What is nature worth? How much profit can it report? At a time when biodiversity is critically threatened, this documentary reveals how banks and private investors are increasingly converting natural resources into objects of financial speculation. “Nature, le nouvel eldorado de la finance” (“Banking Nature”) shines a spotlight on the mechanisms of a nascent system that could end up as a manifestation of global hypocrisy. Through interviews with financiers, economic experts and academics, the film contrasts opposing points of view and presents numerous concrete examples of communities and natural environments threatened by these new practices. It reveals the vast panorama of interests at stake and lobby groups at work in the “new” field of natural capital, and questions the values defended by those who put a price on nature. It also warns that speculation and the crash of these new markets could provoke a new financial crisis.
“Banking Nature” can be viewed online on February 3 at 20:50 (France) on the Arte France website: www.arte.tv.
The 88-minute documentary will be freely available online for a week.
