🎙️ Untangling Climate Finance: Sean Penrith & Kerry Morrison Break Down the Santa Marta Conference

Listen to this episode on any of the streaming platforms below.

“A roadmap is not investable because it says the right things. It’s investable because it shows a plausible sequencing of policy, capital needs, and institutional responsibilities covered with social protections in the long term.”

– Sean Penrith

On our newest episode of Untangling Climate Finance, we’re zooming out to the sovereign level.

Most of the conversations on this show live in the world of markets, projects, policy, and financial instruments. But every once in a while, something happens on the global stage that reshapes the context for all of it. The First International Conference on Transitioning Away from Fossil Fuels, held in Santa Marta, Colombia at the end of April, was one of those moments.

This month, Jay is joined by Sean Penrith, CEO of Gordian Knot Strategies, and Kerry Morrison, our Director of Strategic Engagement, to unpack what Santa Marta actually means for the future of climate and nature finance, and what it would take to turn its signals into investable architecture.

Sean, Kerry, and Jay discuss:

✅ Why 57 countries gathering to treat fossil fuel phase-out as a governance and finance problem is a genuine inflection point

✅ What separates an investable national transition roadmap from an aspirational one, and what France, Colombia, and Brazil are getting right

✅ How Article 6 and the voluntary carbon market need to evolve in a post-Santa Marta world, and what that means for project developers and screeners

✅ Why managed fossil decline should be seen as a peace and stability asset class, not just a decarbonization agenda

✅ How biodiversity and climate finance are finally beginning to converge, and why that convergence matters for natural capital thinking

The signal from Santa Marta is clear. The architecture still needs to be built. This episode is about what that looks like in practice.

To connect with the Gordian Knot Strategies team or explore how we can support your transition finance work, reach out at communications@gordianknotstrategies.com

Enjoy the ep!

Gordian Knot Strategies

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