Blue Dot Brief, Issue 2
A concise email update for busy impact investors who want to enable regenerative living on Earth. From the Blue Dot Project.
Word count: 1,094.
Reading time: About 5 min.
ABOUT THE BLUE DOT BRIEF
This is the second issue of the Blue Dot Brief, brought to you by the Blue Dot Project.
Twice monthly, the Blue Dot Brief covers topics related to investing in regenerative culture and community.
Please visit this page for more on the goals and purpose of the Blue Dot Brief.
IN THIS ISSUE
Hedging strategies for today’s impact investors: Think in Bets and Invest in Systems, by Eduardo Esparza
Blue Dot Project Podcast: An audio tour of two regenerative real-estate projects in the Pacific Northwest region of the United States.
Friends and partners: Terrenity, a great publication about building successful regenerative villages, is open to new subscribers.
In case you missed it: How much will climate change drag down the economy?
Resources: Reimagining ways to finance regeneration of our planet
ARTICLE
Urgent hedging strategies for today's impact investors: Think in bets. Invest in systems
by Eduardo Esparza, founder and CEO of the Blue Dot Project
The world faces great uncertainty from the convergence of several crises.
Investors can’t stash their money under a mattress until our current storms blow over. These storms won’t blow over. So investors have to put their money somewhere, or they risk losing it to inflation.
Why it matters
Even amid the world’s current uncertainties, impact investors can hedge their risks by investing in projects that enable regenerative living. But to achieve favorable risk-adjusted returns and long-lasting results, investors must think differently.
Dig deeper
In this second of a series of articles, I suggest that investors must “think in bets” and invest in systems rather than in small initiatives of limited scope in the assets classes they’re most comfortable with.
You can read the full second article in the series here.
BLUE DOT PROJECT PODCAST
Regenerative real estate: 2 Earth-friendly projects on Puget Sound open to impact investors
Take an audio tour of two innovative regenerative real estate projects in the Pacific Northwest region of the United States.
Join Neal Collins, cofounder of Latitude Regenerative Real Estate Development, on the Blue Dot Project Podcast (Season 2, Episode 5) as he talks about two regenerative projects his firm recently opened to investment partners.
Salish Sea Farms is new mixed-use community at Point Roberts, Washington. The project restores a neglected farm to use regenerative growing methods. It also includes a new neighborhood with up to 250 homes, a hotel with three farm-to-table restaurants, and a commercial center.
The Marrowstone Inn is a hospitality project located on Marrowstone Island in Puget Sound, about 35 miles (55 km) north and west of Seattle, Washington.
The project will restore an abandoned seacoast inn and will sustainably grow oysters, shellfish, and seaweed to be served to diners at the hotel’s restaurant.
Why it matters
Regenerative real estate development is different from conventional real estate development in four key ways. Impact investors who want to fund regenerative projects will benefit from understanding the differences this episode explores.
Future episodes
Season 2, Episode 6. In July’s podcast episode, you’ll meet Zen Honeycutt. She is founder of Moms Across America, a group that aims to improve public health and the natural environment. She does so by promoting the benefits of regenerative-organic methods of food production. Her efforts are helping to grow the global market for foods produced regeneratively.
FRIENDS AND PARTNERS
Terrenity offers insights on building successful regenerative communities
Nicole Reese describes her periodical Terrenity as a guide to “practical village building in a modern context: how to design, build, and operate regenerative communities, ecovillages, and startup societies.”
Nicole has been studying regenerative villages for more than six years and is well plugged into trends and a growing network of people who follow this topic. Terrenity’s issues are full of resources, including helpful lists, that will save you a lot of time researching this field.
Nicole is a partner of the Blue Dot Project. She’s working on a commissioned project to define standards for certification of regenerative communities.
Terrenity offers both free and paid subscriptions. Get it on Substack here.
IN CASE YOU MISSED IT
How much will climate change drag down the economy?
Economists agree that climate change will cause severe damages and costs. But will extreme weather events impose a series of one-time costs on economies? Or will they put a long-term drag on the economies they affect?
Dana Nucitelli considers the answers to these questions in an article that appears in Yale Climate Connections (July 1, 2024.)
About three-quarters of climate economists think extreme weather events are likely to weigh down economies for a long time. This is according to a 2021 study Nuticelli cites from The Institute of Policy Integrity at the New York University School of Law. [See below.]
Why it matters
You may occasionally hear the argument that the cost of stopping climate change is too high for societies to bear, and major economies would fare better by not spending the money.
But several studies have concluded that’s not true, Nucitelli says.
Among others, he cites a 2024 study in the journal Nature. [See below.] The study estimates that by 2050 the costs of climate damage will be six times larger than the cost of reducing carbon pollution to levels consistent with targets set under the Paris climate agreement.
Dig deeper
Gauging Economic Consensus on Climate Change. Peter Howard. Derek Sylvan. March 2021. Institute of Policy Integrity. New York University School of Law. [PDF. 64 pages. Downloadable at no charge.]
“The Economic Commitment of Climate Change.” Maximilian Kotz et al. April 17, 2024. Nature [Downloadable as PDF. 20 pages. No charge.]
RESOURCES
Bioregional Financing Facilities: Reimagining Finance to Regenerate Our Planet. Samantha Power. Leon Seefeld. June 2024. [PDF. 167 pages. Downloadable at no charge.]
Bioregional Financing Facilities (BFFs) are meant to help the world transition to a regenerative economy at the bioregional level. BFFs are designed to drive decentralization of governance over financial resources. They also decentralize the design of project portfolios to achieve systemic change within bioregions.
Samantha Power is with the BioFi Project / Finance for Gaia. Leon Seefeld is with Dark Matter Labs / Dark Matter Capital Systems.
WRAP UP
That’s it for now.
If you’ve enjoyed this issue, please share it with your friends and colleagues. Also consider subscribing so you don’t miss anything in future issues.
If you have questions, comments, or suggestions, I invite you to share them in the Blue Dot Brief chat at Substack. Or email me at editor@bluedotproject.com
See you in two weeks.
Best wishes,
David Vranicar, editor