PodcastWhy We All Need To Put Biodiversity On Our Agenda
Here’s what he said:
Europe probably has the most educated consumers on the topic of biodiversity. And that’s a strength because if people really want their products to come with less of a negative impact on the planet, then the market will cater to that.
We are destroying our biosphere on a wholesale scale … More than half of the planet, ca. 70%, is now impacted by us – and with that biodiversity.
An uncomfortable truth is that intense agriculture is part of the solution. Every time you make agriculture more efficient, you can give more land back to nature, especially land which is not very productive.
Naming and shaming companies is step one [to protect biodiversity]. Incentivizing industries is step two. And if all that fails, we need legislation and taxation.
Laws are being created in order to monitor value chains [e.g. Lieferkettengesetz]. But big companies can push the problem down the line to their suppliers, creating real problems for smaller companies.
Europe is the world champion in regulations and guidance, and that does hinder entrepreneurialism. Given the choice, I would rather start a business in America which feels easier to navigate.
