Impact Unicorns Podcast: Investing in the Natural Economy

This week, Dr. Indranil Ghosh turns attention to Investing in the Natural Economy. The past couple of years has seen an explosion of interest to invest in sustainable land use practices (e.g., reforestation, regenerative agriculture, peatland restoration, rewilding & biodiversity restoration). Many of these natural economy business models are negative-carbon and could avail of the expanding market for voluntary carbon credits. 

Under the natural economy banner, there is also excitement around technology-enabled businesses (e.g., vertical farming, nature-based construction materials) that produce food and other materials much more efficiently than traditional pathways. These businesses can often be located in farming and forestry communities, thereby bringing high paid jobs to the region.

In this podcast, Jane Morrison-Scott and Martin Valenti from the South of Scotland Enterprise – a regional development organization – talk about how they are supporting Natural Economy projects that help the environment, while bringing jobs and prosperity to local communities. Also joined by David Farquhar, CEO of Intelligent Growth Solutions, who builds community-based vertical farms that can produce a wide range of fruits, vegetables, herbs, and saplings for local consumption.

Podcast originally aired: 1/17/2022