William Ginn - Valuing Nature: A Handbook for Impact Investing

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William J. Ginn

Washington | Covelo

Copyright 2020 William J. Ginn

All rights reserved under International and Pan-American Copyright Conventions. No part of this book may be reproduced in any form or by any means without permission in writing from the publisher: Island Press, 2000 M Street NW, Suite 650, Washington, DC 20036

Island Press is a trademark of the Center for Resource Economics.

Library of Congress Control Number: 2019952824

The opinions expressed in this publication are the authors own views and do not necessarily reflect the views of other individuals or organizations.

Keywords: agriculture, cattle management, climate change, climate economy, Conservation Notes, fisheries, green infrastructure, Happy Seeder, impact capital, impact investing, impact multiple of money, International Monetary Fund, investment capital, islands, JPMorgan Chase, land conservation, measuring impact, mission-related investments, Morro Bay, Murray-Darling basin, natural capital, NatureVest, oceans, program-related investments, stormwater, The Nature Conservancy, Tropical Landscape Finance Facility, water

To my wife, June, my children, Will and Eliza, and my grandchildren, Clayton and Olivia

Tis not too late to seek a newer world.

Tennyson

The following transactions are discussed in this book.

There have been a few constants in my life. Nature has intertwined with much of what I have done both professionally and personally. My first job, at fifteen years old, was leading canoe trips in Ontarios Georgian Bay system of rivers and lakes. There I made my first canoe paddle, killed a rattlesnake (to my regret now), and introduced boys, only a year or two younger than I was, to wilderness.

Today, I am energized when I see entrepreneurs working on problems in new and different ways. These innovators are not just focused on business. If you look, they are found in all sectors of the economy, including governments and nonprofit organizations. I like to think that these mentors inspired me to make my own work better.

These passions have guided me in most of the important career, family, and homeplace decisions I have made over the years. Being grounded in nature and focused on tackling even impossibly difficult problems are, fortunately, values that also inspire some of the great people who have been part of my journey. I am deeply humbled by their energy and wisdom.

I would like to mention a few people in particular who made it possible for me to write Valuing Nature: A Handbook for Impact Investing. First, my incomparable research assistant, Lauren Lynch, whose persistent digging and deft editing made this book possible, deserves enormous credit. She joined this effort when she was a graduate student at Tufts University and an intern at The Nature Conservancy (TNC). She now works in Singapore for the World Wildlife Fund in fields allied with those discussed here.

Second, special recognition goes to the NatureVest team for living so much of what is discussed here. NatureVests first managing director, Marc Diaz, is a smart, capable personand a decent human beingwho is a joy to work with. Years ago, I hired Charlotte Kaiser because I had an instinct that she would be great at whatever she did. I was not wrong, and I am pleased the NatureVest ship is now in her hands as managing director. Other colleagues from that time include Eric Love (my partner in some audacious and enormous land deals), Kamil Cook, Eric Cooperstrom, J. C. Danilovich, Lauren Ferstandig, Deb Froeb, Taryn Goodman, Caitlin Henning, Tom Hodgman, Craig Holland, Natalya Skiba, Michele Tetreault, Rob Weary, Melissa Weigel, and Peter Wheeler. There are many others, and the whole team was the most enjoyable and inspiring of the many I worked with at TNC.

I must also give recognition to others within the TNC family who helped me: state directors Mike Sweeney, Mike Tetreault, Jamie Williams, Kent Wommack, and Bill Ulfelder; Hans Birle, Wisla Heneghan, and Phil Tabas, whose legal expertise made my deals work; David Banks, Giulio Boccaletti, Matt Brown, Mike Carr, Greg Fishbein, Lynne Hale, Eric Hallstein, Sarene Marshall, Kathy McLeod, Seema Paul, Glenn Prickett, Brian Richter, Molly Wallace, Janine Wilkin, and Denis Wolkoff, among my many great colleagues; John Cook, Russell Leiman, Brian McPeek, Audrey Newman, Kelvin Takata, and Peter Thomas, some of my wonderful bosses at TNC; and Steve Denning, Joe Gleberman, Tony Grassi, Roger Milliken, and Muneer Satter, TNC board members and incredible volunteer leaders.

Critical funders who have supported this work include JPMorgan Chase, where Doug Petno, Matt Arnold, and Camilla Seth were involved from the very beginning of NatureVest; the Grantham Foundation and its founder, Jeremy Grantham, and its executive director, Ramsay Ravenel; and the Robertson Foundation, whose president, John Hood, was an early champion. Earlier in my career, the Doris Duke Foundation and its environmental program staffed by Peter Howell funded much of the forest conservation work I undertook.