But what if human progress and prosperity don’t have to come at the expense of the planet we inhabit? What if humans and nature could not only coexist, but thrive together? We can transform the human species into a new orbit of habitual behavior that lives symbiotically with our planet — we would shift into a third nature.

Third Nature seeks to restore and regenerate our natural systems to mimic those that have existed and flourished for many millennia before humans prioritized abundance over coexistence.

What does Third Nature mean?

For almost the entire history of our species — almost five million years — humans have existed on earth at the mercy of Mother Nature. It’s only been over the last 10,000 years or so that innovations like agriculture have allowed us to expand our impact on earth. And more to the point, it was only about 250 years ago — a speck of time for our planet — that we entered the Industrial Age and began rapidly increasing in population and broadening global prosperity. This incredible force, which indeed has lifted living standards for billions around the world through industry and capitalism, has also come at the expense of many population groups, and most certainly at the expense of the natural resources and critical ecosystems of our planet. This unbridled growth — primarily built on the back of fossil fuel energy, linear business models, and industrial approaches — has created changes to climate and ecological health that are now touching all of us, and bringing us to the point of no return.

Put simply, our exploitative and extractive business and economic activities have become second nature — long-standing and ingrained habits – and if we are to sustain our global civilization we will need transformational change.

Now is the time to redesign what business is, and what it is used for. Now is the time to deeply rethink what the purpose of capital is and the methodologies we use to practice the art of investing capital. We must use the power of markets to prosper with, and not at the expense of, our planet.

Over the past ten years, we’ve seen a dramatic shift in how people view the market – and the purpose of business and practice of investing. We are entering a new paradigm, one where it is simply more profitable to work toward solutions than to be part of the problem.

No problem can be solved from the same consciousness that created it.

—Albert Einstein

Moving to a Third Nature

We wanted the name of our new firm to reflect our focus on restoring the critical natural systems that have supported humanity’s prosperity on earth.

Our strategy is to invest in better economic models that can restore earth’s critical natural capital — the ability for us to live in balance with nature — so we wanted to explicitly use the word “nature” in our name as a constant, everyday reminder of this uncompromising mission we are on. Nature has to be central to everything we do going forward: how we live, how we practice business, and how we invest. Everything we do must be in service of restoring, repairing, and regenerating our natural resources and earth systems.

Our true north star and highest ambition is to reshape how humans view their relationship with nature and our home planet. If humans are to survive and thrive, we need to change our behavior at the deepest level of our human systems — economic, societal, industrial, financial — to become centered on a symbiotic partnership with our planet and the critical natural systems that sustain us.

So then what is third nature?

First nature represents the world before our species grew powerful enough to change natural systems.

Second nature is defined as acquired behavior that is practiced so long it seems innate habit, or way of being. Second nature means to do something so naturally that it feels like it’s part of you. This is where we are — business as usual — humanity overwhelming natural systems.

Humans have always evolved to their surrounding conditions. Today is no different — with our earth systems, both natural and human, in disorder, we must evolve as a species to one that coexists with our planet and is more cooperative than competitive with each other — we must move to a third nature.

Our logo & what it means

We wanted our visual identity to reflect our highest priorities and deepest values. We started with the circle, a shape that communicates balance and wholeness, not to mention the idea of our home planet. The logo is reminiscent of scientific symbols representing the planets.

It also represents a compass, a tool that uses the earth and its natural landmarks to help guide the way. Our earth is where we’ll find our direction and our inspiration. The line bisecting the logo represents the balance between human and earth systems — we must seek out a more harmonious relationship. The horizontal lines point the way forward — we must harness humankind’s ingenuity and strive for progress that is to the benefit of all, not with old zero-sum mindsets that have been part of the problem.

We’re moving forward with determination and conviction. Our intention drives our action, and through action we hope to catalyze real human and planetary transformation.

We’re forming alliances with like-minded investors, supporting and capitalizing new enterprises that will shape and lead the new economy, and — perhaps most important — listening with curiosity and humility to those who bring their insights and lived experiences.

We invite you to join us in forging a new way forward!