In Episode 2 of Season 4 of the Carbon Exposure Podcast, we sit down with Ingo Puhl, Co-founder of South Pole and one of the original pioneers of global carbon markets.

With nearly three decades of experience in climate finance, project development, and environmental markets, Ingo offers a rare perspective on how carbon markets were built, where they went wrong, and what needs to change next.

This is not just a conversation about the past.

It’s a bold discussion about the future structure of carbon markets.

We explore why the current market model may no longer be fit for purpose, how sovereignty and national registries are reshaping the landscape, and why new infrastructure will be needed to scale environmental markets globally.

In this episode, we cover:

• The early days of carbon markets and the creation of South Pole

• Lessons from the CDM boom, collapse, and trust crisis

• Why developing countries want more sovereignty over carbon assets

• How Thailand became a leader in Article 6 and market innovation

• Why standards, registries, and verification models need to evolve

• The role of ratings agencies, satellite data, and technology

• What renewable energy certificates (RECs / I-RECs) get right

• Tokenization, interoperability, and future market infrastructure

• Why ASEAN could become a major carbon market growth region

Timestamps

00:00 Intro

03:10 Carbon Market Origins

08:47 CDM Boom & Bust13:16 Trust, Trauma & Sovereignty

18:25 Thailand as Blueprint

27:25 Broken Market Infrastructure

33:29 Ratings, Innovation & Integrity

43:04 Tech, Data & Verification

47:42 Why RECs Work52:28 Rebuilding Market Design

58:12 Tokenization & Liquidity

01:02:22 ASEAN Carbon Opportunity

01:06:45 Future Market Vision

#CarbonMarkets #ClimateFinance #CarbonCredits #Article6 #SouthPole #CarbonExposurePodcast #ClimateTech #EnergyTransition #CarbonExposurePodcast #CarbonExposure

In this episode of the Carbon Exposure Podcast, we sit down with Perumal Arumugam from the UNFCCC for an in-depth discussion on Article 6 of the Paris Agreement and what it means for the future of global carbon markets.

As countries move from rule-setting to real implementation, Article 6 is becoming one of the most important mechanisms for scaling climate finance and enabling international carbon trading.

We explore how Article 6.4 (PACM) is being operationalized, how it compares to Article 6.2, and where supply and demand for carbon credits are expected to come from in the coming years.

Perumal shares insights from inside the UNFCCC on the transition from Kyoto to Paris, Article 6 implementation, supply and demand dynamics, registry infrastructure, and the outlook toward 2030.

Chapters:

00:00: Intro & Background

06:25: From Kyoto to Paris

10:49: Article 6.4 Explained

12:32: Supply & Demand Fundamentals

15:10: Host Country Bottlenecks

20:45 Article 6.2 vs 6.4

27:48: Multilateral Advantage of Article 6.4

33:29: First Issuances & CDM Transition

38:11: Project Pipeline & New Methodologies

41:17: Registry Infrastructure Overview

46:24: Interoperability & Registry Architecture

54:39: Outlook to 2030

This conversation is essential listening for anyone working or interested in:

- Carbon markets

- Climate finance

- Article 6 implementation

- Corporate climate strategy

- Carbon credit project development

- Government policy and compliance markets

The Carbon Exposure Podcast brings conversations with leading experts shaping the future of carbon markets, removals, and climate finance.

#CarbonMarkets #Article6 #ParisAgreement #CarbonCredits #ClimateFinance #UNFCCC #CarbonExposure #CarbonExposurePodcast #NDC #CORSIA #ClimatePolicy

In this episode of the Carbon Exposure Project, we sit down with Scobie Mackay, Co-Founder & CEO of Imperative, to unpack what it will take to make nature a genuinely investable asset class.

Scobie brings a rare perspective — combining 15+ years in structured finance at Macquarie and Standard Chartered with hands-on experience developing infrastructure-grade nature-based carbon removal projects across the Global South.

We explore why capital has struggled to flow into nature at scale, why delivery and reputational risk remain misunderstood, and why the risk of climate inaction is still not being priced into financial decision-making — despite trillions of dollars at stake.

This is a conversation about projects, execution, and capital discipline, not theory.

