soil that grows crops<\/a>, mangroves that shield cities from storm surges, oceans that generate half the oxygen we breathe and regulate the climate. But the financial world has yet to build the mechanisms, incentives, or pipelines to channel serious money into protecting it.<\/p>\n\u201cOver half of GDP depends on nature. We can\u2019t afford to keep treating it like a free resource,\u201d Hari Balasubramanian, one of The Nat\u2019s co-founders, tells me. <\/p>\n
\u201cFinance, culture or conservation alone won\u2019t solve this glaring problem. We need a bridge between them – so we want to be that bridge.\u201d<\/p>\n
Sophie Hunter, Nemomte Nenquimo, Sylvia Earle, Jane Fonda, Billie Eilish<\/p>\n
Matteo Prandoni\/BFA.comGail Gallie\u2019s gamble<\/p>\n
The team behind The Nat is small, but mighty. Alongside conservation strategist Hari Balasubramanian is institutional investor Jay Lipman, and the woman behind it all – Gail Gallie, a former BBC marketing director and cultural tour de force.<\/p>\n
Gail was sitting next to Jay one night at dinner, at the COP28 climate conference in Dubai, when she recalls her \u2018aha\u2019 moment. Jay had just told her the nature finance gap was roughly $700 billion a year. \u201cThat sounds like a lot,\u201d she said. \u201cYes – and no,\u201d he replied, \u201cit\u2019s actually less than 1% of the money in global stock markets.”<\/p>\n
That\u2019s when it hit her – this money exists, it\u2019s just waiting to be directed. <\/p>\n
When I asked Gail why a gala, why now, she laughed: \u201cBecause nature has an image problem. I wanted to take the outpouring of creativity and surprise of The Met Gala and harness it for nature. Make it modern and sexy. Think Coachella – not Womad.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cI wanted to take the outpouring of creativity and surprise of The Met Gala and harness it for nature. Make it modern and sexy. Think Coachella – not Womad.\u201d\n<\/p>\n
Coachella Festival<\/p>\n
Getty Images for Coachella<\/p>\n
She goes on, \u201cThe vernacular hasn\u2019t changed in 50 years. In the 70s, you would put the TV on and see an orchestra playing over a polar bear\u2026 <\/p>\n
It made us love the natural world, maybe, but that tactic alone doesn\u2019t work anymore. It doesn\u2019t scream modernity, let alone – investment opportunity.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cIn the 70s, you would put the TV on and see an orchestra playing over a polar bear.
\nBut that tactic alone doesn\u2019t work anymore.\u201d\n<\/p>\n
A polar bear stands on sea ice, just north of Svalbard, Norway. (Photo by Wolfgang Kaehler\/LightRocket via Getty Images)<\/p>\n
LightRocket via Getty Images<\/p>\n
Her plan is audacious, but it just might work. Markets don\u2019t just respond to science or policy – they respond to cultural shifts, which shape the norm. Crypto didn\u2019t become a trillion-dollar market because of technical white papers overnight. It became cool – it became the zeitgeist. <\/p>\n
Gail\u2019s gamble is that nature can too.<\/p>\n
From Billie Eilish to Nemonte Nenquimo<\/p>\n
On the night itself, famous faces reinforced the gravity of the moment. Billie Eilish, Jane Fonda, Al Gore, Stella McCartney, Brian Cox and Sophie Hunter all lent their words to the cause. <\/p>\n
Harrison Ford, speaking from the heart, reminded the audience that \u201cnature doesn\u2019t need people, people need nature,\u201d adding frankly, \u201cwe tell our children everything will be alright. But it\u2019s not alright.\u201d <\/p>\n
Sabrina Elba urged the room of donors and investors to \u201cchoose action over apathy,\u201d insisting that this night must be \u201cmore than a beautiful gala – it must be a turning point.\u201d <\/p>\n
Sabrina Dhowre Elba<\/p>\n
David Benthal\/BFA.com<\/p>\n
We heard rousing calls from Indigenous leaders. Nemonte Nenquimo, an activist and member of the Waorani Nation from the Amazonian Region of Ecuador, told us, \u201cI feel the climate crisis in my body. Indigenous people are the ones protecting our forests and we want to join forces with people all over the world.\u201d<\/p>\n
Hindou Oumarou Ibrahim, a Chadian environmental activist and geographer from the Mbororo pastoralist community, who works to protect indigenous rights, declared, \u201cFor indigenous people every day is The Nat gala. We think about nature every day.\u201d<\/p>\n
Nemonte Nenquimo and Harrison Ford<\/p>\n
Matteo Prandoni\/BFA.com<\/p>\n
The music? Singer-songwriter Rozzi sang about the wildfires in Los Angeles earlier this year. You could hear a pin drop when she got to the hook: \u2018orange skies that should be blue\u2019, ending on a hauntingly high note that sent shivers through the room.<\/p>\n
\u201cOrange skies that should be blue.\u201d\n<\/p>\n
For dinner, a truffle, sage and butternut \u2018caramelle\u2019 stole the show, with wild berries and mascarpone for dessert, crafted by Chef R\u014dze Traore and We Are Ona. As you might imagine, ambitious sustainability goals were at the heart of the event itself too. It might not have been obvious, but locally sourced, seasonal, veggie food, circular principles and a stringent zero-waste approach underpinned the lavish do. <\/p>\n
Singer-songwriter Rozzi Crane at The Nat Gala \/ David Benthal\/BFA.com<\/p>\n
David Benthal\/BFA.comWill it shift the dial?<\/p>\n
As I walked out into the New York night, I kept thinking about Rozzi\u2019s song, Orange Skies. It lingered more than any speech or statistic. I realised how rarely I feel the climate viscerally at the events I go to. The Nat Gala gave me that, albeit wrapped in beguiling celebrity sparkle.<\/p>\n
Inside the climate and nature sphere, we often talk to ourselves. Policy-makers, scientists, activists, journalists. The urgency is real, but the audience is narrow. <\/p>\n
\u201cTrusted messengers matter,\u201d Gail told me. \u201cFor some people that\u2019s a scientist. For others, it\u2019s Billie Eilish.\u201d<\/p>\n
The question now is whether glamour can translate into grit – into the billions needed every year to restore wetlands, protect forests, and heal oceans. The goal is to raise around $20 million from The Nat Gala – these funds will be distributed by Conservation International, UNICEF and Open Planet. <\/p>\n
But the mission is to shift the way we value nature in the long-term. Culture alone won\u2019t close the gap. But it can open the door.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Maggie Baird, Billie Eilish, Alex Wolff, Rozzi Crane Matteo Prandoni\/BFA.com When I first heard about The Nat Gala,…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":48604,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[22],"tags":[10289,3093,430,3623,390,273,246,26608,1767,111,139,69,147,42228,42229],"class_list":{"0":"post-48603","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-environment","8":"tag-billie-eilish","9":"tag-biodiversity","10":"tag-celebrities","11":"tag-celebrity","12":"tag-climate-change","13":"tag-environment","14":"tag-finance","15":"tag-jane-fonda","16":"tag-new-york","17":"tag-new-zealand","18":"tag-newzealand","19":"tag-nz","20":"tag-science","21":"tag-stella-mccartney","22":"tag-the-met-gala"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/48603","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=48603"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/48603\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/48604"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=48603"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=48603"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=48603"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
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