Sliced: ๐๏ธ Untangling Climate Finance 2024 Recap ๐๏ธ
Season 2 of Untangling Climate Finance is a Wrap!
What a year itโs been! Over 2024, we had the privilege of featuring ten brilliant guests who brought their expertise to a wide range of topics, including climate finance, carbon markets, impact investing, policy, forestry, agriculture, and more.
We are also honored to have added hundreds of subscribers from around the world and to have achieved thousands of streams. Your support inspires us to keep bringing impactful conversations to the forefront.
If you havenโt had the chance to listen yet, the holiday season is the perfect time to catch up! Below, youโll find all the episodes from Season 2, complete with links to all the streaming platforms. Season 1 episodes are even further down.
As we look ahead to 2025, Season 3 is already shaping up to be another exciting chapter. Weโre thrilled to be welcoming a box office lineup of guests to discuss topics like carbon credit insurance, impact investing, tribal carbon credit projects, and carbon project co-benefits.
Weโd also love to hear from you! If thereโs a topic youโd like us to explore, send us your suggestions soonโour Season 3 calendar is filling up fast.
Ready to subscribe? Just click the streaming platform icons below to stay connected with all the latest episodes.
Thanks for listening, and hereโs to more insightful conversations ahead!
Episode 1: Dissecting Carbon Markets with Dr. Lambert Schneider
In this episode, Jay and Dr. Lambert Schneider connect to discuss carbon markets.
Dr. Schneider is the Research Coordinator for International Climate Policy at the Oko-Institut e.V. He has most of his career working on the various carbon markets around the world. Dr. Schneider cover various aspects of the complex carbon market sphere. Dr. Schneider demonstrates his extensive expertise in every response, sharing his concerns about certain market elements and his hopes for the future of the markets.
Episode 2: Seeds of Change – A Discussion with Mast Reforestation
In this episode, Jay speaks with Grant Canary (Founder & CEO) and Jonathan Loevner (VP, Carbon Markets & Policy) of Mast Reforestation to discuss the post-wildfire reforestation work their company is doing.
They discuss a recent stream financing agreement they made which is allowing them to expand their carbon credit projects. They share their insights on scaling, carbon credit generation, the issues they face, and their company goals in helping with reforestation.
Episode 3: Unpacking A Commodity Futures Contract with Rick Gilmore
This episode features a conversation between Jay, and Rick Gilmore, the President & CEO of GIC Group.
They discuss GIC Groupโs new product, Commodities Plus Carbon (CPC), a novel futures contract that blends agricultural commodities with carbon markets which seeks to reward farmers with a premium on their crop yields. Rick sheds light on the CPCโs mechanics, its significance in todayโs agricultural and environmental landscape, and the rationale behind its timely introduction.
Episode 4: Sustainable Farming and Soil Carbon Credits with Max DuBuisson
In this episode, โ Jayโ connects with โ Max DuBuisson, the Vice President of Sustainability, Policy & Engagement at Indigo Ag, an ag-tech company based in Boston.
Max discusses Indigo Agโs role in sustainable agriculture, detailing their carbon credit project which engages about 1,000 farmers across 30 states to manage over 7 million acres. He highlights the projectโs benefits, including significant profit sharing that has yielded over $12 million for farmers, and touches on Indigo Agโs use of advanced technologies and strategic partnerships to promote global sustainable practices.
Episode 5: From Policy to Progress – Timothy Male on Nature-Based Climate Finance
In this episode, Jay covers environmental policy with Timothy Male, the Executive Director of the Environmental Policy Innovation Center (EPIC).
Tim outlines EPICโs mission and its impact on U.S. environmental policies, focusing on initiatives like environmental restoration and the challenges of long permitting times. He discusses innovative financial mechanisms such as debt-for-nature swaps, state revolving loan funds, and pay-for-success contracts as scalable tools for nature-based climate finance. Tim emphasizes the importance of public-private partnerships and advocates for increased funding. He concludes with a vision for the future of U.S. policy, stressing the need to improve policy narratives to drive financial resources towards enhancing our relationship with nature.