🔍 What we cover

• Why the risk of climate and biodiversity inaction remains off balance sheet
• Treating nature-based carbon projects like infrastructure, not offsets
• Professionalising project development to attract institutional capital
• Delivery risk, permanence, and why “day-one diligence” isn’t enough
• Building large-scale native ecosystem and mangrove restoration projects
• Long-term offtakes, insurance, and managing commodity price risk
• Why biodiversity outcomes are already commanding a market premium

⏱️ Chapters

00:00 Introduction

02:30 From finance to climate

05:20 Climate and biodiversity as a test of collective intelligence

06:40 Discovering carbon markets

08:40 Why institutional capital struggles with carbon projects

11:15 Treating nature projects like infrastructure

14:45 Imperative’s focus: nature-based removals

17:00 Flight to quality and removals

20:10 Execution risk and project controls

24:00 In-house execution and long-term operations

27:40 Risk in carbon markets

32:10 Pricing the risk of climate inaction

40:00 Insurance, offtakes, and delivery guarantees

46:50 Biodiversity premiums and market signals

53:00 Making nature investable

How Verity Nature is Planting 4 Billion Trees in Kenya 🌳 | Duncan Van Der Merwe

In this episode of Carbon Exposure, we sit down with Duncan Van Der Merwe – Co-founder & Chair of Verity Nature to unpack one of the world’s most ambitious nature-based climate programmes.

Verity Nature is a profit-for-purpose company that designs, builds and operates large-scale nature restoration projects with local communities at the centre. From their base in Australia, with teams in New Zealand, East Africa and beyond, they focus on high-integrity carbon and co-benefit credits backed by science, technology and long-term operations. 

Their projects span reforestation and landscape regeneration in New Zealand (e.g. Black Hill Station in Canterbury and a large natural regeneration programme in the Chatham Islands) and blue carbon restoration pilots in Australia, where they’re restoring coastal and tidal ecosystems as future carbon sinks. 

At the heart of this conversation is Kenya. Under President Ruto’s national drive to plant 15 billion trees by 2032, the Kenyan government has asked Verity Nature to help restore degraded landscapes at unprecedented scale. 

Verity has proposed reforesting up to 4 billion native trees as part of this effort – potentially the largest ARR (Afforestation/Reforestation/Revegetation) programme in the voluntary carbon market. Their model combines:

Infrastructure-grade project design – 40-year operations with long-term permanence rights

Community-led restoration – partnering with local organisations like CCB Corridors and using mobile tools (e.g. “Si Si Na Miti”) so farmers and grandmothers can plant trees, track survival and earn income

Tech from satellites to blockchain – remote sensing, MRV and digital traceability to show exactly where credits come from and how trees are performing over time

What we cover: 

00:00 – Introduction: Why Nature-Based Removals Need Infrastructure Thinking

04:30 – Verity Nature’s Model: Building & Operating Long-Term Projects

09:00 – Why East Africa? Strategic Focus on Kenya and Uganda

14:00 – The Kenya Project: Tying into President Ruto’s 15-Billion-Tree Vision

19:30 – Planting Up to 4 Billion Trees: Scale, Design and Execution

25:00 – Communities, Farmers and Grandmothers: Why Women Are Central

31:00 – Tech Stack: From Satellites to Blockchain for Integrity & MRV

38:00 – Risk Management & Delivery: Avoiding the Non-Delivery Trap

45:00 – The 400M Credit Pipeline & the 2030 Removals Gap

51:00 – What Buyers Should Do Now & Closing Reflections

Saudi Arabia is moving fast: top-down ambition, patient capital, and a vision to scale carbon markets across the entire Arab region.

In this episode, Erik Ringvold — Chief Business Development Officer at the Saudi Voluntary Carbon Market Company (VCM) — breaks down how the Kingdom is building the infrastructure, the demand base, and the regional alliances to make it happen.

And momentum is accelerating: VCM recently announced major partnerships with MSCI Carbon Markets to bring advanced carbon market intelligence to Saudi companies, and with BeZero Carbon to strengthen credit quality and transparency across its exchange.

What we cover:00:00 – Introduction & Tunisia Setting

01:43 – Erik’s Journey into Carbon Markets

02:55 – From McKinsey to Carbon Market Development

06:26 – Why Saudi Arabia Has the Ingredients for a Carbon Hub

11:50 – Building Integrity and Confidence in the VCM

14:46 – The Role of Corporates and Perverse Incentives28:30 – Financing, Demand Signals & Market Fundamentals

29:41 – Nature-Based vs. Durable Removals

32:19 – Regional Collaboration Across the Arab World

33:52 – The Tunis Auction & Interconnected Order Books

36:30 – Global Participation & Future Outlook

The Carbon Exposure Project is back to wrap up Season 3 of the Carbon Exposure Project after the summer break!

This week, we sit down in Singapore with John Sharp, co-founder of Hatcher — an investor, technologist, and builder who has helped raise hundreds of millions for nature-based climate projects.

