The Cornerstone
January 2016
Journal of Sustainable
Finance and Banking
Volume III Issue 1
SM
Global Market Strategy
Regional and Sector Strategy: Monthly Update
Michael Geraghty … p. 13
Japan’s Corporate Governance Reform: Powerful
Driver of Earnings Growth
Michael Geraghty… p. 14
Global Sector Research
Are YieldCos Looking After Their Investors?
Sebastian Vanderzeil, Michael Shavel … p. 15
“Legitimacy” in the Banking Sector
Michael Shavel, with Robert D. Lamb, PhD, & Diane
Glossman, CFA, Cornerstone Capital Group Global
Advisory Council … p. 16
Regional Imperatives
Managing Chaos: Legitimacy and Institutional
Revision in Argentina
Delfina Lopez Freijido, Miguel Ferreyra de Bone,
Acrux Partners … p. 24
Reimagining the Private Sector Role Post-Conflict
and in Anti-Terrorism
Andrew MacLeod, Kings College London … p. 26
Enhanced Analytics
Ordering the Unknown
Katherine Collins, Honeybee Capital … p. 29
Accelerating Impact
Health as a Business Tool
Shahnaz Radjy, The Vitality Group, Daniel Malan,
University of Stellenbosch Business School … p. 31
Food, Farms and Forests: The Chaos of Fear and
High Expectations
Julie Lerner, PanXchange … p. 33
Philanthropy, Markets and Transparency
Bradford K. Smith, The Foundation Center … p. 36
“Order & Chaos”
©Lightspring/Shutterstock
Sustainable Editorial
A Call for Chaos
Steven Nelson, The Calhoun School … p. 39
Ordered Chaos in Learning
Babur Habib, Entrepreneur … p. 41
Understanding Natural Order and Environmental
Chaos via Photography
Alexandra Garcia, Int’l League of Conservation
Photographers … p. 43
Sustainable Editorial
Understanding Natural Order and Environmental Chaos via Photography
By Alexandra Garcia, Executive Director, International League of Conservation Photographers
Clear cuts in the Rogue River area of Oregon. O&C Lands Expedition with
Pew Charitable Trusts. ©Garth Lenz/iLCP
Last December, world, corporate, and
environmental leaders from around the
globe met in Paris for COP21. Together,
they sought to create some sense of order
amidst the chaos humans have engendered
because of our dependence on fossil fuels
with an agreement that lays the
groundwork for international cooperation
on addressing and mitigating against
climate change. As aspirational as this
document is, I believe that its long-term
successful implementation will be in great
part due to the contributions of
conservation photographers from around
the world who strive tirelessly to document
the state of our planet. How can this be?
Well, we know for a fact that the average person is not going to wade through
dense reports analyzing years of rising CO2 levels. Because let’s face it, though
they are critical for providing scientific proof of climate change, they are not
exactly thrilling reading for most of us. And yet, successful conservation
depends on humans changing their behavior, and change at a scale large enough
to have any real impact on climate change is
going to take action by millions of everyday
people – folks like you and me who aren’t
likely to read those reports.
So how can we best educate global
audiences about the chaos we are imposing
on the beautiful, complex, and inherent
order of nature? Whether on the web,
television, or in print – it is only through
still and video imagery that people can best
understand what is happening to our planet.
This is where the International League of
Conservation Photographers comes in. Our
league comprises an elite international
Rusty-patched bumble bee (Bombus affinis) on a Joe Pye weed (Eutrochium
cadre of wildlife, nature and culture
sp). Without close examination, one might assume that all bees perform the
photographers, each of whom has
same functions, when in fact, each species has a distinct role. Vanishing
Species Campaign with the Endangered Species Coalition. ©Clay Bolt/iLCP.
demonstrated a deep commitment to saving
the special species and places that grace our
planet. We believe that the best way to understand the extent of desecration of
forests by clear-cutting in places like southwest Oregon is through an
extraordinary aerial image. Similarly it is only through macro photography, an
January 2016 / Cornerstone Journal of Sustainable Finance & BankingSM / 43
extreme close-up technique, that we can show the fragile interdependence
between the tiny and highly threatened rusty-patched bumblebee and the
plants that depend on it for pollination. Whether at vast or minuscule scale, the
natural world relies on a system that has taken millennia to develop, and
photography is one of the best tools to help us appreciate the important role of
each creature and place in it.
Of course, our photographers also point
their lenses to the beautiful order of nature
as it exists in places that we have not yet
damaged or that have been protected
through sound conservation practices.
Who of us could imagine the fantastical
beauty of mangroves below the water’s
surface? After all, most of us will never
snorkel amongst their tangled roots to
witness the incubation of thousands of baby
fish or how mangroves protect seashore
communities from the ravages of violent
tropical storms.
iLCP is best known for our Conservation
Photography Expeditions, which we
Mangrove tree underwater. Danajon Bank, Philippines Expedition with Project
Seahorse and the London Zoological Society. ©Michael Ready/iLCP.
undertake with local, national and
international conservation organizations to
produce images that fully capture the threats and opportunities faced by
communities whose environments and cultural traditions are in peril from
activities like mining, clear-cutting, poaching, overfishing, or any other
behavior that is ruled by a basic disregard for the fundamental order that exists
in the natural world. Our partners use these images to communicate the need
and value of their efforts to donors, funders, beneficiaries, local communities,
and the general public.
There is no doubt that politicians and policy makers must lay the groundwork
to enable all of us to cope with, adapt, and address human impact on a large
scale. In the end, however, it is everyday people who are going to have care
enough to do the heavy lifting. But, as it is really hard for most of us to care
about something we don’t know – and we can’t know everything firsthand—we
must rely on images to help us grasp what is at stake, whether in our immediate
neighborhood or somewhere on the other side of the world.
iLCP ensures that conservation imagery can be used to inspire caring and even
more importantly, action. We do so not only through our Expeditions, but also
with our Image Licensing Services and with WiLDSPEAK, an annual
symposium in Washington, DC, which explores how extraordinary visual media
can contribute to impactful science communications and positive conservation
outcomes.
Alexandra Garcia is Executive Director of the International League of
Conservation Photographers.
44 / Cornerstone Journal of Sustainable Finance & BankingSM / January 2016