Fireside Chat, Interview
Nature Conservancy’s Jennifer Morris focuses on the global food system and climate change
- The community is expected to make continued progress toward meeting basic health and economic needs, though significant time remains to achieve full stabilization.
- Nature is projected to become the central focus of global climate discussions, shifting away from previous narratives dominated by energy, as the 1.5-degree Paris target is deemed unreachable without prioritizing nature's role in 30% of global emissions.
- A transition in agriculture and food production is planned to occur immediately to address its contribution of 80% of deforestation and 30% of global emissions, despite facing initial cost challenges similar to the renewable energy sector decade prior.
- World leaders and corporations are anticipated to engage in smaller groups to solve climate problems, while new leadership at the World Bank and IMF is expected to rethink lending practices and create instruments for payment breaks during massive storms.
- The organization aims to save three gigatons of carbon annually, comparable to the emissions of 650 million gas cars, and intends to protect an area of 650 million hectares, roughly the size of India.
- Global protection goals are expected to reach 30% of land and ocean by 2030, driven by countries raising hands to commit to these targets and the organization pushing for sustainable lending practices.
- Financial strategies will focus on reducing sovereign debt burdens in developing markets, with specific cases like Belize showing an 11% reduction, and creating new instruments for countries in climate distress.
- The organization plans to externalize the value of nature to benefit local communities, including facilitating the sale of products to international markets and supporting transitions from unviable crops like corn to resilient alternatives like millet.
- Strategic partnerships with the private sector, such as with Walmart and in the tuna industry, will continue to disrupt sectors through joint ventures where 100% of long-term profits, as seen with the Republic of Marshall Islands, support resilience and community development.
- The organization intends to directly engage the cattle sector to drive change rather than halting production, while enforcing strict monitoring in fisheries through mandatory bycatch measurement, on-board cameras, and shore-based offloading requirements.
- Professionalization efforts include the implementation of specific Key Performance Indicators (KPIs), data-driven dashboards, and robust board-level conversations to track progress and ensure staff alignment toward a unified mission.
- The organization plans to refine engagement with companies, maintain a non-partisan stance while increasing workforce diversity, and continue addressing 46 identified priorities by narrowing them to a focused pitch.
- Investments in alternative protein technologies are viewed as important but are expected to remain long-term solutions rather than immediate fixes, while clients will increasingly raise questions about investing in supply chain support over in-house operations.
- The conservation movement is expected to succeed only by speaking to human needs and providing economic opportunities, with the organization committing to own failures, learn from mistakes, and accept that some private sector initiatives will fail while others succeed.