February 22, 2024

By Lynda Kiernan-Stone, Global AgInvesting Media

Biodiversity is the interconnected network that supports life as we know it. It is ideally designed, with each animal species, plant, insect, natural resource, and climatic phenomenon playing a distinct role in the majestic and graceful machine that is Earth. 

Being born into it for millennia of generations, it can be quite difficult to mentally remove yourself from the system to recognize its faltering at our own hands, and so easy to simply take it for granted. 

Between 1970-2018 wildlife species have declined by an astounding 69 percent, according to WWF’s Living Planet Report 2022, and since the 1950s, a full 50 percent of our coral reefs have been lost. Eighty-five percent of wetlands, including mangrove swamps and marshes, which are key carbon sinks, have been lost, and as many as 1 million species are in danger of extinction within decades. 

But there is something that we can do. Studies examining the connection between biodiversity and ecosystem functioning have repeatedly concluded that biodiversity boosts ecosystem functioning and enhances its stability, even in the face of an unstable environment. And funds are being founded to deploy capital where it can best serve this dynamic. 

Montreal-based Lester Asset Management (LAM) announced that it has launched the Lynx Global Biodiversity Fund, the first such fund in the country of Canada. 

LAM explained that the objective of the fund is to invest in global publicly traded companies that will benefit from the long-term trends associated with mitigating and reversing nature loss, protecting and improving the environment, promoting sustainability, and addressing water and food security issues. 

Similar to Climate Actions, investments in Nature Action will be driven by aggressive targets set at the UN Biodiversity Conference in Montreal (COP 15) to halt and reverse biodiversity loss, and to achieve increased financial disclosure by corporations on nature-related impacts, dependencies, and risks. 

Investment themes for the fund include:

~ Environmental stewardship encompassing assessment, monitoring, remediation, restoration, natural resource management, and green infrastructure. 

~ Pollution control through water and wastewater treatment, waste management, recycling, emission control, and clean technology. 

~ Sustainable products and processes, circular supply chains, and energy efficiency. 

~ Sustainable agriculture and food systems, agtech, agriscience, and aquaculture. 

“The environment is an area we have a deep understanding of having made strong returns for our clients for over 15 years from investing in water filtration, leak detection, soil remediation, and environmental consulting services, as part of our Canadian Equity strategy,” said Stephen Takacsy, president & CEO, LAM.

“Expanding our competencies to a wider universe of companies benefitting from powerful environmental tailwinds will offer additional growth potential and diversification to investment portfolios.”

In what is hopefully a sign of increasing momentum, this is the second biodiversity fund launch that GAI News has shared this week. UK-based Gresham House launched the Gresham House Biodiversity Co-Invest LP (GHBC), a new sector specialist strategy to accelerate the deployment of nature-based solutions to mitigate biodiversity loss while gaining strong financial returns. 

Founded in 1987, LAM also manages institutional funds for the Quebec Emerging Managers Program, and recently won two Global Manager Research Top Performer awards for the best five-year and 10-year returns in the Canadian Fixed Income Plus category. “We also have an experienced Advisory Board who have front row seats to nature-related risks facing corporations and how halting and reversing biodiversity loss will be tackled,” said Takacsy.

“An investment strategy focused on nature is very much in keeping with our longstanding values of considering Environmental, Social and Governance (ESG) issues when making investment decisions. Growing investment capital by preserving natural capital promises to be very rewarding for investors.”

~ Lynda Kiernan-Stone is editor in chief with GAI Media, and is managing editor and daily contributor for Global AgInvesting’s AgInvesting Weekly News and  Agtech Intel News, as well as HighQuest Group’s Unconventional Ag. She can be reached at lkiernan-stone@globalaginvesting.com.

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