For businesses who claim to care about climate change: the planet’s issues won’t be solved by “sustaining” anything.
Provenance Capital Group (PCG), co-founded by Adrian Rodrigues, has a mission to drive investment into what it calls “regenerative”, rather than sustainable, businesses. Most of its work to date has been in the agricultural industry, with companies like World Tree, a renewable timber and agroforestry company, and White Leaf Provisions, a family-run organic food brand.
When asked how quickly he thinks regenerative approaches will become mainstream, Rodrigues is hopeful. He highlights that the millennial generation is projected to inherit an estimated $41 trillion, and nearly 100 million acres of land, from the baby boomer generation over the next four decades. This is the most cumulative wealth and land that has ever changed hands in history.
Rodrigues has faith that the millennial generation will be less focused on return optimization, and that there will be a greater emphasis on what their investments are doing from a social and environmental standpoint.
Public awareness is growing for regenerative agriculture, yet it remains tough to get funding into the space due to a persistent and heavy emphasis on conventional agriculture. Giving farmers access to financing has been a crucial aim for Rodrigues and Provenance Capital Group.
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“We’re on the cusp of some pretty large trends that give us a ripe opportunity to change the way that we interact with our food system (…) So I am hopeful. But we can’t rest on inertia and just expect it to happen. We should all be working with a sense of urgency”, said Adrian Rodrigues.
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Is Sustainability the Right Goal for Businesses?
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Why regenerative is a better business goal than sustainable
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