Banking Nature

That the climate is changing drastically and plant and animal species are dying out at a steady rate is an ominous reality. But one man’s global ecological disaster is another man’s economic opportunity. In recent years, nature conservation has become a flourishing business sector where huge sums of money change hands and endangered organisms are transformed into financial products. In the investigative documentary , Sandrine Feydel and Denis Delestrac delve into the wondrous world of green banking. Investors buy up the habitats of endangered species and then sell them in the form of shares. The pros and cons of these remarkable developments are examined through a riveting montage of breathtaking images of nature, reflective voice-overs and interviews with bankers, economists, activists and policymakers. According to renowned economist Pavan Sukhdev, nature can best be protected by sticking a price tag on it. Nonetheless, critical thinkers like Pablo Solon see this subjecting of nature to free market forces as a "license to kill" it. After all, such quantification of an endangered status makes it financially attractive to create ecological shortages. The term "green economy" may have an idealistic ring to it, but this too could just as easily collapse like a house of cards.