By Karina Cheah

Chau Tang-Duncan, co-founder and chief operating officer of Earthbanc, has been coming to Caux regularly since 2010. It was there that she first embraced the role she could have in connecting people and planet. She first presented the concept of Earthbanc (then called ‘Goodbanc’)  at the 2019 Caux Dialogue on Land and Security. ‘It’s about doing something for the earth, not doing something good,’ she explains. ‘Earthbanc is trying to reshape the whole financial ecosystem to support regenerative investment.’

Earthbanc’s other founder, Tom Duncan, took part in the 2007 Caux Scholars Program and went on to help launch the Environment and Economy Group, which was a precursor to the Caux Dialogue on Land and Security (CDLS). At CDLS in 2013, 2018 and 2019, he gathered people with a common vision who want to make systemic change. Chau explains that Earthbanc’s team members work in the private sector and with governments, but have also been involved in grassroots efforts, allowing them to bridge the gap between these two worlds.  Earthbanc works with a broad coalition of groups including Initiatives of Change (IofC), Initiatives for Land, Lives, Peace (ILLP) and CDLS. Among those involved are Jennifer Helgelson, a founding members of CDLS and IofC’s liaison to the United Nations Climate Change Conference; Rishabh Khanna from ILLP; Irina Fedorenko, managing director of the Caux Dialogue on Environment and Security (CDES), and Alan Channer, co-organizer of the Summer Academy on Land, Security and Climate. 

The Earthbanc team has brought knowledge-based concepts and ideas to the table as well as the dialogue-based approach that lies at the heart of Initiatives of Change. They deeply believe in Earthbanc’s ability to reshape the financial system to be fairer and more efficient for all. ‘All actors can work together to help capital flow from big institutions to small,’ Chau explains, ‘and then to help the small grow, so that the capital can be recycled and paid forward.’ 

Since the 2019 Caux Dialogue, Earthbanc’s team has engaged in dialogue with its partners on offsetting carbon and on  such regenerative finance instruments as green and blue bonds (bonds that are used to fund environmentally friendly projects). They are currently working to launch its digital platform and software for more widespread availability. If they are to succeed, Earthbanc’s  regenerative financing mechanisms must be accompanied by a change of hearts and minds: so that investing in environmental protection is seen as a benefit rather than a cost. ‘We have to change our way of thinking, from a “risk” to a “benefit” or an “investment,”’ Chau says. ‘Everyone invests in change and impact, and we all benefit from it.’

This principle, along with establishing ‘healthier and wealthier livelihoods’ to create stability in post-conflict regions where land is scarce or sought-after, lies at the heart of Earthbanc’s values. It’s no coincidence, then, that the concept was first presented at the Caux Dialogue on Land and Security, where these critical issues intersect. The initiative was driven by changemakers inspired by their time at Caux, who shared a desire to drive systemic change without facing the daunting task of creating a new financial system altogether. ‘We’re not reinventing the wheel,’ Chau explains, ‘we’re making it more efficient and interconnected.’

Chau Tang-Duncan was a speaker on the livestream panel on "Climate Finance: catalyst of holistic solutions" during the Caux Dialogue on Environment and Security 2020.  Watch the replay here.

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Karina Cheah is a rising senior at Colgate University (Hamilton, NY, USA) and is currently working for Initiatives of Change Switzerland as an intern for communications and the Caux Dialogue on Environment and Security. She is pursuing a Bachelor of Arts in International Relations with a double minor in French and Creative Writing and plans to continue with all three fields in her postgraduate education. Her academic areas of interest include the intersection between foreign and domestic policy and the politics of Southeast Asia. In addition to her work with Initiatives of Change Switzerland, she is finalizing a short story collection entitled This Side of the Veil, available for purchase in July 2020.

By Karina Cheah

I have never been to Caux. I had also never moderated a dialogue group before, in or outside of the Caux Forum. As I faced the prospect of co-facilitating an online dialogue group in the Caux Dialogue on Enviroment and Security (CDES), I asked myself how, without the experience of being in Caux, I could even begin to recreate the beautiful safe space that so many have experienced in Caux Forum dialogue groups – and in an online format.

Dialogue groups, where participants convene to discuss the day’s events or share their stories, are an integral part of the Caux Dialogue on Environment and Security (CDES). The smaller number, moderated by a member of the organizing team, allows for a more intimate space for sharing. As I was on the organizing team and am quite new to the Caux Forum, I was asked to co-facilitate a dialogue group. This gave me a chance to take part in the conference as well as help put it together.

