IMPROVING MOTHER NATURE: Is climate change a crisis or a hoax? That is often the binary choice when politicians discuss the environment. But what if there is another way to think about this, regardless of how dire you feel human behavior has impacted the earth?
That is where natural asset companies come into this discussion. Although Douglas Eger has found out that not everyone believes in his vision yet. The New York Times laid out his story. He bought 7,000 acres northwest of New York City with the idea of preserving it as an open space.
He had concluded that the government wasn’t going to solve a biodiversity collapse. Socially responsible investing wouldn’t either, at least not fast enough. There were too many obstacles along the way and not enough people committed to the effort.
Eger founded the Intrinsic Exchange Group to incubate natural asset companies. This is how the article explains what Eger is trying to accomplish:
“A landowner, whether a farmer or a government entity, works with investors to create a NAC (natural asset company) that licenses the rights to the ecosystem services the land produces. If the company is listed on an exchange, the proceeds from the public offering of shares would provide the landowner with a revenue stream and pay for enhancing natural benefits, like havens for threatened species or a revitalized farming operation that heals the land rather than leaching it dry.”
The goal is that as environmental quality gets better, then so will the appreciation of the company.
