EDITORIAL
5,000 black rhinos are counted today on the African continent, twelve times less than in the 70s. These animals slaughtered for their horn embody the savagery of poaching. Their horn - supposed to have anti-cancer and aphrodisiac properties - costs 50,000 euros per kilo and is mainly sold on the Chinese market. But finance could come to their aid, as our journalist Jean-Pierre Montanay explains in "Waiting for tomorrow", on Europe 1.
"We think we're dreaming, the white-collar workers of the city!" The principle is to speculate on the rise of the rhinoceros population in the next five years, so creditors lend money to donors who have more and more trouble If the population of 800 rhinos in parts of Kenya and South Africa continues to decline or stagnate tomorrow, creditors will lose the loaned money, but if the rhino population increases investors who have taken the risk of saving them will get an interest.
The return on this financial product is therefore directly related to the measures taken in the field to combat poaching. It is the British firm Conservation Capital, which innovates to finance the conservation of biodiversity, which hides behind this montage. This five-year, $ 50-million "Rhino-Bond" green bond will be launched as early as 2020.
Investors ready to take out their dollars to save the jungle?
Me, in their place I would take the risk. Especially since they are not asked to play the patrons to the bottom. What a golden opportunity for these investors to redo an image: to go from predator to protector of the planet while pocketing dividends. It's all good! And then, considering the state of the fauna, the English firm has the embarrassment of the choice to launch new obligations. Why not the Shark loan? The tiger loan? The Gorilla loan ... "