa is reportedly based on the [Dubai] government's decision to diversify from an oil-based economy to one that is service- and tourism-oriented. According to officials, it is necessary for projects like Burj Khalifa to be built in the city to garner more international recognition, and hence investment. "He (Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum) wanted to put Dubai on the map with something really sensational," said Jacqui Josephson, a tourism and VIP delegations executive at Nakheel Properties.

Moving Beyond Conservation to Regeneration Thinking

Conserving What Is Left VS.

Regenerating What Has Been Lost

Example: The Loess Plateau Watershed Restoration Project

Most Commonly Cited Causes of Civilizational Collapse (J. Diamond, V.G. Carter, Tom Dale)

1. Deforestation & habitat destruction 2. Soil problems (such as erosion, salinization, and soil fertility losses) 3. Water management problems * All directly related to soil health

Human-Induced Soil Degradation by Region & by Cause, 1945 to Late 1980’s (WRI, UNEP)

World Totals (millions hectares): Vegetation Removal = 579 Overexploitation = 133 Overgrazing = 679 Agricultural Activities = 522 Industrial & Bio-industrial = 23

1.936 Billion Hectares of Human-Induced Land Degradation Worldwide

Soil & Carbon Sequestration: Huge, Untapped Potential

Soil Carbon Sequestration = “Soil Power” (for Photosynthesis)

“Soil Power” (for Photosynthesis) = Increase in Fertility & Production Capacity

Increase in Fertility & Production

Capacity =

Regenerative, REAL Profit &

Revenue Generation

Produced without destruction or loss of Natural Capital Assets

Soil & Carbon Sequestration: Huge, Untapped Potential (cont.)

Soil Organic Carbon (as humus) = Water holding capacity

Every 1% increase in humus = storage of 168,000 litres of water per hectare

Most soil organic carbon levels have fallen 3% in absolute terms

Represents a storage loss of 504,000 litres of water per hectare

Quoting Robert Shapiro, CEO of Monsanto: "The commercial industrial technologies that are used in agriculture today to feed the world... are not inherently sustainable,“ Monsanto CEO Robert Shapiro told the Greenpeace Business Conference recently. "They have not worked well to promote either self-sufficiency or food security in developing countries." Feeding the world sustainably "is out of the question with current agricultural practice," Shapiro told the Society of Environmental Journalists in 1995. "Loss of topsoil, of salinity of soil as a result of irrigation, and ultimate reliance on petrochemicals ... are, obviously, not renewable. That clearly isn't sustainable."

Peak Oil VS. Peak Soil Carbon Farming Conference & Expo (Borenore NSW, Australia – November 2009)

• 75 billion tonnes of soil lost annually • <80% of the world’s farming land “moderately or severely eroded”

• Soil loss in China 57X faster than nature can replace

• Soil loss in Europe 17X faster than nature can replace

• Soil loss in America 10X faster than nature can replace

• Soil loss in Australia 5X faster than nature can replace World soil, including European & British soils, could vanish within about 60 years if drastic action [is] not taken. This will lead to a global food crisis, chronic food shortages and higher prices. Increased land pressures aimed at compensating global production losses likely will mean [soil] will run out faster.

“Greed cannot be controlled by any appeal to morality & values. Greed has to be controlled by fear of loss…” - Nouriel Roubini, Professor of Economics and International Business, Stern School of Business, New York University

Investment Opportunities (cont.)

Investment Opportunities (cont.)

The inescapable interconnectedness of agriculture’s different roles