The Commonwealth and Italy Collaborate on Regenerative Development with Letizia Moratti and Baroness Scotland

Common Earth launched in 2018 at the Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting in London. Chaired by the President of Fiji, attendees included heads of state, and key delegates and stakeholders from across 53 member states. The Secretary General, Baroness Patricia Scotland QC, introduced Common Earth in her opening remarks.

In June 2017 Cloudburst Foundation convened more than 50 stakeholders from the international finance communities to discuss strategies for funding regenerative development in the 53 diverse countries of the Commonwealth. This meeting explored modalities for shifting financial flows to support the health of Earth’s living systems. Importantly participants discussed approaches to creating new investment opportunities that optimize planetary health and work to support nested systems.

Attendees included leaders and representatives from major banks, climate finance, and investment groups interested in supporting regenerative solutions to climate change. One key takeaway was an agreement that the regenerative development model offers new solutions that can overcome limitations of linear economic and development mechanisms.

In May 2017, Cloudburst Foundation organized a high-level meeting at Marlborough House aimed at building upon the Workshop on Regenerative Development to Reverse Climate Change. This meeting brought together policy makers from across the Commonwealth and focused on identifying strategic opportunities and leverage points within critical industries. The 123 participants included HRH Prince Charles of Wales, Former President of Ireland Mary Robinson, Former President of Kiribati Anote Tong and the High Commissioners of the Commonwealth.

Various regenerative frameworks and perspectives were presented and the High Commissioners had the opportunity to ask questions and provide feedback related to the specific needs and requirements of their regions. One key takeaway from this meeting was that regenerative development is an effective approach to addressing climate change because it harnesses the bio-cultural uniqueness of places around the Commonwealth. Given the diversity of people and places in the 53 member states, this was seen as having high potential for success. Many attendees, including high-level political representatives, have since introduced regenerative language into their communications, advocacy, and policy efforts. The Commonwealth and Cloudburst Foundation put together a report on the potential of regenerative development in the Commonwealth which can be accessed below.

This workshop brought together a cross-sectoral community of more than 60 practitioners working to regenerate ecosystems in a variety of ways. Experts from areas such as agroecology, ecological restoration, permaculture, circular economy, regenerative development, biomimicry, and more came together to launch a process of supporting the Commonwealth as a global leader in regenerative development to effectively address climate change.

The primary result of the workshop was the consensus that there are proven techniques readily available to regenerate the capacity and capabilities of communities and ecosystems, and that the international community of practitioners doing this work is strong. The workshop was an important gathering for mobilizing action, and creating strategies for leveraging and scaling ecological regeneration across the Commonwealth. The full report from the workshop including working processes, workshop flows and notes, outcomes, and next steps is available below.