Solving Climate, Naturally

In this episode, we speak with Elizabeth Littlefield, Senior Partner at West Africa Blue, a community-centric blue carbon project developer operating in Sierra Leone and Guinea. Elizabeth brings unique perspective to the conversation from her time as the President and CEO of OPIC, now renamed the US International Development Finance Corporation (DFC), where she served from 2010 until 2017, as well as from her decade as CEO of the Consultative Group to Assist the Poor (CGAP), a policy and research center housed at the World Bank dedicated to advancing poor people’s access to financial services, and her 16 years at JP Morgan including as Managing Director in charge of capital markets and financing in emerging Europe, Middle East and Africa (EMEA). Elizabeth also spent 1988-1990 living in West Africa setting up microfinance institutions with local communities.

In this episode, we cover a wide range of topics including:

- West Africa Blue’s projects in Sierra Leone and Guinea, and why carbon is necessary to the success of these projects

- What the voluntary carbon market can learn from microfinance

- Importance of transparent benefit-sharing agreements, and what carbon project developers tend to get wrong

- Free, Prior, and Informed Consent (FPIC) and how it is done in practice

- The case for developing carbon projects with local communities and indigenous peoples

- Lessons from the EU and the concept of a buyer of last resort to stabilize carbon markets

- Role of Development Finance Institutions (DFIs) in carbon markets, and understanding the diversity and limitations of DFIs’ mandates - adding nuance to the exhortation to “take more risk”

- Need for rapidly-disbursing, pragmatic early stage capital for nature-based carbon projects

Want to learn more? Check out these resources:

West Africa Blue & its Living Labs of open-source information

The Nature of Nature: Why We Need the Wild, by Enric Sala

Episode recorded on: March 8, 2024

In this episode, we speak with Aakash Ahamed, a remote sensing scientist developing methods to measure forest carbon using instruments deployed on phones, drones, planes, and satellites. He is the co-founder and CEO of Working Trees, a start-up focused on leveraging mobile phone sensing technology to improve ease, accuracy, and transparency in tree carbon monitoring.  In this episode, Aakash shares Working Trees’ origin story at Stanford, the company’s journey to find product-market fit, plans for scale, and the challenge with measuring trees from space.

In this episode, we touch on:

How forest carbon is measured today, and the challenges and costs of doing so

The sensors already in our mobile phones, and their usefulness for measuring forest carbon at low cost today… and on the flip-side, the limitations of satellites

Carbon credits as bridge for financing for critical natural climate solutions

Why Aakash is excited about the SEC’s climate disclosure regulation

The importance of the scientific process and peer-reviewed papers to building trust with new technology

Want to learn more? Check out these resources:

Working Trees website

Working Trees dashboard of project sites

Comprehensive Analysis of the SEC’s Landmark Climate Disclosure Rule

Working Trees iOS Application

Working Trees Android Application

Working Trees’ peer reviewed research

Episode recorded on: March 8, 2024

SCN host Julia Strong and field correspondent Morrison Mast report from New York Climate Week 2023, bringing listeners voices from the Brazilian Amazon, London, New York, and more to experience one of the climate community’s biggest weeks and understand the state-of-play of nature-based solutions during this tumultuous time in carbon markets. In this episode, we share our takeaways from climate week by sharing recordings from panels and conversations at Nature4Climate’s Nature Positive Hub throughout the week. Our three main takeaways were:

NY Climate Week should be rebranded to Nature and Climate Week given the plethora of not only climate but also nature focused events.

Indigenous peoples are increasingly included in the conversation and recognized as critical and influential stewards of and stakeholders in nature-based solutions. 

Concern about the current state of the market exists alongside optimism about ongoing efforts to resolve current issues and a general belief in the importance of this tool to protect, restore, and better manage nature for climate, biodiversity, and nature outcomes.

Other themes covered include:  

Increasing corporate engagement in nature conservation and NbS spurred by the Taskforce on Nature-related Financial Disclosures.

Alignment between climate action and biodiversity conservation via 30x30 commitments and Convention on Biological Diversity.

The importance of indigenous sovereignty in addressing climate change and biodiversity loss.

Balancing necessary improvements with optimism, and views from some of the world's largest REDD+ project developers on rebuilding trust in carbon markets.

Featured Voices (in order of appearance):

Lucy Almond, Chair, Nature4Climate and Strategic Communications Lead for Nature-based Solutions at World Economic Forum

Roman Czebiniak, Nature Based Solutions & Climate Private Sector Lead, WRI

Eric Wilburn, founder and principal consultant, NatureBridge

Vicky Tauli-Corpuz, former UN Special Rapporteur on the rights of indigenous peoples from a Nia Tero panel

Nemonte Nequimo, Indigenous activist, member of the Waorani Nation from the Amazonian Region of Ecuador, and co-founder of the Indigenous-led nonprofit organization Ceibo Alliance from a Nia Tero panel

Nara Baré, Indigenous leader and first woman elected to lead Coordination of the Indigenous Organizations of the Brazilian Amazon (COIAB), Brazil

