Video Transcript:

>> In 2008, Mark Tercek gave up a powerful position at Goldman Sachs to become president of The Nature Conservancy. It is the world's largest environmental group, and now he's trying to change the way that we think about business and the environment. Mark Tercek, welcome, good morning.

>> Thank you. Good morning.

>> Good morning.

>> So, when you talk about changing the way people think about business and the environment, what you have brought to the table here is a partnership between business and an environmental group, and you've received some criticism for that.

>> Yeah, we think about nature, it's got tremendous value for people. You should think about nature as infrastructure, something to invest in, to improve economies, to improve jobs, to improve life. And so, of course, we want our allies to include the government, working Joes, but business, as well. And, big business increasingly has a huge environmental footprint, so if we can work with business, help them understand that taking better care of the environment is good for their business, we think they can really be powerful allies to the environmental movement.

>> How does somebody go from one of the biggest of businesses, Goldman Sachs, at the height of the boom, to a nature nonprofit?

>> Yeah, I think I've really been fortunate. I worked at Goldman Sachs for 25 years. I had a very positive experience there. Near the end of my career, I wanted to shift gears. My boss at the time, Hank Paulson, said. I was thinking about leaving the firm in 2005 to become an environmentalist. He said, "No. Stay at the firm, and build an environmental effort at the firm." So, Hank and I did that together. We looked for business opportunities that made business sense and that were good for the environment. It went really well. I'm really proud of what we accomplished there, and I became so convinced of this opportunity, I went all the way, and joined the Conservancy. I was very fortunate. The Conservancy was a great organization before I got there, that's for sure. I have the good privilege of leading it today, and we're excited about what we can do.

>> How many of those opportunities are out there, today, by the way? Investments that are good for business and for the environment at the same time.

>> You know, we think it's almost unlimited, to be honest. We're just beginning to scratch the surface, but in case after case, we work closely with companies who have a big environmental footprint. We help them understand how their business depends on nature, and the better they understand that, the more incentivized they are by good old profit motives, shareholder value maximization motives, to do a better job of being environmental stewards. That's a great weapon in our work.

>> Hank Paulson went on to lead the Treasury when you went on to lead The Nature Conservancy. I wonder, how do you convince, because sometimes it's not in a business' best interest, as far as their bottom line is concerned, to be environmentally conscious. So, in those circumstances, how do you convince them, and coming from a company like Goldman Sachs, you know better than anyone, being a public company means you're first and foremost having to maximize shareholder value?

>> Right. It's a great question. So, you're right. There's a whole mix of businesses, and we don't pretend everybody's ready to be our ally right now. But, some leading businesspeople are. A good example would be Andrew Liveris, CEO of Dow Chemical. Dow is one of our partners. Lots of folks say, "Why on earth would you partner with Dow Chemical?" I say, "Why wouldn't we?" If we can help them understand how being better stewards of the environment will help their business, imagine what we can do. And, Andrew is a farsighted leader, and he heard me argue that nature, business depends on nature, so he said, "Mark, let's test that. Let's take some Dow engineers and some Nature Conservancy scientists, put them to work side by side. Let's figure out how Dow depends on nature, and if the natural capital that Dow depends on is vulnerable, then what might we do about it?" And so, that's an exciting project for us. And, in the business world, people pay attention to one another. So, all of Dow's competitors and other companies are watching our project, and if we can make it work, we think we can replicate that in many places.

>> You're spending a lot of time focusing on population growth. How big a problem is that, moving forward?

>> Population growth is a big deal, but this is one of the good stories that's occurred recently, without a lot of profile. The developing world, as they grow their economies, and invest in education, invest in girls, invest in family planning, population growth is coming down. So, it's not our core area of expertise, but boy, we really support it. And, the US government has been a good supporter of this through international aid, and we sure hope that continues, as well.

1) The Nature Conservancy is a:

a.supplier

b.secondary stakeholder

c.primary stakeholder

d.shareholder

2) Business managers would be most inclined to give time and attention to the Nature Conservancy because the group possesses the following attribute:

a.legitimacy

b.power

c.urgency

d.none of these

3) Which statement in the clip helps explain why some business leaders might restrict their companies to lower levels of stakeholder engagement?

a."Being a public company means you are first and foremost having to maximize shareholder value."

b."Sometimes it's not in a business's best interest, as far as the bottom line is concerned, to be environmentally conscious."

c."We don't pretend every company is ready to be our ally."

d.all of these

4 ) According to Nature Conservancy CEO Mark Tercek, why should companies invest in environmental causes?

a.because it is a core function of a business

b.because it will help them be better stewards of the natural resources businesses need

c.because it will help them be more profitable

d.because it will help them avoid lawsuits by environmental special interest groups

5) Which of the three stakeholder approaches would grant the Nature Conservancy the greatest amount of influence on businesses?

a.the strategic approach

b.the multifiduciary approach

c.the stakeholder synthesis approach

d.all of these