Ben Goldsmith, Environmental Philanthropist: "Being Conservative and Green is the Most Natural"

UNDER REGISTRATION

• CARLOS FRESNEDA

  Environmental Correspondent

  @ cfresneda1

  London

Wednesday, October 28, 2020 - 10:45

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• Environment.

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Ben Goldsmith (London, 1980) inherited more than fame and millions from his family.

He

remembers

his uncle Teddy, founder of

and co-author of the

, as "an old prophet ahead of the times."

His father, James, was an industrialist tempted by politics (he founded the Referendum Party) who also felt in recent years "the powerful call of nature." Ben himself remembers how he used to get up at dawn with his brother Za

c to see "the awakening of the wild life" in Richmond Park, the vast park in south London that was the playground of his childhood.

Much of his inheritance went to the creation of the Menhaden Capital investment fund (dedicated to energy and resource efficiency).

Another part was destined for his 100 hectare farm in Somerset, from where he has embarked on "renaturalization" projects. Fate wanted the farm of his dreams to be the scene of the greatest of nightmares:

, in a fatal accident at the controls of an electric vehicle.

A mound of stones is now the permanent memory of his longed-for daughter and a nearby pond has become the best of therapies: total immersion in nature.

confesses Ben Goldsmith.

"It was terribly hard, I thought it was driving me crazy. That pond was largely my salvation. My greatest consolation has been family and nature.

Everything happens for a reason.

I am writing a book about the experience, I think it will be titled

"Loss and renewal") "." You cannot control the future, "was the humble lesson received by Ben Goldsmith, who in full confinement became a father again with his second wife, Jemima Jones (the couple also has two other children, Eliza and Arlo, plus two others the financier had with Kate Rothschild, Frankie and Isaac) The seven-month-old girl is called Vita Iris and she has returned the smile and enthusiasm to the environmental philanthropist, embarking on a new mission that goes even further. : "We need a spiritual and collective turn to reconnect with nature."

Goldsmith warns.

"In this sense, and despite the underlying tragedy, I believe that the pandemic has produced an" awakening "to the natural world. We have been able to breathe fully and hear the song of birds in the cities. We have felt the call of the forest and from the sea at the exit of the confinement, and there is like a wind of change on the horizon, despite the economic difficulties. "

Ideological barriers

His other workhorse is trying to break down ideological barriers.

"I cannot understand how there are conservatives who refuse to defend the environment claiming that this is the territory of the left", emphasizes the British financier, promoter of the Conservative Environmental Network since 2012.

"What's more, I think being a conservative and an environmentalist is the most natural thing to do," says Goldsmitth.

"It is part of our essence:" to preserve "for future generations. For example, the name of Theodore Roosevelt comes to mind, a republican and at the same time a lover of nature, known even today as the" conservationist president ", for having preserved more than 60 million hectares for national parks and protected forests in the United States. "Following in the wake of his uncle Teddy, Ben Goldsmith supported Caroline Lucas's Green Party, convinced as he was of the need to give a voice to ecology in the British Parliament.

Today, 89 deputies

tories

They already belong to the Conservative Environmental Network, which in their opinion says a lot about how the message is penetrating beyond the dividing lines between parties: "Our idea is to extend the network to countries with highly established conservative parties such as the United States, Canada, Australia and even Spain ".

Your link with Spain

With our country, he confesses, he has felt an emotional bond for years: from the presence of Luciano Suana Alves as a right-hand man in Menhaden to support for environmental projects in southern Spain and the Balearic Islands, passing through the family farm in the vicinity of Ronda and the incursions in Pola de Somiedo (Asturias) equipped with the usual binoculars to see bears.

"Spain is the most beautiful and diverse country in Europe"

, Goldsmith sentence, with his Spanish learned in school.

"I am a convinced Hispanophile and I go whenever I can. I have traveled many times by train, from London to Paris and from there to Madrid and Malaga. I supported the designation as a natural park of the Sierra de las Nieves with Ecologists in Action. involved in programs such as A Deslambrar in Andalusia or with the Entretantos foundation ". At this point, Goldsmith wants to break a spear for the project of the Valencian biologist Ignacio Jiménez in Tres Reinos:" It is worrying that an initiative of this environmental value is being misrepresented for political interests. I believe that projects like this are totally necessary to revitalize empty Spain and build a bridge between conservation and tourist and historical interest. "And so we arrived at the Balearic Islands, consciously chosen by another of Ben Goldsmith's ramifications : the Conservation Collective Network, the network of local foundations to fund environmental projects on islands as close or distant as the Aeolian, the Cyclades, B

arbados or Saint Vincent and the Grenadines "

All these islands, apart from their beauty, have something in common: there are foreign people with a lot of money and local people with great ideas "

Goldsminth emphasizes.

"Since we started in Ibiza and Formentera more than ten years ago (and more recently in Mallorca and Menorca) my goal has been to link those who have large properties on the islands with projects that make a difference with contributions of 20,000 or 30,000 euros. The beauty of environmental philanthropy is that you can move mountains with little money. "His link with the islands has been woven through projects such as the protection of posidonia by biologist Manu San Félix:" Posidonia seagrass beds are the real secret of the Mediterranean and the great bioindicator of water quality ... We have worked on the protection of marine areas, with the involvement of fishermen, and then on land in the ban on single-use plastics and the promotion of local production. "" We have helped create a sustainability observatory to measure the impact of tourism and minimize its impact, "says Goldsmith.

"Responsible tourism with nature will continue to add value to the islands. That is why it is important to involve the hotel sector and restaurants in the change. What we cannot continue with is the predatory tourism that has prevailed until now". Goldsmith admits that the islands are at a critical point due to the decline in tourism during the pandemic, and that this is surely the time to drive change.

Through the three foundations, projects worth more than 1.5 million euros have been promoted in the last decade, although the last budget exceeds half a million and aspires to grow in the coming years, as does the Conservation network From Pakistan and Sri Lanka to the shores of Devon, the Collective Network, on his own land, Ben Goldsmith serves as an advisor to the Department of Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra).

His closeness to Michael Gove, at the forefront of Brexit preparations, has earned him a vital role in future Agriculture and Environmental laws.

In favor of Brexit

Goldsmith does not hide that he voted in favor of leaving the EU in the 2016 referendum ... "I did it mainly because of my opposition to the ruinous and ecocidal Common Agricultural Policy (CAP).

The EU's agricultural subsidy policy has been tremendously destructive

.

We are paying farmers to destroy nature and we continue to create a perverse incentive. "" Our future farm bill will aim the opposite, "he says." We are going to incentivize farmers to introduce sustainable practices and regenerative agriculture, under the principle "public money for the common good".

Instead of lowering environmental protections, we will go further and I trust that the European Commission will end up copying us, that it will be the beginning of a peaceful "arms" race for the restoration of nature. "The Government of Boris Johnson, warns , has undertaken an increasingly palpable green turn, not only because of the role in the shadow of his brother Zac, but also because of the influence of Stanley Johnson ("architect of the EU environmental protections") and Carrie Symonds ("environmentalist convinced ").

"Under a conservative government, this country is saying goodbye to coal

and is committed to supplying wind power to all British households by 2030, "says Goldsmith." We are going to make a big effort with initiatives to

rewilding

like the reintroduction of beavers.

Next year we have a great opportunity to demonstrate our environmental commitment at COP26 in Glasgow.

We have to raise the volume of nature, that's what we're doing. "

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