I was lucky to have the support of Benjamin Callison as my co-facilitator. He has moderated several dialogue groups at Caux. Watching him establish the Zoom room as a safe space, guide the conversation, and encourage our participants to open up and share their stories and concerns was an invaluable learning experience. He opened our first session by asking each of us ‘Who are you?’ instead of ‘What do you do?’. This removed the surface-level awkwardness and allowed us immediately to know one another as people with interests rather than as professional titles.

The dialogue groups met for an hour each day between 1 to 4 July. Ben moderated the first two days and turned the session over to me for the third. I felt much more prepared to step up to the plate simply from having absorbed what I had seen him do. Moderating did not turn out to be as frightening as I thought it would be – and, for someone who is not a fan of public speaking, even in a small setting, I was surprised to find that I enjoyed it. We managed to achieve a level of unfiltered, honest conversation, providing space for different stories and opinions, similar to what I imagine we would have in person. Our dialogue group hailed from five countries. We shared the struggles of our regions, such as what to do about the palm oil industry in Indonesia or the continued environmental skepticism of many in the United States. Deeply personal stories brought us closer together.

There are still plenty of differences between convening in person and online. There’s an organic element to talking in person that is lost online. It's much harder to interject, so the dialogue becomes somewhat panel-like as people cycle through, sharing their thoughts for a few minutes. Connectivity can be a disadvantage – people can drop out of meetings unexpectedly, and there’s always issues of volume and of video freezing, all of which occurred during our meetings.

Even so, our online dialogue group was able to form strong connections, so much so that we still keep in touch via a WhatsApp group. I will take forward practical lessons about moderating conversations and action points on how to help our environment, five good friends and a strong feeling of connection to the spirit of Caux. The technology that kept us apart is also what ultimately brought us together, and I am deeply grateful for that.

You would like to know more about the Caux Dialogue on Environment and Security? Click here.

Karina Cheah is a rising senior at Colgate University (Hamilton, NY, USA) and is currently working for Initiatives of Change Switzerland as an intern for communications and the Caux Dialogue on Environment and Security. She is pursuing a Bachelor of Arts in International Relations with a double minor in French and Creative Writing and plans to continue with all three fields in her postgraduate education. Her academic areas of interest include the intersection between foreign and domestic policy and the politics of Southeast Asia. In addition to her work with Initiatives of Change Switzerland, she is finalizing a short story collection entitled This Side of the Veil, available for purchase in July 2020.

As part of the Caux Forum Online 2020, Initiatives of Change Switzerland and the Human Security Division of the Swiss Federal Department of Foreign Affairs organized a video-conference in French on ‘Land and Security in Sub-Saharan Africa: assessing the risks and seeking an answer’.

As part of the Caux Forum Online 2020, Initiatives of Change Switzerland and the Human Security Division of the Swiss Federal Department of Foreign Affairs organized a video-conference in French on ‘Land and Security in Sub-Saharan Africa: assessing the risks and seeking an answer’.

The event was moderated by Rainer Gude, Co-Director General of IofC Switzerland. The panel included:

• Olivia Lazard, Deputy Researcher at the Environment and Development Resource Centre, France
• Oumar B Samake, Programme Coordinator of the Association Malienne d'Éveil au Développement Durable (AMEDD), Mali
• Mahamadou Savadogo, consultant on violent extremism in the Sahel, Burkina Faso
• Abasse Tougiani, Senior Researcher at the Institut National de la Recherche Agronomique du Niger (INRAN).

The conference provided an opportunity to explore the links between the impact of humans on their environment, globally and regionally, and the insecurity and violence experienced by the populations of sub-Saharan Africa. It showed that no approach, whether transnational or local, can escape the reality of the strong and increasingly obvious connection between climate change, insecurity and political responsibility.

Olivia Lazard stressed that (legitimate) research on subsoil and land resources related to climate phenomena (soil aridity, exploitation of mining resources, food difficulties, poor land management) should not overshadow the deeply worrying transformation of fertile land. Through deforestation, and the use of trees for firewood and construction, biodiversity is disappearing, soil fertility is collapsing and the water cycle is breaking down, causing conflicts and violence in huge, ever expanding, areas. As these local dynamics accumulate, they also cause serious disruptions between distant regional climate systems, for example between the Congo Basin and the Nile Basin (with consequent political tensions). Economic policies that affect land must therefore be viewed in a global perspective.

Since 2018 violent extremist groups located in protected areas in the Sahel, and in Burkino Faso in particular, have had a direct influence on the environment and even the climate, said Mahamadou Savadogo. Through their control over these areas and the fauna and minerals found there  and through their fighting, these groups unbalance not only local biodiversity but also the regional climate. Only the return of the State and a policy of equitable land distribution, taking into account the needs of local populations, can stop this degradation.

