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Case study: Encouraging a sea-change in global shrimping

July 21, 2020

Planet Tracker is a non-profit financial think tank aligning capital markets with planetary boundaries. It was created to investigate the risk of market failure related to environmental limits – an investigation primarily focused on and for the investor community where environmental limits, other than climate change, are poorly understood, even more poorly communicated and not aligned with investor capital.

Planet Tracker creates ground-breaking in-depth financial analytics delivered through reports and briefing papers to raise awareness of “values-at-risk” to the financial community, and engages with institutional investors and analysts to unlock and redirect the transformative power of capital markets to deliver on sustainable development objectives.

Planet Tracker and Carbon Tracker are two initiatives of Investor Watch, founded by Mark Campanale and Nick Robins. Planet Tracker investigates the risk of market failure related to ecological limits, focusing on oceans, food and land use, as well as materials such as textiles and plastics. Carbon Tracker carries out in-depth analysis on the impact of the energy transition on capital markets and the potential investment in high-cost, carbon-intensive fossil fuels.

On the back of our strong work for S&P Global Ratings’ Sustainable Finance team, Planet Tracker approached Moorgate-Finn Partners to help launch some of their most critical reports. As with S&P Global Ratings, the strategy was simple: to “communicate their expertise”. This meant highlighting the depth and calibre of Planet Tracker’s research output by using both the information and data within the reports but also the expertise of the authors. As with previous reports, the need was to highlight the concerns, but specifically the risks, to investors using every available news generation and thought leadership tactic.

This included using its reports as news triggers for straight coverage, but also as the basis for thought leadership commentary articles (“sliced and diced” to target different audiences) and for citation, interview and podcast opportunities. The aim was also to engage with both the tier one and specialist media but also other influencers, including environmental lobbyists and analysts within leading financial institutions (perhaps utilising their blogs or internal publications).

The Approach

Starting in January 2020, our first assignment was to raise awareness among companies and investors in the US$45 billion global farmed shrimp industry, based on a Planet Tracker report called “Shell Shock” (part of their Oceans Tracker series). Hidden within the environmental concerns regarding the industry’s practices were financial exposures that Planet Tracker identified as potentially impacting investors within the supply chain. In some cases, listed companies and global brands held investments that could prove both a financial liability and reputational burden – thus providing them with a financial incentive to prefer sustainable investment and enhanced risk disclosure over practices such as mass mangrove deforestation. Ultimately, the aim was to encourage a sea-change in global business practices in the shrimping industry.

Moorgate-Finn:

  • Launched Planet Tracker’s “Shell Shock” briefing paper as news, targeting tier-one, financial, regional and specialist environmental, oceans, aquaculture and public affairs press
  • Co-ordinated a series of interviews and relationship-building meetings with both tier-one and specialist journalists: Examples: Reuters and Seafood Source
  • Partnered with other non-profit and institutional organisations dedicated to promoting sustainable development and policy i.e. the Center for International Forestry Research on podcast, blog and other thought leadership initiatives
  • Targeted upcoming features by key journalists with opportunities for Planet Tracker’s research to be cited, e.g. stories on the EU Action Plan on Deforestation; the UN Sustainable Development Goal 14: “Life Below Water”; global commitments to the Paris Agreement; and mangrove Vs. Amazon rainforest deforestation.

The results:

While the report’s launch was a key moment for first-round news coverage, it was a second and third round of thought leadership and expert citation – as well as broadening beyond the media to key influencers – that ensured the issues raised resonated with the key audiences.

Moorgate-Finn Partners secured coverage globally (an important client target) – including in Europe, Asia-Pacific and the Americas. This included in The Economist World Oceans Initiative, the Financial Times, Environmental Finance and Responsible Investor, Undercurrent News and The Asset (Asia’s leading financial/investment publication).

Leveraging the coverage, Planet Tracker has also reported engagement from more than 25 high-profile financial institutions, asset managers, investors and NGOs as well as endorsements from major players such as BNP Paribas and the Nature Conservancy Council, citing the tangible impact of the research on their business strategy/operations.

Hear also, the podcast on this subject: the Apple Podcast link is here and the Spotify link is here.

Since the launch of “Shell Shock”, Moorgate-Finn has successfully launched a major report on the relationship between Sovereign Bonds and natural capital, produced by Planet Tracker in collaboration with the Grantham Institute at the London School of Economics, its interactive Data Dashboards and a report on Food Loss & Waste in the European retail sector, “Scope for Improvement”.