Conservation International
Jennifer Morris is Executive Vice President of the Ecosystem Finance and Markets Unit of Conservation International (CI) and co-chair of the Resource Management Group of Conservation International. Morris has over 15 years experience in international conservation program development with a specific focus on innovative financing, sustainable economic development and corporate partnerships. Jennifer has a BA in Political Science from Emory University and a Masters in International Affairs with a focus on business development from Columbia University.
As Executive Vice President, Morris is responsible for leading a team of 80 professionals to develop and implement conservation initiatives which support CI's mission of sustainable development in 60 countries with over 1600 partner organizations. She leads both the Ecosystem Finance Division and the Center for Environmental Leadership and Business and is a member of CI's Executive Management Team. Jennifer has served on the board of several organizations including the SEED Initiative, the Conservation Finance Alliance and the Finance Alliance for Sustainable Trade.
Related Links: www.conservation.org
Last Updated: Wed, Apr 6, 2011
Conservation International Executive VP Jennifer Morris encourages entrepreneurs to bring their talents and energies to bear on solving the numerous issues facing the environment and human development. Entrepreneurs can start new organizations and firms, but according to Morris, "you can [also] be an entrepreneur in a larger organization."
Water markets can be more challenging to monetize than carbon markets, according to Jennifer Morris, Executive VP of Conservation International. Morris says that to drive watershed service transactions, market mechanisms must provide "financial incentives to people who manage land to protect their watershed." Due to deforestation in China, and the resulting siltation and sedimentation, dam operators in that country are developing new models for water markets, in concert with Conservation International and interested corporate partners.
Conservation International Executive VP Jennifer Morris discusses how an early teaching experience in Africa altered her career path. She initially considered going into public health, but her experiences living and working with women in the villages of Namibia inspired a new interest in exploring connections between resource management and the drivers of poverty. 
In this informative lecture, Conservation International Executive Vice President Jennifer Morris shares her organization's commitment to creating programs to support sustainable development. Morris articulates the importance of developing innovative financing and business models to address ecosystem services and resource management issues. She also describes the entrepreneurial initiatives her organization has built to sustain partnerships between corporate partners and local communities around the globe.
In this informative lecture, Conservation International Executive Vice President Jennifer Morris shares her organization's commitment to creating programs to support sustainable development. Morris articulates the importance of developing innovative financing and business models to address ecosystem services and resource management issues. She also describes the entrepreneurial initiatives her organization has built to sustain partnerships between corporate partners and local communities around the globe.
Conservation International (CI) further advances their mission by helping major corporations ensure the sustainability of supply chains. CI's Executive Vice President Jennifer Morris shares examples of some of the corporations they have helped prepare for the supply challenges of climate change. Morris also offers background on some of the public/private partnerships involving her organization.
Due to the global development trajectory, an enormous amount of effort is needed to create a sustainable future, according to Jennifer Morris, Executive VP of Conservation International. However, rather than just raising money to pour into projects, Morris believes the key is to create fundamental change in the business model of development, by convincing business and political leaders to incorporate natural capital "externalities" into their accounting systems and operational plans.
Cap-and-trade carbon markets continue to gain traction, but how do you monetize something you can't see and that has never been valued? Conservation International Executive VP Jennifer Morris sees interesting opportunities in the area of forest carbons, which are emissions released from deforestation. However, according to Morris, serious challenges to carbon markets include the lack of a global market framework, the thorny issue of carbon tenure rights, and the large amount of capital required to engage the issue. 
According to Executive VP Jennifer Morris, Conservation International focuses on creating long-term, sustainable mechanisms to power growth, because offering only "short-term grants will probably lead to short-term success." In this clip, Morris explains how tapping a nation or corporation's "enlightened self-interest" can be a component to creating successful endowment funds to support communities and conservation.
What does the natural world mean in monetary terms, beyond the idea of raw materials? Conservation International Executive VP Jennifer Morris believes it is critically important quantify the value of "ecosystem services," those resources and processes nature provides for planet and human survival. She shares two quantifiable examples: the value of insect pollination to agriculture, and the pharmaceutical industry's dependence on natural plant resources.