Painting nature, Rapping about the value of the sea, Poem that shaped our work, Environment Report
- eftec
- Aug 20
- 3 min read
Updated: Aug 27
This Month's Newsletter - the art of environmental economics
Images
Demonstrating our work and love of nature through visual art
Music
Rapping to communicate the value of nature in Barbados
Words
A poem that has shaped our work
Our Environment Report
How we report our GHG emissions, offset them to achieve carbon neutrality and work toward a net-positive impact on nature
Images...
Demonstrating our work and love of nature through visual art
A year ago, in August 2024’s newsletter, we announced the start of an art installation in our office: 30 canvases to depict 30 years of eftec’s work.
If the aim had been to show who eftec was, the work has evolved into a narrative of who eftec is – a tapestry of stories from everyone involved. The installation is now featuring our hometowns, memories of fun times outdoors, favourite animals, abstract images of environmental pressures. The artists include staff who have moved onward and new members and interns that have joined since the project began, and even family members (eftecers-in-love).
As our self-appointed Arts Director, Victoria says, “It’s been an ambitious project – getting 30 economists to paint has been a coaching exercise in trust. A few canvases remain before we reach the planned 30, but I see no reason to stop there. As eftec grows, so too does our shared history and our personal and collective relationships with nature”.
Music...
Rapping to communicate the value of nature in Barbados
We do our best to integrate facts and figures into decisions – like members of our team, Natalya Kharadi and Mark Collar, did when they went to Barbados earlier this summer to provide training on ecosystem accounting.
But we do know facts and figures are not enough to change minds and behaviours…
Here is an example of how musicians can help too, singing about the Barbados Marine Spatial Plan. The song was written to promote community engagement with the plan. The message "we need sea, the sea need me" applies to us all!
Words...
A poem that has shaped our work
Our Company Manual begins with a poem by Mweri B. A. M, an agricultural outreach worker who used storytelling to communicate agricultural technology to farmers in the Maasai Mara, Kenya. Our director, Ece Ozdemiroglu, heard this poem performed in 1999 at an economic valuation workshop for resource managers. More than 25 years later, the poem’s message still rings true. It reminds us that it is our duty to make our work relevant and useful for all our clients, who are the ones who will make the real difference.
The first two stanzas begin with a call to action...
Value of the Environment
Ooh dear Managers! I have this to tell
What Value do you place on our Ecosystem!
Does a forest have a value to you!
Why destroy the ecosystem
Be mindful of the future generation
Environmentalist! Listen to us Managers
A forest is land to settle squatters
A forest is fuelwood for our household
What other value do you have that we don’t know!
Mr Environmentalist
The future generation will fend for itself
After deliberation between the two characters, the poem closes...
I am now in a position to make critical
Environmental decisions
Mr Investor, before I approve your million dollar project
I need an Environmental Assessment Report
Managers, lets be mindful of the future generation
THANK YOU
For the full work, follow this link
Our Environment Report
How we report our GHG emissions, offset them to achieve carbon neutrality and work toward a net-positive impact on nature
Our latest Environment Report is published on our website showing how we are a net-zero organisation.
The report shows how we purchase 100% renewable energy, prioritise sustainable products, and minimise travel. We use the World Land Trust’s carbon calculator and purchase biocarbon credits for the emissions we cannot avoid.
The carbon credits we purchase support the World Land Trust’s Carbon Balanced programme, which helps protect and restore carbon-rich tropical forests.
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