The Arc Must Wear More than a ‘Green Badge’
Four part Q&A with Rich Stockdale, Managing Director, Oxygen Conservation
1. How did Oxygen Conservation come about, and what is your mission?
Oxygen Conservation’s purpose is to take forward conservation projects that are commercially viable, generating a positive financial and environmental return on investment. Philanthropy can only take us so far, and as the world is burning there is no time for procrastination. There is no time for fighting: we need to get on with delivering what’s best for the planet.
We want to x100 the conservation we’re currently undertaking and do what Google did with technology and scale and apply it to climate and environment initiatives. Larry Fink, the CEO of Blackrock, recently wrote that the next 1,000 unicorn companies will be in climate technology, and the opportunity this presents is extraordinary.
We’re fully funded for the acquisition of 20 sites nationally, covering tens of thousands of acres, each with a different landscape character, geology, habitat, and environmental legacy. We’re protecting what’s special by removing threats and dangers to their ecological and environmental balance, be that invasive species, or the wrong type of land management; overexploitation, underutilisation, and creating the right environment to make a positive return on that investment.
These sites will still be accessible to the community, many even more so than before. Instead, we’re stimulating the local economy by providing employment in conservation activities while still enabling the land to be sustainably and regeneratively farmed by those who are custodians of the environment.
Our model for revenue generation is to build and grow our natural capital stock, putting financial value to the socio-economic benefits that the natural environment gives to local communities. By looking after the land in the right way, with the right selection of enterprise in the space, we can make it commercially viable to both protect and enhance the environment.
This doesn’t mean planting trees everywhere and anywhere. We must treat land individually, in the same way we would any person we meet and respect their unique characteristics. This might mean a mixture of agriculture, productivity, eco-tourism, production of natural capital products/services, carbon sequestration and compensation. Focussing solely on maximising carbon capture risks creating monoculture at the expense of wider habitat improvement.
Doing the right thing is the foundation upon which we have built our business.
2. No one ecosystem of local habitat within the UK is the same. How do you work with local stakeholders to identify the most pressing conservation requirements and foster meaningful collaboration?
We do a lot of listening. ‘Partnership’ within this sector is a buzzword, and in the practice, this can be top-down where landowners will only want their version of events to play out. ‘Partnership’ should mean active engagement, inviting local stakeholders as well as custodians of the environment like natural parks, trusts, and ecological management in to talk about the challenge.
Experts are drawn into these networks that we create. With good intentions come good people with an intimate knowledge about hyper-local geographies. This in turn creates positive feedback loops where we’ll share opportunities with other conservation groups across the country.
Be prepared to ask a lot of questions and appreciate that you may be wrong about how to manage any one natural site. The Oxygen Conservation model allows each geography across a mosaic of habitats to do what it does best, while communicating with local groups to maximise the natural capital mix we administer.
3. The Oxford-Cambridge Arc is our opportunity to create a standard-bearer for decarbonisation, carbon sequestration, biodiversity and genuine conservation. How can your experience and approach be applied to the 'Green' Arc?
The reason why our partners want to work with Oxygen Conservation is that we are authentic, true, and complete in our approach. When we say we care, we need to be absolutely consistent in what we say is appropriate for any local environment, especially as people are so acutely aware of greenwashing.
In the Arc, there is a certain cynicism when talking to its ‘green’ credentials. It can be an afterthought at times, which dilutes public trust. Some of the terminology used, like biodiversity, doesn’t mean much on the ground It needs to be communicated clearly what to be ‘green’ means in practice, what this entails, and then it needs to be lived and breathed, and demonstrable from more than just offsetting.
Tree planting cannot be arbitrary. Land management strategies must be informed by local geography. Environment impact means putting in green infrastructure first to ensure that any subsequent development is shaped by these parameters. The Arc cannot be an infrastructure project clothed in a green t-shirt – we need to bring the excitement back in through an articulated vision which goes beyond merely ‘more of what we already do’.
4. What are the greatest challenges from a conservation perspective, and how can the products Oxygen Conservation is creating be easily adopted across the Arc?
People find the concept of ‘environment’ challenging, daunting, and they want simplicity. There’s a lot of contradictory information and a lot of snake oil salesman, while others pedalling ‘decarbonisation’ do so to profit financially. Misinformation is readily apparent in the case of carbon credits associated with hydropower systems, which are sold as a positive thing despite destroying river habitats. Even the most well-intentioned people can find it hard to do the right thing.
Because ‘green’ will come at a premium, everything will start off more expensive. There will be challenges with budgets, reporting and procurement issues, and inflationary pressures, which will test our collective commitment. Policymakers will need to compromise to ensure alignment, and this won’t be easy, not least in the Arc.
The intention of our product offering is to drive the right market behaviours. Many companies talk about social value and environmental impact, but monitoring is limited, and local collaboration is not encouraged. Companies may also only focus on one element; they may.not see the wood for the trees, and risk perpetuating existing problems. We want environment infrastructure to come first, and look to work with people who share the same ethos – in the same way that the Arc must set genuine standards around restoration and conservation.
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