It was great to take part in a panel discussion at last month’s Impact Investment Summit Asia Pacific. Our topic was Conservation Finance: Impact Investment & Custodianship. http://www.impactinvestmentsummit.com/
It left me thinking about the word ‘custodianship’.
Governments can’t protect this country’s areas of wilderness on their own and, in my opinion, they shouldn’t have to. It’s every Australian’s moral obligation to participate in the protection of this extraordinary country we have the privilege of inhabiting – in the same way the First Nations People have been doing for more than 80,000 years.
On day 1 of the summit, Justin Dillon from FRDM (check it out here: https://frdm.co/) gave an eye-opening delivery on the prevalence of modern slavery in the supply chain of the goods we consume every day. As an Australian it’s hard to conceptualise our role in this and how one individual could effect change but as a consumer, in a capitalist society, in a booming economy, collectively we hold a lot power.
We can all be custodians by making better choices:
- Who do we bank with?
- Who is our super with?
- Are our investments green?
- Can we switch to a green energy provider?
- Can we participate in micro-philanthropy through our work?
- What is the impact of our holidays?
I’d love to say that my household ticks all the above boxes. It doesn’t……we’re at about 50%. The thought of making these sorts changes is pretty daunting because it requires a sh*tload of admin; probably a full day of admin (as well as a lot of ongoing awkwardness as every direct debit bounces for the next 3 months), but that’s not a good enough reason.
So, as a consumer in Australia, can we act as custodians by understanding the impact of our choices and making better ones? I think the answer is yes. It won’t solve everything but it’s a pretty good place to start.