Oumar Samaké is interested in creating opportunities for women and young people to have access to land in Mali, a society largely dominated by men, social customs and population growth. Lacking work, young people in rural areas turn to gold panning (which also destroys arable land), migration or violent extremist groups. The response must therefore involve loans or donations of registered land, with a twofold aim: to limit environmental deterioration by encouraging sensitive modern farming practices and to generate remunerative activity.

Abasse Tougiani is deeply concerned about the situation of young people in his country, Niger. He said that everything must be done to give them work, land and hope for the future, otherwise they too will turn to migration, cities or violent groups. To keep young people in their communities, new land must be found for them, existing land must be improved and agricultural activities such as market gardening, cattle feeding or oil production must be developed. Village committees are responsible for this work and their experience has  been conclusive. These initiatives need to be multiplied and Niger’s government will soon be called upon to legislate on the basis of these successes.

Discrimination against women in relation to the granting of land, inheritance and the failure to apply laws passed in their favour featured prominently in the discussion which followed these contributions. It was also pointed out that, first and foremost, the search for solutions requires dialogue with local authorities, who have significant powers on land issues, and national legislation that grants equal rights to women and men. But it was also recalled that violent extremism in the Sahel directly affects women, either because they are left alone in the village when the men fight, or because their society ties them, through their economic and social activities, to land that is increasingly degraded and impoverished.

On the theme of dialogue, the role of politicians was highlighted. Climate, environmental protection, land, the role of women, dialogue are all political and are all linked. The current crisis in sub-Saharan Africa opens up useful perspectives: the speakers believed that the environment will be at the centre of socio-political events and concerns in the coming years. Local authorities seem to have understood this better than national authorities: mining permits are still granted by governments in a ‘conventional’ way, without respecting the needs of the population and those of nature. There is still room for action!

In conclusion: the speakers agreed that values were crucial to preserving the environment on which the security of populations depends so profoundly. These ‘true values’ include education, sharing, communication with all segments of the population, thoughtful local governance and the mobilization of civil society and, in particular, the people most directly affected.  

The urgent need to awaken governments was the final word.

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Report: Human Security Division of the Swiss Federal Department of Foreign Affairs

As part of the Dolce Riviera, the gardens of the Caux Palace will be open to the public from the 24 July to 16 August 2020, from 12pm to 7pm. Closed on Mondays. You can also experience the Swiss National Day in the gardens of the Caux Palace with live music!

Relax and take a break while enjoying homemade ice cream or fresh drinks and the incredible view on the lake and the mountains.

The Caux Palace gardens

Come with friends or family in a unique setting to enjoy a Dolce Vita moment as only the Riviera could offer. Relax and take a break while enjoying homemade ice cream or fresh drinks and the incredible view on the lake and the mountains. More information here.

1 August: Swiss National Day

Experience the Swiss National Day in the Gardens of the Caux Palace with Live Music! More information here

Address

Caux Conference and Seminar Centre

Caux Palace

Rue du Panorama 2

1824 Caux-sur-Montreux

info@cauxpalace.ch

Photos: Adrien Giovanelli

Why would an Australian farmer who moved to Africa in the 1980s be called ‘the forest-maker’? Tony Rinaudo, World Vision Australia's climate action advisor, told this year's Caux Dialogue on Environment and Security how he embarked on his journey to tackle deforestation in Niger and about the challenges he met on the way.

The three-week long Caux Dialogue on Environment and Security was part of the first online version of the Caux Forum and took place from 1–19 July 2020. The conference offered plenaries and workshops on a large range of environmental and health topics. Rinaudo's story was one of a number of case studies from all over the world, which illustrated the connection between climate change, desertification and other environmental issues. They depicted various approaches to transforming conflict and searching for sustainable solutions. (Watch the plenary here).

When Rinaudo moved to Niger in the 1980s he was confronted with a country on the brink of environmental crisis, suffering from severe droughts and accelerated desertification. Niger faced crop failure, famine and an increase in crop-ravaging insects.

His first attempts to tackle the situation were a failure. The locals called him the ‘crazy white farmer’. The early years were ‘very very difficult’, he said.

In time he managed to inspire local farmers to join initiatives for farmer-managed natural regeneration (FMNR), a strategy which involves pruning out weak tree stumps to help the stronger ones grow faster. The method, which the poorest could implement ‘with a pocket-knife’, led to revolutionary results.

Today Niger has an average of 40 trees per hectare, compared to only four per hectare in the 1980s. The reforestation has led to better supplies of food, fuelwood and water, thereby increasing food security and reducing conflicts over water resources.

Rinaudo concluded: ‘If you work with nature and allow trees to regrow, then nature will care for you and you'll have a better future for yourself and for your children.’

On 3 July 2020 the Swiss online platform Heidi.news reported on Tony Rinaudo's presentation. Read the full article here.

Photo: Reforestation, WWF