Solving Climate, Naturally

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)

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Episode recorded on: February 18, 2022

In this episode, we speak to Marty about the urgency of the climate crisis and the role that ocean ecosystem restoration and carbon sequestration have to play in solving it. Having grown up around commercial fishing and received formal training as an engineer, Marty is combining his passion for our oceans with his technological know-how to build Running Tide, working to scale our ocean’s ability to sequester carbon, create more resilient shorelines, and provide nutritious food to our changing and ever-more populous planet. Kelp as a natural climate solution is still new, and largely untested and Marty speaks to both the opportunity and challenge of his work to test and drive this solution forward.

Topics covered in this episode:

- Marty’s personal journey

- How technology, data science, and automation play a role in oyster farming and kelp deployment

- Marty’s views on how tackling climate change is the “largest industrial effort in history”

- How kelp works as a form of carbon removal

- The science behind kelp sinking - what we know, what we don’t know

Want to learn more? Check out these resources:

- Running Tide

- This startup grows kelp then sinks it to suck carbon from the air (CNN)

- Carbon removal ‘is the biggest industry in the history of the world,’ Running Tide CEO says (Yahoo Finance)

- Companies hoping to grow carbon sucking kelp may be rushing ahead of the science

- Book recommendation: Freedom’s Forge by Arthur Herman

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Episode recorded on: November 19, 2021

In this episode, we sit down with Dominique Bikaba, Founder and Executive Director of Strong Roots Congo, a grassroots conservation and sustainable development organization operating in the Eastern Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) that is securing land tenure for community forests and creating an ecological corridor for the critically endangered eastern lowland gorilla. The corridor preserves primary forest and enhances reforestation of degraded areas, while creating economic opportunity for community members. Born in the area that is now that Kahuzi-Biega National Park, Dominique has dedicated his life to conservation in the region. He holds a master's degree from the Yale School of Forestry.

We wanted to feature stories from the DRC because when it comes to addressing climate change, DRC stands to play an outsize role. Beyond its status as the largest country by area in Sub-Saharan Africa and the 15th most populous country in the world, DRC is home to 80% of the Congo Basin rainforest - the only remaining significant carbon sink among the world’s three largest tropical rainforests. It is also the world’s largest producer of cobalt, a critical component of lithium-ion batteries, and thus electric vehicles. Yet the DRC is also plagued by long-running violent conflict, an exploitative history of mineral and natural resources extraction, poverty, and corruption. It is both one of the most important, and most challenging, frontiers for conservation and climate action.

In this conversation, we touch on:  

- The importance of the Congo Basin for both preservation of biodiversity and as the world’s largest carbon sink

- The idea that people are a part of nature, not enemies to it

- The need to combine, rather than replace, traditional knowledge with science and technology

- DRC’s legal framework for community-managed forests, and Strong Roots Congo’s efforts to secure community land rights to create a 600,000 ha ecological corridor between Kahuzi-Biega National Park and Itombwe Nature Reserve - crucial habitat for three species of great apes

- Drivers of deforestation in the DRC, most notably energy needs of a growing population

- The need for sustainable conservation financing that enables a holistic, long-term approach to landscape management

Want to learn more? Check out these resources:

- Strong Roots Congo

- Nia Tero

- Kahuzi-Biega National Park

- Nature article, “Age, extent and carbon storage of the central Congo Basin peatland complex”

- National Geographic article, “Inside the search for Africa’s carbon time bomb”

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Episode recorded on: September 30, 2021

In this episode, we talk with Duncan about his new venture, Calyx Global, the role of different actors in the voluntary carbon market, how this market is evolving, and the challenges of driving both quality and scale.

