In the 10th episode of 'Don't Mess With Nature', Andrew Mitchell explores the equilibrium paradox. Can natural capital and financial capital ever exist in balance when we're driven by the model of more? Don't economies only work if they get big

Don't Mess with Nature: Banking on Nature

Dec 15th, 2020 23m 14s

Banking on Nature is a tale of two banks, in fact a tale of two governors of the Bank of England, the first and the last. The story starts with the first governor of the bank of England, a man called William Paterson and his disastrous Darien c

Measuring Footprints

Nov 26th, 2020 26m 26s

Did you know that each elephant's footprint has a unique pattern which can be used to identify individuals? In the natural world, evolution tends to make animals bigger, But even the biggest creatures, like elephants, can be extraordinarily gen

Don't Mess with Nature: Billion Dollar Bonds

Jul 15th, 2020 26m 24s

What could you do with a billion dollars to save nature? The answer could be a billion dollar landscape bond - a form of green bond that could protect nature while existing in the world of big finance. This podcast will take you on an expeditio

Don't Mess with Nature: Chain Reaction

Jun 25th, 2020 27m 9s

Today’s podcast is about chain reactions, and why they matter. Where our food comes from and how it affects nature is a big story. Supply chains are one of the leading causes of rainforest deforestation. I’ll give you an example of why. You pro

Don't Mess with Nature: Thunder and Lightning

May 26th, 2020 21m 3s

Over the last 50 years, catastrophic weather-related events have dramatically increased in frequency. Just to put it into perspective, in 2018, there were 42 catastrophic events that cost more than a billion dollars each. Why? The concern is th

Don’t Mess With Nature: The Meaning of Life

May 12th, 2020 18m 19s

We need to start thinking about how life is connected with money. Why? Because unless we can find a better state of equilibrium between natural capital - that’s life on earth, and financial capital - that’s the money that makes the world go aro

Don't Mess with Nature: Rising Tides

Apr 29th, 2020 19m 9s

Sea levels have been going up and down for millions of years - but why are we so interested in it now? Because over the last 150 years, sea levels have started to rise faster than ever before. Why? The world’s getting warmer. The CO² that was l

Don't Mess with Nature: Reinventing Life.

Apr 21st, 2020 19m 45s

The planet doesn’t need us. But as humans, we need the planet. We’ve been around only about 3 million years, and yet in such a short time, we’ve taken over the whole earth, and completely changed it. We’re harnessing everything to do with the e

Don't Mess with Nature: Covid19 Wildlife Markets

Apr 8th, 2020 17m 38s

Economists estimate the economic fall out from the COVID-19 virus pandemic could approach $10 trillion dollars, or around one eighth of global GDP. A letter to the World Health Organisation this week, signed by almost 250 organisations, points