Menu
Since the inaugural Earth Optimism Summit in 2017, more than 60 Earth Optimism events have occurred at Smithsonian museums and worldwide at different organizations. Earth Optimism’s goal is to capture and magnify news of conservation actions that are working across sectors and locations, so good practices can inspire replication and scale at all levels, starting with the individual. Earth Optimism celebrates a change in focus from problems to solutions, from a sense of loss to one of hope, in the dialogue about conservation and sustainability.
We are surrounded by success –
Steven Monfort,
the challenge now is to take that to scale.
Director, Smithsonian’s National Zoo and Conservation Biology Institute
Dynamic Planet has been involved in Earth Optimism from the start. We help curate the overall program and include conservation businesses, eco-enterprises and impact investors. We are gearing up for another big summit in April 2020, which is also the 50th Anniversary of Earth Day. Please share your solutions and get involved!
For more on Earth Optimism Summit: earthoptimism.si.edu
Fish are the last wild animals that the world eats at global scale. Today, however, the majority of wild fisheries are pushed beyond their limits. Currently, nearly 85% of global fish stocks are either exploited or, even worse, depleted. Rises in the global demand for fish are expected to continue, doubling by 2050 to an astonishing 230 million tons. Meeting this demand will create a market increase valued at upwards of several hundred billion dollars. Dynamic Planet works closely with entrepreneurs who are improving the sustainable seafood value chain.
The greatest threat to our planet
Robert Swan,
is the belief that someone else will save it.
First Person to Walk to Both Poles
Aqua-Spark is an investment fund with a focus on sustainable aquaculture businesses around the world. The small-to-medium enterprises they support are working toward the production of safe, accessible aquatic life, such as fish, shellfish and plants, in ways that do not harm our oceans. Dynamic Planet is an investor in Aqua-Spark and helps promote its work and portfolio of companies.
Fish 2.0 has been building competitions in challenging, fun and interactive ways to improve small and medium-size enterprise models and learn how to successfully approach investors. In turn, investors who participate in Fish 2.0 gain early access to new deals, co-investors and insights into sustainable seafood trends and opportunities. Dynamic Planet has helped promote Fish 2.0 from its first competition and works with the founders to grow the Fish 2.0 ecosystem.
For more on Sustainable Seafood Entrepreneurs & Markets: aqua-spark.nl, fish20.org
The Circulars, an initiative of the World Economic Forum and the Forum of Young Global Leaders, run in collaboration with Accenture Strategy, is the world’s premier circular economy award program. The award recognizes individuals and organizations across the globe that are making notable contributions to the circular economy in the private sector, public sector and society. The annual awards are hosted at the World Economic Forum’s Annual Meeting in Davos.
Human industry has been in full swing for little over a century, yet it has brought about a decline in almost every ecosystem on the planet. Nature doesn’t have a design problem. People do.
William McDonough,
Architect, Designer and Author
Nature is the ultimate circular economy. Everything in nature has a design, purpose and use in the ecosystem. Nothing is wasted. Increasingly troubled by all the waste across various industries, and the toll it was taking on the environment and the human spirit, Dynamic Planet has helped facilitate The Circulars since 2015. We have connected groups to innovations in waste, water and energy management on islands and coastlines. Thoughtful recycling and upcycling take pressure off the wild and the demand for virgin materials. We would like to starve landfills and the ocean of trash, because right now wildlife is starving from that trash. The poisons from poor waste management including plastics are also directly affecting human health.
For more on The Circulars: thecirculars.org
The ocean adds $2.5 trillion each year to the global economy, feeds 3 billion people, is home to more than half the world’s species, produces half the planet’s oxygen and absorbs a quarter of all carbon dioxide emissions. And it is greatly in peril. Many of the dire problems the ocean now faces – overfishing, pollution, uncontrolled coastal development, coral reef dieback and some of the severe consequences of a changing climate – are market and governance failures. Done right, however, a new sustainable ocean economy can provide lasting growth and prosperity.
To build a sustainable ocean economy, we must stop the degradation of the world’s marine ecosystems and improve the environmental status of the oceans. This will require action from all of us.
Erna Solberg,
Prime Minister of Norway, co-chair of the
High Level Panel for a Sustainable Ocean Economy
Norway and the Republic of Palau co-chair the High Level Panel for a Sustainable Ocean Economy, which includes 14 sitting heads of state, to address these issues. The High Level Panel has commissioned research on evidence-based solutions to the ocean crises and how to address them. This will include a series of “Blue Papers” by global experts exploring issues such as sustainable fisheries, ocean-based energy solutions and tourism, as well as new approaches to marine protected areas and ocean finance. The papers will inform an action-oriented report to be released in 2020. An advisory network of corporations, multi-laterals and NGOs will also work to embed the recommendations into the ocean industry to shift towards a sustainable ocean economy. Dynamic Planet is a strategic advisor to the Secretariat, housed at the World Resources Institute, and assists in supporting and facilitating the work of the High Level Panel.
For more on Sustainable Ocean Economy: oceanpanel.org