In this episode, we touch on:  

- The challenges of ensuring quality in the carbon markets and the state of voluntary carbon markets today

- How Calyx Global assesses quality of carbon credits, using new assessment processes, technology, and data

- The current state of the carbon markets ecosystem and how standards bodies, verifying bodies, intermediaries, and end users interact - and how it parallels (or could parallel) the evolution of our traditional financial system

- How Duncan thought about structuring Calyx, an organization focused on driving climate impact at scale

- Duncan’s views on key developments in the carbon markets, such as work by the Taskforce for Scaling Voluntary Carbon Market and other ongoing initiatives

- How do we get nature-based solutions to the scale required by big corporations and the economy at large

Want to learn more? Check out these resources:

- Calyx Global

- The TSVCM’s final report

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More at: https://www.solvingclimatenaturally.com/

Tell us what you think! [email protected]

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Episode recorded on: October 6, 2021

In this episode, we talk to Neal about his work transforming degraded landscapes through regenerative agroforestry. From the Al Baydha Project in Makkah, Saudi Arabia, where he lived and worked alongside the bedouin tribesmen to convert deserts into savannahs, to his current work establishing regenerative seawater agroforestry systems in Mexico and beyond, Neal brings a wealth of knowledge as well as a dose of inspiration for the ecological transformation that can be accomplished even in some of the most difficult environments. 

Topics covered in this episode:

- [01:35] Neal’s personal journey into regenerative ecosystems

- [07:35] Why, when, and where of desertification

- [18:53] Can we feed a world with regenerative agriculture?

- [25:58] Neal’s years as co-founder of the Al Baydha project in Saudi Arabia

- [36:13] Mangroves afforestation and developing regenerative seawater agroforestry systems

- [47:18] Regenerative Resources Co’s business model and the challenges of financing regenerative projects more broadly

Want to learn more? Check out these resources:

- Regenerative Resources Co

- The Story of Al Baydha: A Regenerative Agriculture in the Saudi Desert

- Sustainable Design MasterClass - 150+ hours of webinars on YouTube

- Jevons paradox

- Book recommendations: Natural Capitalism, When the Rivers Run Dry, N. K. Jemisin’s The Broken Earth Trilogy

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More at: https://www.solvingclimatenaturally.com/

Tell us what you think! [email protected]

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Episode recorded on: April 9, 2021

In this episode, we talk with Justin about his work bridging worlds in order to unlock the potential that nature has to be a bigger part of the climate story. He discusses the critical importance of putting people at the center of natural climate solutions (NCS) and funneling more resources to farmers, foresters, environmental organizations, and communities that are on the forefront of climate change. He also shares a number of stories to inspire hope and optimism, and the dream that we could be the first generation in 10,000 years to begin to reverse environmental damage.

In this episode, we touch on:  

- The role of the Tropical Forest Alliance, 1 Trillion Trees, and other global initiatives in the NCS movement

- Centering people in natural climate solutions

- The role of corporations, and the need for standardized, transparent reporting against corporate pledges

- The promise of carbon finance - and where it might fall short

- The importance of indigenous peoples’ land rights, and stories of indigenous leadership

- Opportunities for environmental restoration in post-conflict regions

If Justin had a magic wand, how would he scale-up natural climate solutions? Put the farmers, those that have a direct impact on nature and dependence on nature, at the center of major discussions on NCS.

Want to learn more? Check out these resources:

- Investing Less than 1% of World GDP into Nature-Based Solutions Can Tackle Climate Change and Biodiversity Crisis

- NCS Alliance website

- 1t.org Sahel and the Great Green Wall

- Uplink

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More at: https://www.solvingclimatenaturally.com/

Tell us what you think! [email protected]

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Episode recorded on: April 14, 2021

In 2017, Bronson Griscom published a landmark study on the impact potential of natural climate solutions, suggesting that a portfolio of conservation, restoration and land management actions can enable at least 30% of required emissions reductions by 2030 to remain on a 2C pathway.  In this episode, we explore how Bronson thought about pursuing these questions, how likely we are to actually get it done, and how we can unlock NCS at scale.

