Business Insider, Theo Golden, Jan 10, 2021, 5:30 PM
- His Royal Highness The Prince of Wales announced Sunday the creation of the ‘Terra Carta’ – a charter giving businesses a roadmap to a more sustainable future.
- The charter is backed by some of the world’s biggest businesses, including: Bank of America, BlackRock, Unilever, AstraZeneca and BP.
- Prince Charles’ has also launched the new ‘Natural Capital Investment Alliance’ which aims to target $10 billion by 2022
His Royal Highness The Prince of Wales has unveiled a new sustainability charter, named “Terra Carta,” backed by leading international businesses, including Bank of America, BlackRock, Unilever, AstraZeneca and BP.
The charter, designed by Apple’s former Chief Design Officer Sir Jony Ive, is a 10-point roadmap to 2030 for businesses, supporting the likes of the Paris Climate Agreement. With nearly 100 actions for businesses, the plan should act as a “basis of a recovery plan that puts Nature, People and Planet at the heart of global value creation,” according to a press release. Each actor was given a framework for their individual plans, it said.
This publication is the latest endeavour by Prince Charles to support sustainable practices in the private sector, following his speech at Davos in January 2020 and the creation the Sustainable Markets Initiative.
“The ‘Terra Carta’ offers the basis of a recovery plan that puts Nature, People and Planet at the heart of global value creation – one that will harness the precious, irreplaceable power of Nature combined with the transformative innovation and resources of the private sector,” HRH The Prince of Wales will say at a One Planet Summit event.
One of the initiative’s aims is to drive investment into Nature-based and engineered solutions that address the climate and biodiversity crises. To that end, Prince Charles’ SMI created the Natural Capital Investment Alliance, which seeks to increase natural capital allocation by $10 billion by 2022.
Natural capital is the term used to describe the stock of combined resources that make human life on Earth possible. For example, plants, animals, minerals, soil, air and water.
The alliance, founded alongside HSBC Pollination, Lombard Odier and Mirova, will also pursue natural capital investment through corporate offsetting and carbon pricing prospects.
Terra Carta’s supporters already include some of the biggest businesses in the world, with Brian Moynihan, Bank of America’s CEO and Chairman, calling it “a comprehensive roadmap for the private sector to help drive toward a sustainable future.”
“By aligning development objectives within our operating models the private sector can marshal the resources that will be needed to reach the development goals. HRH Prince of Wales’s leadership and commitment has created a spirit of possibility that business leaders are proud to join,” he added.
The charter’s commitments include:
- Commit to rapidly accelerating the world’s transition towards a sustainable future.
- Recognize that ensuring the integrity of all ecosystems, on land and under water, requires that climate, oceans, desertification and biodiversity be treated as one common system and addressed simultaneously.
- Acknowledge that we need to make health our goal; individual health, community health, economic health and the health of our Natural resources (e.g. soil, air and water).
- Recognize the importance of ‘local’ – local traditions and culture, local products, local jobs and local sustainability – and how these ‘locals’ connect and support each other in the wider tapestry of regional and global systems.
- Acknowledge that Nature underpins the inherent prosperity, wellbeing and future of all people and the one planet we share. Further, that the restoration of the natural world is of common benefit to all humankind irrespective of borders.
- Acknowledge that the required global trajectory is a sustainable one, where the private sector has a critical role to play. To accelerate along this trajectory, a ‘future of industry’ and ‘future of economy’ approach must be taken.
- Take into account the need to ensure a skilled workforce and cadre of leaders that are prepared to participate in a fair, equitable and just transition towards a sustainable future.
- Recognize that to scale sustainable solutions and investment, cross-border and longer-term ‘mega’ projects need to be explored underscoring the importance of public, private and philanthropic collaboration.
- Acknowledge the need for net zero commitments to be achieved by 2050 or sooner. Setting more ambitious timelines, such as 2035, emphasizes and catalyzes immediate action, continuous innovation and improvement.
- Undertake to collaborate, share knowledge and ideas to propel the world towards sustainability at a faster pace through public, private and philanthropic collaboration.
Initial Supporters of the Terra Carta include: AstraZeneca, Fidelity International, Bank of America, freuds, Jony Ive/LoveFrom, Refinitiv, Manyone, Heathrow Airport, Coutts, IIGCC, HSBC, Schroders, EY, BP, Macquerie, State Street, Pollination, Lombard Odier, Mirova, Drax Group, Eurasia Resources Group, EFI, Compass Group, ReNew Power, Polymateria, CCm Technologies, Lanzatech.
