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Oftentimes it is personal impact that drives human behavior. For me, it was triggered by Curious George, a children&s book series, and my sons desire to go fishing. In one of the Curious George stories, George, a monkey, puts tremendous effort into going fishing.
When my son asked me to go fishing, it immediately caused me to flash back to memories of fishing with my father. I was approximately the same age as my son when I first asked my
father.
When Apollo asked me about going fishing, I immediately visualized the fishing hole my father and I would fish. I remember the rock that he would sit on and where I would sit on the bank of the Eno River. I remember him putting the worm on the hook because I didn’t like doing that until I was older.
Oh, what a joy it was to catch a fish with Dad. I also thought about what it was like for my father when he first went fishing with his father and whether Apollo may go fishing with his son or daughter someday.
As I got older and matured, one of the things I’ve realized is that most things that make sense could be explained – or at least discussed with – by my grandmother on her front porch.
Effectively, if it did not make sense to her, it likely does not make sense at all. She was a very smart woman but not formally educated. However, she would have had a Ph.D., if such a thing existed, in Common Sense. What would someone, like my grandmother, with a deep understanding of the land, nature, and small town living say about the state of our environment? In a small town (Teachey, NC population 376), where common sense prevails, the answer is clear.
They would express that the natural world, crafted by a higher power (God-fearing people in small towns in rural North Carolina), functions remarkably well. Nature is a system that has been around for a long time, and it’s our responsibility to protect it. The basics are that having trees is better than not having trees etc. Common sense stuff.
No Ph.D. required. The Common Sense of Our Youth If you were blessed with a moderately comfortable childhood perhaps you have similar memories likefishing, flying a kite in an open field, experiencing the serenity of a clean and quiet ocean, or some other outside activity with a parent. These experiences remind us, at our core as human beings, that nature is inherently good. We know in our hearts that it nourishes our souls and just makes us feel good.
And when we witness the joy of young people, our children or loved ones or just random kids, connecting with nature, we are reminded of our own pure and unadulterated experiences as children. Nature, in its natural beauty, is a source of wonder and tranquility. This understanding of the importance of nature is core to us as a human race, a shared knowledge that transcends words like ESG, climate, and environment. It is a fundamental truth that we all recognize, and it resonates with the very essence of our being.
Now, how do I apply this perspective to investing, you might wonder? Well, our team aspires
to leave a legacy, to make a meaningful impact, and to do it at scale. We want our work to matter beyond the numbers. The sandbox for this endeavor is Brazil, a country blessed with abundant natural resources and ecosystems. Brazil is the world’s largest exporter of various agricultural products, and it boasts the vast and critical Amazon biome. My grandmother did not know Brazil but she would say for nature-based solutions it would be common sense to start there!
Here, our team has found an opportunity to align our financial experience and success with large-scale overseas capital investing in Brazil with our sustainability goals. Through a focus on export-oriented crops, we can help reduce hedging and currency risks for investors. Brazil’s agriculture‘s high returns (in many parts of Brazil rainfall allows for two crops per year and labor costs are substantially lower than more developed agricultural exporters) allow investors to both achieve market-level financial returns and drive sustainability objectives at scale.
Financial success and contributing positively to nature and the environment is the only way to make existential changes. In conclusion, my sustainability view is rooted in the timeless wisdom of small-town living, the innate understanding of nature's value, and the desire to leave a meaningful legacy through responsible investing. It is a perspective that recognizes the intrinsic goodness of nature and the profound impact it has had on our parent’s lives, our lives, and the generations to come.
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