Reflections from the Ranch

By Hunter Lovins: President, Natural Capitalism Solutions, Managing Partner NOW.partners, co-founder: Future Economy Forum, Professor Sustainable Management Fordham University, Chief of Impact Change Finance, regenerative rancher

January 1, 2025

It’s a long way from Saudi Arabia to anywhere: forty hours from the early start of my last day in Riyadh til I crawled into bed in Colorado. To then sleep 13 hours.

Running 18-hour days at the UN Conference of Parties for two weeks made time a blur. Only now, sorting through memories, do details emerge: incessant traffic jams. Who made Saudi freeways with no off-ramps to allow a left turn, forcing travel in the wrong direction to make that a U-turn on the freeway itself, creating amazing traffic jams as everyone scrambles across lanes to get to the tiny hole, to go miles back to make the now right turn to where you wanted to go in the first place? I hope they spend the Muslim version of hell’s eternity driving those roads. Wrecks are everywhere.

But I whine. Saudi was incredible:

I know. None of that justifies the carbon burnt to go that far. Winging into Riyadh, I hoped that this could be the COP to brings together the Rio Trio (the UN Framework Convention on Biodiversity–CCD–the Convention on Climate–UNFCCC–and this Convention on Combating Desertification–CCD. A tall order, given that the Biodiversity COP two months ago and the Climate COP a month ago failed. And it’s now recognized that CCD COP16 failed, as well. Delegates rejected the proposal to make the agreement to fight drought binding, despite releasing a report showing that 75% of humanity faces devastating drought, that 75% of the world’s landmass is drier now than it was 30 years ago, yes, worsened by climate change.

Strangely, this was the empty COP. In contrast to Dubai a year ago, or even Baku a month ago, COP16 was blissfully quiet.

But it meant time to see the people who mattered, for example, Natalie Topa, of World Food program who helps some of the poorest people on the planet regenerate their Sahalian desert.

It allowed substantive discussions of how non-negotiated solutions like regenerative agriculture can solve the desertification, biodiversity, food security, migration, and climate crises. I loved talking with Helmy Abouleish, the visionary leader of SEKEM, which was just honored by the UN Environment Programme as a Champion of the Earth for its entrepreneurial vision about how his work is lifting some of the poorest farmers in the world from poverty.

With Her Highness HH Princess Mashael bint Saud Al-Shalan, the Co-Founder of Aeon, at the People’s Pavilion, our team from NOW Partners showed how to reverse desertification as we deliver food security, climate resilience, and economic development.

With Ahmed Alshazly, and my NOW Partners, Laura Santucci, Walter Link and Merijn Dols, we described our efforts to spread the work of the Economy of Love to pays small-holder farmers for sequestering carbon. EOL is, I believe, the best high integrity carbon market in the world.

We met with Saudi business people keen to bring our curriculum of Regenerative Value Creation to their employees, to get our expertise on how to implement regenerative agriculture in a desert, and how they might replicate the Egyptian success in carbon markets in Saudi, and perhaps across Africa.

With Patrick Worms of CFOR-ICRAF, a long-time hero of mine, we showed how it’s not the cow, it’s the how: holistic grazing reverses desertification, feeding people restoring biodiversity and solving the climate crisis. I know I’ve said that, but this is the first set of conversations in which these things were seen as key to addressing all these challenges: of course, they all fit together.

Yes, a binding agreement to tackle drought would have been good. For those of us who believe it is better for the nations of the world to talk than to fight, it would sure be nice if one of these dern COPs could succeed, at least a little. But yes, silly me. COPs always fail.

So why am I not devastated as well as exhausted?

Because I do not think this one failed. For the first time at a COP, any COP, the nations of the world recognized that the real answer lies in these “Non-negotiated Outcomes.” This is precisely what we have been calling for at Natural Capitalism and NOW Partners. The Saudi Presidency kicked this off by announcing the Riyadh Action Agenda. Throughout COP, the Presidency made clear it was serious about action. We attended the daily sessions focused on how to implement this commitment, met with Climate Champions Gonzalo Munoz Abogabir and Nigel Topping, and committed NOW Partners’ new Global Academy to chronicle the best regenerative programs around the world. These real solutions are happening, even as the nations of the world dither. Perhaps they have no choice, but to me it is exciting to see the UN recognize this. Our work on regenerative food systems, agroforestry, crop diversification, and holistic grazing CAN unite the Rio Trio. They are the key to combatting desertification, restoring biodiversity and solving the climate crisis. This will be a big part of my work in 2025.

I know…. Saudi Arabia is not what comes to mind when you think about solutions. Flying in, I worried how they would receive an aging blond in a cowboy hat. When I worked in Afghanistan, the hat stayed home. Here, everywhere we went, immigration officials, waiters, security guards, uber drivers, and the lovely people serving me Saudi coffee and dates in the nomad tents pitched all around the COP loved the hat. And I fell in love with Saudi coffee.

Never thought I’d say this, but I think I will be back.

As the new year emerges, and the light returns, I hope you are finding renewed courage and conviction to face the challenges ahead. I know that I am, because I know that you are with us.

And late breaking news, a wonderful supporter just told me that she will match your donation up to $5,000. I did not intend to write this letter asking for your help, but I guess now I am. Your support makes possible all that Natural Capitalism does around the world. It makes possible all the work that I do, and I appreciate for all that you do. Mostly I just wanted to thank you for your support and for your thoughts. None of us can do this alone.

That said, it’s sure nice to be home in Colorado, where a traffic jam is a rafter of wild turkeys crossing the road, even if, at the Solstice, there’s no snow and we’re working horses in shirt sleeves.