Episode 6: Revolutionizing Soil Health with Henry Rowlands
In this episode, Jay connects with Henry Rowlands, the Co-Founder, CEO, and Director of Soil in Formation (SIF), a U.S. public benefit corporation dedicated to restoring soil health worldwide through advanced soil health measurement technology and a contextual data platform.
They cover Henryโs extensive background in agriculture and soil management, his journey to co-founding SIF, the companyโs core objectives, the challenges SIF aims to address with its remote soil sensor and actionable soil health metrics database, SIFโs efforts to integrate their technology into agriculture and soil carbon credit methodologies under the major carbon credit standards, and much more.
Episode 7: Sean Penrith Returns – Updates on Climate Finance, Carbon Markets & Impact Investing
In this episode, we welcome back Sean Penrith, CEO of Gordian Knot Strategies, nearly a year after his first appearance, to discuss some GKSโs key focus areas โ climate finance, carbon markets, and impact investing. Jay and Sean explore the current state of climate finance for mitigation and adaptation, the challenges and progress in carbon markets, and the role and growth of impact investing, along with insights into biodiversity crediting.
Episode 8: Unlocking The Power of Climate Tech and Finance with Anna Lerner
In this episode, Anna Lerner, CEO of Climate Collective, discusses climate finance, cutting-edge tech like AI and geospatial, and the critical role of local communities in driving climate solutions. Anna also shares insights into green accountability, Climate Collectiveโs new AI accelerator, and the emerging field of biodiversity credits.
Episode 9: Harnessing Family Forests to Tackle Climate Change with Rita Hite
In this episode, Rita Hite, President and CEO of the American Forest Foundation, discusses the vital role of family forests in climate solutions and shares AFFโs innovative programs. Rita also announces AFFโs first-ever carbon credit auction for nature-based solutions, set for February 2025.
Episode 10: Sheri Hickok on Carbon Markets and Climate Finance
In this episode, Sheri Hickok, CEO of Climate Impact Partners, discusses the power of carbon markets in driving climate action. Sheri shares her journey from engineering to climate leadership and highlights impactful projects, like Climate Impact Partnersโ reforestation work in Ghana, which combines carbon removal with sustainable jobs for local communities.
Episode 1: What is Climate Finance? Explained by Sean Penrith
To kick off the series, โ Jayโ spoke with โ Sean Penrithโ (CEO, Gordian Knot Strategies). Sean introduces the term โclimate financeโ and defines what exactly that means. He also recounts his journey from an entrepreneur working outside the realm of climate change to his current position, running a private firm that mobilizes and activates climate finance for clients all over the world.
Episode 2: To Bond, Or Not To Bond – A Discussion with Nathan Truitt
In this episode, Jay talked with Nathan Truitt (Executive Vice President, Climate Funding โ American Forest Foundation).
They covered topics including forest carbon credit projects, an innovative new green bond, AFFโs recent Verra methodology, and the challenges and opportunities for scaling up climate finance focused on forest projects.
Episode 3: Pricing the Priceless with Paula DiPerna
In this episode, Jay chatted with author and carbon market expert, Paula DiPerna.
They discussed her new book Pricing the Priceless: The Financial Transformation to Value the Planet, Solve the Climate Crisis, and Protect Our Most Precious Assets. They also talk about her work on both the voluntary and regulatory carbon markets, and how she thinks carbon markets are key to decarbonization.
Episode 4: The Name is Bond, Green Bond – A Conversation with Sean Kidney
In this episode, Jay talked with Sean Kidney, the CEO of the Climate Bonds Initiative.
They connected to review the current state of green bonds, the use of their proceeds, the prevalent topic of greenwashing, and how we can get more climate finance moving to slow down global warming. Sean also shares some personal information like his journey to becoming a leader in the bond space, and why he works tirelessly to fight the climate crisis.
Episode 5: A Veteranโs Takes on Carbon Markets – Insights with David Antonioli
In this episode, Jay hosted David Antonioli of DLA Climate Solutions.
They connected to discuss the state of the voluntary carbon market (VCM). David shares his opinions on some of the issues facing the VCM, as well as offers solutions for improvement. David also lays out some of his plans for the future following his departure from Verra, where he served as CEO for 15 years.
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