Since joining The Nature Conservancy, and over the course of writing Nature’s Fortune: How Business and Society Thrive by Investing in Nature, I’ve been fortunate to benefit from the perspectives and advice of many leaders of the environmental community. To continue the conversation on the ideas in Nature’s Fortune, I spoke with leading conservationists, CEOs, scientists, academics and activists about the environmental movement—what’s working well, what we could do better, and what they see as the biggest challenges and opportunities ahead.
In this ongoing series, I talk with thought leaders about ideas and trends in the environmental movement.
Matt Arnold, managing director and head of the Office of Environmental Affairs at JPMorgan Chase
Stewart Brand, author and editor best known for the Whole Earth Catalog
Sir Richard Branson, entrepreneur and founder of Virgin Group
Jason Clay, executive director of the Markets Institute at World Wildlife Foundation
Ian Craig, founder of Northern Rangelands Trust and executive director of the Lewa Wildlife Conservancy
Gretchen Daily, award-winning scientist at the Natural Capital Project
Maria Damanaki, global managing director of oceans for The Nature Conservancy
Timothy Egan, writer and columnist for The New York Times
Helene Gayle, president of the Chicago Community Trust and former president and CEO of CARE
Peter Gleick, co-founder of the Pacific Institute, MacArthur Fellow and elected member of the U.S. National Academy of Sciences
Tony Juniper, author and sustainability adviser to Prince Charles, co-founder of the Robertsbridge Group and the former director of Friends of the Earth
Elizabeth Kolbert, author and writer at The New Yorker
Jonathan Lash, president of Hampshire college and former president of World Resources Institute
Ian McAllister, founder of Pacific Wild, photographer, and author
Steve McCormick, founder of Earth Genome, former president of the Gordon and Betty Moore Foundation and former CEO of The Nature Conservancy
Andreas Merkl, president and CEO of Ocean Conservancy
Bill McKibben, founder of 350.org, author and scientific journalist
Pascal Mittermaier, global managing director of cities at The Nature Conservancy
Ramez Naam, technology expert and writer
Edward Norton, filmmaker, actor and conservationist
Jacqueline Novogratz, founder and CEO of Acumen
Hank Paulson, former CEO of Goldman Sachs and founder and chairman of The Paulson Institute
Andy Revkin, writer and science reporter
Judith Rodin, former president of the Rockefeller Foundation and seventh president of the University of Pennsylvania
Paul Sabin, author and professor at Yale
Jerry Taylor, president of the Niskanen Center