Rhamis kent

ECONOMIC SUPPORT FOR GLOBAL REPAIR WORK & ECOSYSTEM RESTORATION: Making the Case

By T. Rhamis Kent ([email protected])

“- there are no economies without environments, but there are environments without economies.”

- The Economics of Ecosystems and Biodiversity (TEEB) Report

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)• 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)

Investment Opportunities

The Land = The ProductNatural 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 ProductAny 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

Investment Opportunities (cont.)

The Land = The ProductAccording 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

Benefits of Using RMPs

For example, CSA (Community Supported Agriculture) operations routinely utilize RMPs.

"CSA may minimize some of the negative effects of more conventional systems of food production and distribution because it involves less chemical use, less soil erosion, less food packaging, fewer food miles and more crop and ecosystem diversity."

"Average net return per acre for these CSA farmers is $2,467. This figure is quite high when compared to return per acre of corn ($172.11), soybeans ($134.46) and wheat ($38.10) in the United States.“ (USDA)

“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

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

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

1.936 Billion Hectares of Human-Induced Land Degradation Worldwide

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.


The Land = The Product

DWS, a member of Deutsche Bank Group, considers Agribusiness to be a Global Megatrend.

(SOURCE: http://www.dws.com/EN/showpage.aspx?pageID=74)

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

“Don’t pray for rain, if you can’t take care of what you get.”

- R.E. Dixon, Superintendent, Texas Agricultural Experiment Station (Spur, Texas 1937)


The Land = The Product"Agriculture and food security have become “the core of the international agenda”, as the G8 called it. In 2009, the World Bank increased its spending on agriculture by 50%, to $6 billion. The Islamic Development Bank is creating an agriculture department for the first time.“

(SOURCE: The Economist – 19 November 2009, “If words were food, nobody would go hungry”)


The Land = The Product"I’m convinced that farmland is going to be one of the best investments of our time. Eventually, of course, food prices will get high enough that the market probably will be flooded with supply through development of new land or technology or both, and the bull market will end. But that’s a long ways away yet." - George Soros, June 2009

(SOURCE: GRAIN – 1 October 2009, “The new farm owners”; http://www.energybulletin.net/node/50714)


The Land = The Product“Land is scarce and will become scarcer as the world has to double food output to satisfy increased demand by 2050,” Joachim von Braun, director general at the International Food Policy Research Institute, told Fortune Magazine.

“With limited land and water resources, this will automatically lead to increased valuations of productive land. And it goes hand in hand with water. Water scarcity will probably increase even more than land.”

(SOURCE: Contrarian Profits, 16 June 2009 – “Rogers & Soros: Farmland ‘One of the Best Investments of Our Time’“)


The Land = The Product

“I’m convinced that farmland is going to be one of the best investments of our time,” says commodities guru Jim Rogers.

(SOURCE: Contrarian Profits, 16 June 2009 – “Rogers & Soros: Farmland ‘One of the Best Investments of Our Time’“)


The Land = The ProductThere have been approximately US$100 Billion mobilized to purchase somewhere between 40 – 50 million hectares (roughly 100 – 125 million acres) of agricultural land worldwide.

(SOURCE: Oakland Institute, “(Mis)investment in Agriculture: The Role of the International Finance Corporation in the Global Land Grab”)

The World Bank recently published a report highlighting this trend titled “The Global Land Rush: Can It Yield Sustainable and Equitable Benefits?” It was reported in The Financial Times from July 27, 2010.

(SOURCE: http://www.ft.com/cms/s/0/62890172-99a8-11df-a852-00144feab49a.html?ftcamp=rss)


The Land = The ProductSoil Carbon Sequestration & Soil Building

• Could be applied to 2 billion hectares (5 billion acres) of degraded landscape worldwide (UNEP; WRI)

• The technical potential of carbon sequestration in world soils may be 2 – 3 billion metric tonnes per year for the next 50 years (Dr. Rattan Lal)

• Potential $50 – 75 billion USD market annually (assuming $25 USD per tonne of carbon based on Australian Soil Carbon Sequestration Scheme - Dr. Christine Jones & Rio Tinto Coal)

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’ incomesdoubled, employment diversified and the degraded environment was revitalized.

The projects’ principles have been adopted and replicated widely. It is estimatedthat as many as 20 million people have benefited from the replication of theapproach throughout China.

“Man's work with Nature that furthers Nature's aims is the work that rewards him the best.”

- The I Ching

“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

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, RE

AL Profit & Revenue

Generation

Produced without destruction or loss of Natural Capital Assets


The Land = The ProductSoil Carbon Sequestration & Soil Building (cont.)

Biologically-active compost production -

• Windrowing: $40 – 60 per throughput tonne• Enclosed Windrowing: $100 - $150 per throughput tonne

Assuming a minimum of 50,000 throughput tonnes per year (Composting Council of Canada)

Example – TrustNature FNQ’s Bio-Vital™ Inoculum Compost

• Produced for approximately $100 per throughput tonne• 1 cubic metre of Bio-Vital™ enough to make compost tea for 100

hectares (1 million square metres)

Moving Beyond Conservation to Regeneration Thinking

Conserving What Is Left VS.

Regenerating What Has Been Lost

Example: The Loess Plateau Watershed Restoration Project

The inescapable interconnectedness of agriculture’s different roles

"Research efforts in the soil science arena have concentrated on reducing the rate of soil loss. The concept of building new topsoil is rarely considered.”

- Dr. Christine Jones, Australian Soil Scientist

“People are listening with their eyes.”


The Land = The ProductSoil Carbon Sequestration & Soil Building (cont.)

Benefits of Biologically-active aerated compost teas (AACTs) –

• Puts the beneficial microbiology back into soils

• Inexpensive and effective tool in regenerating productivity & fertility in damaged landscapes

• Protects against pathogens & disease through reintroduction of beneficial soil microbiology

• Highly concentrated – 5 gallons per acre as soil drench; 10 gallons if also applying spray to leaves

Soil & Carbon Sequestration: Huge, Untapped Potential

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 behome to 45,000 - 55,000 people and 1,500 businesses, primarily commercial andmanufacturing 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) - andwill serve as the headquarters of the International Renewable Energy Agency(IRENA).

Rhamis kent

Economy & Finance

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