John brings a rare investor’s lens to the voluntary carbon markets: what really happened after the Guardian exposé, why investor confidence evaporated, and how capital is now pivoting toward infrastructure-grade climate solutions.

From the rise and fall of Carbon Nation to bold bets on green steel, carbontech, and even a space-based sunshield, this episode explores where the next generation of climate investments will come from — and what makes them truly bankable.

💡 In this episode:

💸 The Carbon Nation story — raising $250M for nature-based solutions before the 2023 crash

📉 How sentiment collapsed after the Guardian article — and what that meant for investors

🏗️ The shift toward infrastructure-grade assets: green steel, cement, and carbontech

🌍 What makes a project “bankable” in climate finance

🚀 John’s next frontier: Earth Guard, a satellite project designed to stabilize Earth’s temperature

Chapters: 

00:00 – Introduction: From Music to Markets

05:30 – Building Hatcher: Automating Venture Capital

07:00 – Entering Carbon: Launching Carbon Nation

09:30 – Market Shock: The Guardian Article & Carbon Crisis

15:00 – Lessons from the Field: Soil, Cookstoves & Mangroves

23:40 – Pivoting Strategy: From Carbon to Green Infrastructure

34:50 – The Bigger Picture: How Large Is the Carbon Market Really?

38:00 – Policy & the Politics of Carbon Pricing

45:00 – Investing in Climate Tech: Hardware, Deep Tech & Patience

55:30 – Beyond Earth: The Earth Guard Project

During the IETA European Climate Summit held in Lisbon, we spoke with some inspiring voices at the conference. In this European Climate Summit Special Episode, we're joined by Head of Projects & Legal at ONE TRIBE. Welcome to the Carbon Exposure Project!

During the IETA European Climate Summit held in Lisbon, we spoke with some inspiring voices at the conference. In this European Climate Summit Special Episode, we're joined by Stephanie Zhu, former sustainability member at Delta Air Lines, and now active as Director of Climate at Yum! Brands.

Topics discussed:

00:00 – introduction

A light intro leading into the live recording at the European Climate Summit.

01:25 – Stephanie Zhu’s Sustainability Journey

From finance to ESG leadership at Delta Airlines and Yum! Brands.

03:42 – Inside Delta: Navigating the Voluntary Carbon Market

A first-hand look at how one of the world’s biggest airlines approached offsets.

05:10 – Reduce and Invest: A Dual Strategy for Decarbonization

Why internal reductions and external investments must go hand-in-hand.

06:57 – Carbon Markets Are Complicated—Here’s Why

Challenges in understanding offsets, additionality, and building a credible portfolio.

10:55 – From Aviation to Agriculture: Cross-Sector Climate Strategy

The different decarbonization hurdles across industries—and how to tackle them.

14:05 – The Voluntary Paradox

Why companies taking climate action face more scrutiny than those doing nothing.

16:00 – A Pragmatic Path Forward for Corporate Climate Action

Let’s not let perfection stall progress—what realism looks like in sustainability.

During the IETA European Climate Summit held in Lisbon, we spoke with some inspiring voices at the conference. In this European Climate Summit Special Episode, we're joined by David Antonioli, former Founder & CEO of Verra.Topics discussed in this episode:00:00 – Introduction

02:32 – David’s new paper: “Financing the Transitions the World Needs”

03:41 – Rethinking carbon markets: key insights from the report

06:03 – Biochar: a case for real-world carbon solutions

09:04 – Developer vs. biochar business: shifting identities

11:29 – “On paper” vs. reality in project scalability

14:58 – The “three buckets” of climate project economics

18:03 – Keeping projects operational & long-term thinking

21:03 – Market incentives and insetting as cost strategies

24:03 – Rewriting the climate narrative & new leadership

27:03 – Global insights and financial infrastructure reform

28:26 – A new paradigm for transition-focused markets

30:03 – Carbon credits as tools, not destinations

During the IETA European Climate Summit held in Lisbon, we spoke with some inspiring voices at the conference. In this European Climate Summit Special Episode, we're joined by Sandra Pinzón García, Founder & CEO of Global Zero Waste. Sit back, relax, and enjoy the episode!

Topics discussed in this episode:

00:00 – Introduction & Sandra’s mission in circular economy

01:26 – From carbon markets to plastic credits

02:54 – Defining circular economy: water, energy & materials

06:03 – The rise of plastic credits & Cercarbono partnership

09:04 – Building a new methodology for global recycling projects

10:24 – Innovation, R&D and project transformation

14:53 – Scaling impact through zero-waste strategies

18:37 – Sandra’s reflections on climate leadership