How have approaches and strategies within sustainable forestry investment changed over the years? What new opportunities and co-benefits are available in addition to the stability and resilience these assets provide? Managing Director of Timberland Investor Relations Michael Strzelecki, CFA, took a deep dive into the…

Manulife Investment Management’s Global Head of Institutional Colin Fitzgerald shares how nearly 40 years of experience has refined our understanding of natural capital’s potential for addressing critical environmental challenges, and why these long duration assets are a natural fit for insurance companies and pension funds…

Julie Koeninger, CFA, Managing Director and Senior Portfolio Manager for agriculture at Manulife IM, discusses her long career in sustainable agriculture investment, which has evolved alongside new products and innovative ways for investors to think about farmland real assets for The Fiftyfaces Podcast.

In a world seeking to both preserve biodiversity and decarbonise, natural capital such as forests has a lot to offer. As an asset class, it has many attractive features that can appeal to investors: steady and growing demand for wood as a sustainable raw material, predictability around the life cycle of trees, stable values…

From growing rice on Mars to developing new farming techniques here on Earth, the future of food is rapidly evolving. The global food system—spanning farms, factories, grocery stores and more—is a complex network that has far-reaching economic implications. It is also inefficient and increasingly unfit for purpose,…

Food production is heading into a period of major disruption caused by innovative technologies and a need for more sustainable practices. This is likely to include greater use of indoor vertical farms, plant-based alternatives to meat and milk, and ‘precision agriculture’, in which sensor-equipped machines are used to…

About 60 to 70 per cent of European soils are in poor condition as a result of agriculture. As the FT’s Clive Cookson explains, this has prompted the EU to introduce its first law for protecting this precious resource. But this legislation lacks legally binding targets and will be costly to implement.

Agriculture and food account for about a quarter of all climate change-inducing greenhouse gas emissions. And with production methods becoming increasingly intensive, farmers are under scrutiny like never before. Now farming faces a big question: can it become more environmentally sustainable while continuing to feed a…

New technology and AI are helping tackle the mounting problem of food waste. Start-ups that allow supermarkets to shift their pricing based on the freshness of food, digital 'twins' that help producers to monitor their food in the logistics chain and edible coatings that extend the life of produce all aim to reduce…

They were touted as the next big thing. Indoor farms growing crops year-round in controlled environments, reducing not only food miles but also the amount of land and water used. But despite significant hype and $4bn investment in vertical farming over the past five years, this sector is struggling.

MacroVoices Erik Townsend and Patrick Ceresna welcome Goehring & Rozencwajg founder Leigh Goehring to the show and the topic is an update on the formative global food crisis resulting from more of the world’s economies advancing to the point where far more people eat meat all over the world.

Tom Lyons, head of Climate for Allspring, and Chris McKnett, head of Sustainable Strategy, Stewardship, and Implementation for Allspring’s Sustainability team, discuss the impacts of a changing climate and how they’re becoming increasingly evident worldwide.

The FT's global business columnist Rana Foroohar believes globalisation has failed. In the first of three films based on her new book, 'Homecoming: the path to prosperity in a post-global world', she takes a trip across the US to see how neoliberal economic thinking has broken our food supply chains — and what…

The United Nations estimates a 70% increase in food supply is needed to feed a projected 2050 global population of 9.6 billion. With 70% of its agricultural production exported today, Australia could play an integral role in meeting increased demand from the global supply chain.

Mass timber can be less damaging to the environment than traditional construction materials, although some industry observers still have concerns over its safety and sustainability. The FT'S Helen Barrett visits several mass timber projects pushing the boundaries on scale and explores what a greener building future…

The trade in black market timber is now the third most profitable cross-border crime after counterfeiting and drug trafficking, according to Interpol. The global fraud is destroying critical forests, undermining international sanctions and decimating indigenous lands and livelihoods. But authorities are hitting back. The FT’…

Forever chemicals', the snappier name given to per and polyfluoroalkyl substances, or PFAS, can be found in countless products, ranging from semiconductors to fast food packaging. They’re also polluting our food and water and are associated with a variety of health issues. The FT’s Peggy Hollinger explores the new…

Carbon and timber value presents a spectrum of optionality: Our integrated property management team’s core focus on sustainability can enable forest carbon investment opportunities in addition to traditional timber value.

Biological charcoal, or 'biochar', is produced when organic matter, such as waste wood, is heated with little or no oxygen present. It’s based on an ancient technique designed to improve soil, but as the FT’s Clive Cookson explains, experts are looking at the feasibility of large-scale production and use as a way…

Livestock farming takes a supposedly heavy toll on the environment and excessive meat consumption can carry health risks. One idea to curb these problems is the introduction of a meat tax. But opponents claim that could put meat out of reach for poorer consumers, make farmers cut corners on animal welfare, and encourage…