In this episode, we touch on:

- How to fix nature’s ‘branding problem’

- How to think about impact measurement, permanence and leakage for NCS

- How future warming impacts the potential of these solutions

- What needs to happen to create momentum behind NCS projects 

Want to learn more? Check out these resources:

- Bronson’s essential research on the enormous impact potential of different natural climate solutions, and a related piece on natural climate solutions for the United States

- CI blog post on “What on earth are natural climate solutions?” 

- Bronson’s paper on the role of soil carbon in NCS

- Bronson’s piece on protecting irrecoverable carbon in Earth’s ecosystems

- …and many more!

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More at: https://www.solvingclimatenaturally.com/

Tell us what you think! [email protected]

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Episode recorded on: February 26, 2021

In this episode, we discuss the importance of tropical forests in climate change mitigation and adaptation, and we take a tour of natural climate solutions over the years. Frances discusses the evolution of global programs to pay developing countries to protect against deforestation, the merits of conservation vs. tree planting, and her recent work around nature-based solutions as offsets in corporate sustainability strategies.

In this episode, we touch on:

- Non-carbon pathways through which forests help moderate the climate, and why “a ton is not a ton, is not a ton” of emissions abatement

- Evolution of REDD+ over the years, and the importance of a jurisdictional (vs. project-based) approach to carbon crediting

- Why both “climate world” and “development world” underinvest in natural climate solutions

- Advice for corporate sustainability teams on how to think about offsets

If Frances had a magic wand, how would she scale up natural climate solutions? In addition to reducing their own emissions, we need big corporate buyers to make forward commitments to paying good prices for jurisdictional-scale REDD+ credits that meet a high standard.

Want to learn more? Check out these resources:

- Consideration of Nature-Based Solutions as Offsets in Corporate Climate Change Mitigation Strategies (Frances Seymour and Paige Langer, March 2021)

- 3 Tips for Companies Navigating the Use of Carbon Credits from Nature (Frances Seymour and Paige Langer, March 2021) – WRI blog accompanying the working paper

- Architecture for REDD+ Transactions (ART) – developed TREES standard for ensuring environmental and social integrity on the supply side of REDD+ credits

- Global Forest Review – Global Forest Watch (GFW)’s new website that provides insights on 2020 tree cover loss

- 2021 Must Be a Turning Point for Forests. 2020 Data Shows Us Why (Frances Seymour, March 2021)

- Seeing the Forests as well as the (Trillion) Trees in Corporate Climate Strategies (Frances Seymour, May 2020)

- 4 Reasons Why a Jurisdictional Approach for REDD+ Crediting Is Superior to a Project-Based Approach (Frances Seymour, May 2020)

- Reducing Tropical Deforestation (Frances Seymour and Nancy Harris, August 2019 in Science) – brief read on the drivers of tropical deforestation

- Why Forests? Why Now? (2016)

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More at: https://www.solvingclimatenaturally.com/

Tell us what you think! [email protected]

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Episode recorded on: February 5, 2021

In this episode, we explore how technology is changing the way we measure, value, and drive natural climate solutions at scale. Max shares the story of SilviaTerra, discusses with us the importance of data in building functioning natural capital markets, and shares how SilviaTerra is using that data to build the Natural Capital Exchange, their forest carbon marketplace.

In this episode, we touch on:

- Translating data to change on the landscape

- Role of markets versus government in resource management

- Key factors in evaluating forest carbon impact

- The time-value of carbon

If Max had a magic wand, how would he scale-up natural climate solutions? Make sure governments get the rules right to actually change landowners’ behavior.

Want to learn more? Check out these resources:

- https://www.silviaterra.com/

- SilviaTerra’s white paper on forest carbon economics

- Blog post announcing Microsoft as SilviaTerra’s first NCAPX buyer

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More at: https://www.solvingclimatenaturally.com/

Tell us what you think! [email protected]

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Episode recorded on: December 5, 2020

Note: Julia Osterman (co-host) now works at SilviaTerra but did not at the time of recording.