Much of the world's economy is based on harvesting living things—including plants, animals, aquatic life, and even insects. But the world falls far short of investing enough money to protect, replace, or restore them. We're losing forests, animal populations, species, and ecosystems faster than we restore them. To stop the trend, we must find solutions that make strong economic sense. Michael Mathres of FUND NATURE talks with Eduardo Esparza about his organization's efforts to direct money from nascent carbon markets toward preserving living systems. The trading of carbon credits can enable governments, companies, and landowners to profit from protecting and restoring nature.

Mentioned in the episode:

*FUND NATURE – www.fund-nature.com

*Long Walk to Freedom: The Autobiography of Nelson Mandela – https://bookshop.org/books/long-walk-to-freedom-the-autobiography-of-nelson-mandela/9780316548182

*Dr. James E. Hansen, Ex-NASA scientist – https://people.climate.columbia.edu/users/profile/james-e-hansen

*Kevin Conrad, Executive Director of the Coalition for Rainforest Nations – https://www.linkedin.com/in/kevin-conrad-b889701/

*UN-REDD Programme – https://www.un-redd.org/

*COP27 – https://cop27.eg/#/

*Reuters: Congo oil blocks auction draws warnings of environmental catastrophe – https://www.reuters.com/business/energy/congo-oil-blocks-auction-draws-warnings-environmental-catastrophe-2022-07-28/

About the Guest

Michael Mathres is the director and co-founder of FUND NATURE, an organization that values, protects, and restores nature globally. It does so by creating, structuring, and marketing new forms of financing mechanisms to unlock and allocate financial capital for nature. Michael is a former banker and holds a degree in economics. He has worked to establish business models to restore nature for more than 20 years.

Find Michael on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/mathres/