Renat Heuberger, co-Founder South Pole

Joshua Tosteson, President, Everland from a Nature Positive Hub panel

Want to learn more? Check out these websites for more information on the organizations, efforts, and events mentioned in the podcast:

Nature Positive Hub Day One Agenda

Nature Positive Hub Day Two Agenda

Nature Positive Hub Day Three Agenda

Nature Positive Hub NYCW 2023 panel recordings

Nature for Climate

Taskforce for Nature-related Financial Disclosures

Integrity Council for the Voluntary Carbon Markets (ICVCM)

Nia Tero

New Yorker article on South Pole’s Kariba Project

South Pole announces senior leadership change

Interviews and panels recorded on: September 18th-22nd, 2023

Solving Climate, Naturally commentary recorded on: November 5th, 2023

Tim Christophersen leads Salesforce’s nature positive strategy - internally defining Salesforce’s nature-related goals and how to meet them, partnering with other corporations to help them advance action for nature, and driving cross-sector partnerships to unlock nature-based solutions at scale. Tim shares the challenges for nature-based solutions investments and corporate action today, provides his take on the Taskforce for Nature-related Financial Disclosure (TNFD) and other recent regulatory and standards developments, discusses misconceptions in the market today, and gives tips on how to make the business case for nature in the private sector.

In this episode, we also touch on:  

> Tim’s journey from the UN to Salesforce

> The role of regulators and supranational organizations in driving impact for nature

> Why Tim chose to join Salesforce in particular

> How Tim makes the business case internally and externally for nature

> Taskforce for Nature-related Financial Disclosure (TNFD) and how it can be made more approachable to corporates

> Tim’s perspectives on the future of biodiversity markets

> Misconceptions of nature-based solutions in the market today

> Financing barriers and the status of the pipeline of nature-based projects

> The role of philanthropy in unlocking capital

> How to get involved in nature-positive action

Want to learn more? Check out these resources:

> Salesforce’s nature positive strategy

> Salesforce goes ‘nature positive’ 

> Salesforce outlines strategy to boost private sector support for nature conservation and restoration

> Salesforce’s FY23 Impact Report - A nature positive future

> GIST Impact study on “natural farming through a wide-angle lens: true cost accounting study of community managed natural farming in andhra pradesh, india”

> UN Decade on Restoration

Episode recorded on: July 21, 2023

In our first episode featuring a corporate sustainability leader focused on nature-based solutions, we interview Megan about her role at Iberostar, her priorities as they relate to nature-based solutions, and the challenges and opportunities driving innovation for both adaptation and mitigation internally and with partners externally. Megan shares her thoughts on what a nature positive, responsible tourism industry looks like, and what she wishes her peers in corporate sustainability knew about nature-based solutions. 

In this episode, we also touch on:  

> Megan’s journey from PhD student at Stanford to leading sustainability at Iberostar

> Iberostar’s sustainability goals and making the business case for sustainability

> How Iberostar’s action contribute to broader, industry-wide efforts

> The role of nature - both for adaptation and mitigation - in the hospitality sector 

> Megan’s experiences investing in nature-based solutions projects

> How to build trust with on-the-ground communities for meaningful impact

> Driving innovation and action on sustainability in the private sector

Want to learn more? Check out these resources:

> Wave of Change - Iberostar’s commitment to responsible tourism

> Iberostar’s decarbonization roadmap

Episode recorded on: June 23, 2023

In this episode, we talk with Clara about Restor, an online platform that hosts more than 100,000 restoration and conservation projects worldwide and connects on-the-ground land stewards of these projects with the financing and information they need to succeed. Clara speaks about what these projects actually look like, the opportunities and limitations of digital monitoring, reporting, and verification (DMRV) technology, and the role of Restor in driving the overall restoration movement forward. 

In this episode, we touch on:  

> Clara’s journey from the cloud forests of Monteverde, Costa Rica to CEO of Restor

> How Restor works - its users, business model, and tech

> Nuances of DMRV for projects in the global south

> Examples of project successes and failures

> Intersection between restoration and productive land uses like agriculture

> Misconceptions and barriers to scale for restoration projects

Want to learn more? Check out these resources:

Restor’s Home Page

Restor on YouTube

Episode recorded on: June 16, 2023

In this episode, we talk with Ariel about her work at Patch scaling carbon removal solutions through innovative finance mechanisms and tech, what’s holding the voluntary carbon market back today, and the ins and outs of soil carbon relative to other nature-based solutions out there. 

