Can capitalism and celebrities help save our oceans?

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Industrial capitalism is a major driver of climate change and environmental degradation. But for one marine biologist, it also holds the solution to these problems.

The belief that capitalism can help protect the planet led scientist Nina Jensen to end her 15-year career at the World Wildlife Fund to become Chief Executive Officer of REV Ocean, a project which aims to use a state-of-the-art research and expedition vessel to collect scientific data about the health of our seas.

The yacht, which is currently under construction, will also open its gangway to the wealthy and the influential: by showing them the plight of marine life firsthand, Jensen believes she can convince them to become advocates for the ocean.

“Unless we can get capitalism, big industrial players and the corporate sector to play alongside and take their responsibility, we’re not going to have the impact that we need,” Jensen tells Bloomberg TV’s Francine Lacqua in the latest episode of Leaders with Lacqua Goes Green, sponsored by Zurich Insurance Group (Zurich).

Action to reduce greenhouse gas emissions must be “immediate, rapid and large scale” if we want to achieve the limits on global warming targeted by the Paris Agreement, according to the latest Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) Report, released in August.

The IPCC Report sounds the alarm on the current direction of climate change, but also says humans still have the potential to determine the future of the planet.

“Businesses have a responsibility to take an active role in protecting our planet,” says Johanna Köb, Head of Responsible Investment at Zurich. “The private sector has the power to make a significant, positive impact on the planet if we act in unison.”

Zurich manages approximately 200 billion U.S. dollars of own assets, for which it has a climate target of net-zero emissions by 2050. In March, the insurer announced interim climate targets for these investments as well as for its operations. Zurich also pledged to help finance the transition to a net-zero emissions economy and to require the companies it invests in to set targets aligned with the Paris Agreement.

“Investing can be a useful tool to incentivize environmentally-friendly behaviors among investee companies, as well as disincentivize practices that are harmful to the environment,” Köb says.

Threats to the ocean

In Jensen’s view, the ocean is the most important natural asset we have and it’s also the asset most in need of protection. Oceans cover about 70 percent of the surface of the planet, provide us more than half of the oxygen we breathe, and are also a source of food, energy, water and livelihoods, she says in the Bloomberg interview.

Yet climate change, overfishing and plastic pollution are taking a toll on our seas. With more than 40 percent of life in the ocean lost in the last 40 years, Jensen says, it’s clear we need to pay greater attention to – and invest in – the future of our waters.

“Of course, I see the impact we can have as environmental activists,” Jensen tells Bloomberg. “But it’s not enough in terms of the challenges that we’re facing.”

That’s why REV Ocean, founded by Norwegian billionaire businessman Kjell Inge Røkke, plans to invite the wealthy and powerful to join expeditions and become “part of the solution”. At the top of the wish list are actor and former wrestler Dwayne ‘The Rock’ Johnson, U.S. President Joe Biden and Chinese President Xi Jinping, Jensen says.

“We’re quickly running out of time,” Jensen says in the Bloomberg interview. “But I feel confident that when we get an increasing number of philanthropists, investors and the business sector engaged in fixing the problems of the ocean that we can actually do it.”

Further information

Read about Zurich’s climate commitment
Zurich’s Sustainability Report 2020

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