The Finance for Biodiversity Foundation welcomes Peter Elwin as team member
We are happy to welcome Peter Elwin, a new team member who will join the Finance for Biodiversity Foundation as Director of Corporate Engagement and Research, to the secretariat. In this short interview, Peter shares information about himself.
Contact: peter.elwin@financeforbiodiversity.org
Connect with Peter on LinkedIn
Where are you living?
I live south of London, near Gatwick airport, in the heart of the English countryside.
What is your study background?
I started by studying Politics and Economics but grew frustrated with the standard economics assumption that perpetual growth within planetary boundaries was a realistic basis for thinking about the world. However, financial need overcame my theoretical concerns, and I trained as an accountant before moving into financial training. I have also gained a Diploma from the UK Securities Institute (similar to the CFA) and passed various regulatory exams that taught me the settlement period for German government bonds (among other things).
Where were you working before you came here?
For the last four years, I have worked for Planet Tracker, another finance-focused NGO, as Director of Fixed Income and Head of their Food and Land Use programme. My work there focused on sustainable finance and natural capital. It involved helping financial institutions to understand the risks arising from the climate and nature threats to the global food system and the investment opportunities relating to transforming it into a system that provides sufficient healthy food to a growing population while helping to solve the nature and climate crises that threaten it.
What makes you excited about working at the Finance for Biodiversity Foundation?
Humanity is under severe threat due to our linear, extraction-based economy, which drives the conjoined climate and nature crises forward at an ever-increasing pace. Our collective welfare depends on reversing biodiversity loss and reducing our GHG emissions. The Finance for Biodiversity Foundation is crucial in supporting and motivating financial institutions to address this issue. It’s a privilege to have the opportunity to be a part of this process.
Although the pace of change often feels too slow, there are encouraging signs of collective action from regulators, standard setters, NGOs, and companies – and financial institutions are an essential part of this process. FfB’s focus on empowering and enabling financial institutions to address biodiversity loss through investment decisions and engagement with companies creates a powerful lever to support and accelerate this change. I’m excited to join an exceptional team and contribute to this essential work.
Where does your interest in biodiversity come from?
It would be easy to say I grew up surrounded by countryside and was always fascinated by nature, but while that is true, my passion for reversing biodiversity loss and integrating nature into finance has increased as I’ve delved deeper into the potential solutions to our climate crisis and the ramifications of our excessive resource consumption and waste production.
Nature can enable humanity to thrive if we work with it rather than against it. It can feed us, clothe us, restore us mentally and emotionally, inspire our creativity, and bring a deep sense of contentment – simply because of letting nature be and being in nature. To have an economy where everyone has an opportunity to thrive, we need to move from a fossil economy to a bioeconomy to harness the regenerative power of nature and move away from the degenerative extractive patterns of the past. Portfolio managers protect their assets by diversifying – increasing biodiversity is fundamental to protecting humanity’s future. What could be more interesting than that?