What is the monetary value of a shape, color, species, culture or ecosystem service? It is very likely that this question does not have a correct answer, as there is no monetary resource in the world that can estimate how much a life or an evolutionary process that was shaped millions of years ago is worth.

I understand that it is essential that we understand that there is no condition for human life to exist without environmental quality. This passes through uncontaminated water and soil; biodiversity of all forms of life, to enable nutrient cycles and interactions essential for maintaining life; the interdependence between organisms that shape and regulate the health of ecosystems; not to mention the human cultural history that was conceived by intimate contact with nature, and is the basis of how our social interaction was shaped throughout our history as a species.

On the other hand, it is notable how the historical process of the development of our society's economy, especially in the last three centuries, introduced a form of relationship that produced an unprecedented trail of environmental degradation. Everything documented in history books. Unfortunately, in the past, we didn't know how to evolve without degrading.

Currently we should expand the concept of producing wealth, which is often used as a quantity of money, and here we can mention the Gross Domestic Product – GDP, as an example, to material wealth, such as clean water, regenerated ecosystems, landscapes, cultures and knowledge preserved and a prospect of a prosperous future life within this greater concept of wealth.

In this sense, and not just now, the term – regenerative economy – has become a concept studied by scientists from all over the world to propose paths that can lead us to this more promising scenario. But what is the regenerative economy?

The history of the regenerative economy, according to pioneering experts on the subject, who already mentioned this concept in 1945, begins with a central idea: “The principles that underlie the perpetuation of the relationship between living organisms, mineral resources, production processes considering their outputs and inputs, must be the basis for building a regenerative economy that must encourage the search for preserving health and well-being human resources in a sustainable economic model”.

Regenerative economies are those that have as a model that the generation of wealth must deliver environmental, social, economic sustainability and cultural capacity through the creation of resources, diversity, resilience and integrity of interconnected networks at all levels of society .

Most forms of life are resilient because they are marked by cycles of self-nutrition, so the regenerative economy should support the networks of human interactions on which its sustainability centers. Therefore, regeneration also determines the cycle of evolution itself and the meaning of progress. Regenerative societies need to accept the continuous cycle of becoming essential to sustaining life in the natural world.

According to experts on the subject, the task to be accomplished by companies, governments, financial institutions and policymakers is to follow the concepts that establish these healthy networks.

But are companies generally positioning themselves towards the regenerative economy? I understand that the business movement in this direction is still timid. I take the topic of climate change as an example. The most common currently is the quest to achieve – net zero carbon (carbon neutrality – net zero carbon emissions).

We must note that reaching net-zero emissions does not mean removing carbon from the atmosphere, but rather stagnation, without regeneration. To have a position consistent with regenerative practices, the focus should be towards the net positive carbon agenda – (compensating/removing more carbon from the atmosphere than was emitted).

In this sense, both the climate agenda and the conservation/regeneration/restoration of ecosystems must go hand in hand, because if we can manage production processes to reduce emissions, the removal of carbon from the atmosphere will be carried out by the planet's marine, forest and wetland ecosystems.

Companies that seek to focus on results beyond financial ones need to use ESG indicators that guide business success. The journey towards a regenerative economy is necessary and combining climate issues with biodiversity can be the beginning of this discussion. Is your company ready to think about something beyond mitigating greenhouse gas emissions?

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