In this episode, we touch on:  

> Ariel’s personal journey from her family’s background in farming and ag to her work in business to drive capital to climate solutions

> Patch’s role in the climate tech ecosystem

> The nuances of soil carbon particularly as it relates to MRV

> Pillars of high-integrity carbon credits 

> Offtake agreements and strategies for managing risk in carbon projects

> Corporate claims and carbon credit buyer misconceptions

Want to learn more? Check out these resources:

Compensation vs. contribution: Comparing climate spending models

Introducing CarbonOS: the infrastructure for the carbon market of the future

Patch Offtake: A business solution driving outsized impact for our climate future

5 climate commitments and how to identify yours

A buyer's guide to trusted carbon credits: 3 things to consider when purchasing carbon credits

Episode recorded on: April 7, 2023

In this episode, we speak with Megan Reilly Cayten. Megan has developed, financed, and managed projects to deliver positive impacts for people and the planet on four continents, and is currently Senior Investment Manager with Climate Asset Management, a new institutional natural capital platform. She has a background in power and infrastructure development, finance, and asset management , and has advised funds, companies and projects on climate and carbon offset strategy and impact. She is a Senior Adviser to the Oceans 2050 Foundation, board member of the largest conservation NGO in Mexico and Environmental Voter Project and is on the National Council of World Wildlife Fund. Her passion is climate restoration, with the goal of leaving our children a habitable planet.

In this episode, we touch on:  

The specific opportunities and challenges around scaling natural climate solutions in emerging markets, and the importance of centering indigenous communities as partners and stewards

The power of the ocean as a climate lever,  the climate impacts to oceans of absorbing incredible amounts of energy and heat, and the status of emerging methodologies to unlock seaweed as a form of at-scale carbon sequestration

Climate Asset Management’s mandate, how it addresses the unique dimensions of investing in NCS, and how NCS investing differs from conventional infrastructure and real asset opportunities

What’s required for making natural capital an asset class, the path to making nature-based projects bankable, and what’s needed to drive more investment into natural climate solutions 

Why “nature is the new climate” - why nature and biodiversity considerations are as essential to our focus as addressing greenhouse gas emissions

Want to learn more? Check out these resources:

Nature is the New Climate (Megan Reilly Cayten, Environmental Finance)

The Economics of Biodiversity: The Dasgupta Review

Financing the Earth’s Assets: The Case for Mangroves (Earth Security)

Taskforce on Nature-related Financial Disclosures

France’s Article 29 on biodiversity disclosures and the UK’s 2021 Environment Act mandating that projects deliver a biodiversity net gain

“Small is Beautiful: Economics as if People Mattered” (E.F. Schumacher)

Episode recorded: February 1, 2022

In this episode, we speak with Eron Bloomgarden of Emergent, a non-profit designed to channel large flows of private capital into protecting the world’s tropical forests. In 2021 Emergent launched the LEAF Coalition, which works with jurisdictions (countries or large states) on the supply side of REDD+ carbon credits, and large corporates on the buy-side, to provide forward purchase agreements. Donor countries - the US, UK, and Norway - act as buyers of last resort. To date, the LEAF Coalition has raised over $1 billion in funding for forest protection. Eron brings two decades of carbon markets experience to the conversation. He shares his unique perspective on how carbon markets have evolved, and what’s still needed today.

In this episode, we touch on:  

History of carbon markets, from the more top-down Kyoto Protocol’s Clean Development Mechanism (CDM), to the more bottom-up Paris Agreement, to present day

Rapid ramp-up of the voluntary carbon market over the last 18-24 months, and institutional catch-up

Emergent’s LEAF Coalition connecting corporates with jurisdictional REDD+ carbon credits through forward purchase agreements 

ART’s TREES standard for jurisdictional crediting, and why this was developed

Ins and outs of developing a jurisdictional-level REDD+ programme and how LEAF connects the dots between buyers and suppliers 

Want to learn more? Check out these resources:

Emergent

TREES: The REDD+ Environmental Excellence Standard

EDF announcement regarding LEAF at COP26 in Glasgow

What’s next for the LEAF coalition 

News and views from the LEAF coalition and Emergent

***

Episode recorded on: January 28, 2022

Doniga is a regenerative rancher, wildlife tracker, author and thought leader around nature and our role within it. She and her husband own and operate Markegard Family Grass-Fed, and lease land encompassing over 11,000 acres across the Bay Area in Northern California. In this episode, we explore the lessons Doniga has learned in her many years of actively managing land and applying regenerative practices and witnessing first hand all the climate, biodiversity and systemic benefits that stem from them.

Topics covered in this episode:

Doniga’s journey from wildlife tracking to regenerative ranching

Connection between ranching and biodiversity and soil carbon outcomes

Barriers to switching to regenerative practices

Role of corporations versus policy in promoting regenerative agriculture

Want to learn more? Check out these resources:

Markegard Family Grassfed - Doniga’s regenerative ranching company

Point Blue Conservation - Conservation organization referenced by Doniga in the episode

Move Your DNA: Restore your Health through Natural Movement - Book by Katie Bowman referenced by Doniga in the episode

Doniga’s incredible story as written by her in her books Dawn Again and Wolf Girl

These cattle ranchers are raising better beef, spending less — and reducing carbon emissions (CNBC)

Regenerative Agriculture: Good for Soil Health but Limited Potential to Mitigate Climate Change (World Resources Institute)

***

Episode recorded on: February 18, 2022