This emerging crop of eco-capitalists are hip to one fact that the likes of Little Johnny Howard have yet to cotton on to: in the future, the real money will be in those markets indexed to the health of Mother Nature.
This Wired feature article eyes one of the big nascent markets for eco-capitalists - natural services.
"People understand the economic value of nature's goods because we constantly pay for them: seafood, timber, copper, cut flowers, natural gas. But nature also provides services that stabilize spaceship Earth. Insects pollinate crops, wooded hillsides purify water, trees sequester CO2, and wetlands buffer cities against storm surges. How much are those services worth? Who knows. They've always been free, or treated as such. Nature has never submitted an invoice.
"As the new age of environmental awareness dawns, people and governments are starting to put a dollar value on these services. In practice, that means paying to protect the land where services are most concentrated. And whoever owns the land can reap the profits."
Most of the world's major investment institutions aren't backing the eco-capitalists just yet. Which means the real value of natural services has yet to be adequately appraised.
Read the article to find out who's putting their money into natural services, available at a discount price for a limited time only.
Words: Sarah Barns
Image: Mauricio Alejo featured by Wired.