Michael Sesko

U.S. Government supports high-quality voluntary carbon market :) This morning, Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen, Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack, and Energy Secretary Jennifer Granholm - released an endorsement of the voluntary carbon market. It came alongside a set of principles adopted from the VCMI (Voluntary Carbon Market Integrity Initiative). Principles for Responsible Participation”, namely: ➡ Focus on High-Quality Credits ➡ Permanence ➡ Robust Monitoring, Reporting, Verification, and Validation (MMRV) ➡ Co-Benefits ➡ Emissions Reduction Priority This positive endorsement of the VCM is a strong signal that the VCM is here to stay. It acknowledges past issues and provides a clear, government-backed, path for how we should adopt and build out the VCM to protect and regenerate global biodiversity. Press Release link: https://lnkd.in/eBtjtF9c

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Great to hear reflexions from funders and collaborators on how this work has focused on a largely neglected field in which we need to make progress urgently. There is no way to reaching 1.5C, or any climate goal without substantive emission reductions from livestock methane by 2050. We need more solutions in more places, with lower costs, and benefits to farmers, for it to really scale. That is the EFA methane moonshot.

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US Carbon Market Principles: A Critical Take 🔍 The new principles for voluntary carbon markets by the US Administration have been well received. But beyond the applause, what do these guidelines really mean? Where do they shine and where do they fall short? Here’s my take: Why it matters: 💠 The largest corporate buyers are in the US. 💠 Fortune 500: $46.4 trillion market cap, with 65% US-based—significant clout for driving climate action. Where it exceeds expectations: ✅ "High-Integrity" Markets: Strong focus on transparency and accountability to combat greenwashing. ✅ Comprehensive Approach: Emphasizes the need for both avoidance and removals, highlighting the urgency of scaling nature-based solutions and fostering tech innovation. ✅ Robust Verification: Calls for stringent verification to ensure credits represent real emission reductions. ✅ Inclusivity and Equity: Involves local communities and indigenous groups, ensuring benefits for those most affected by climate change. Where it falls short: ❔ Economic Impact: Optimistic about job creation and innovation but lacks specifics on implementation. ❔ Detail Deficiency: Strong on principles, but needs more on enforcement and monitoring. ❔ Global Leadership: Positions the US as a leader but lacks emphasis on international collaboration and setting global standards. Overall, the guidelines are strong on integrity and inclusivity but need more detail on enforcement and global cooperation. I’ll be posting more on where we go from here tomorrow. 👉🏼 Follow my profile for part 2 and more posts on carbon markets and natural capital investing. Read the full fact sheet from The White House below: https://lnkd.in/ghKfRV4A #voluntarycarbonmarkets #naturalcapital #carboncredits

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📢 Last week The Integrity Council for the Voluntary Carbon Market (ICVCM) confirmed that both Verra's Verified Carbon Standard (VCS) and the Architecture for REDD+ Transactions (ART) program met the rigorous Core Carbon Principles (#CCPs). Proud to be one of the members of the group that helped create these principles, can’t wait to see more and more standards to be aligned with them. This is a significant achievement for the voluntary carbon market, marking a major step towards ensuring the highest levels of integrity and transparency in carbon credits. So who will be next? Thoughts? #CarbonMarket #VCM #CarbonCredits https://lnkd.in/ecYWpexc

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The largest players in the ag industry will tell you #massbalance is the only option. The reality is that mass balance is the cheapest option. Supply chains can be #identitypreserved directly from a certain varietal, a certain group of producers, and a certain set of environmental practices and outcomes. Yes, it requires more work to break the mold of conventional commingled supply chains. But AgriCapture Certified Climate-Friendly Rice is living proof that 50 million pounds of sustainably grown rice can make its way through the supply chain with identity preservation. Sure, if your only goal is to lower your Scope 3 profile or evidence that you are supporting your industry through an insetting program, mass balance is the best and most cost-effective system to do that. But what about when sustainable rice irrigation practices reduce the uptake of heavy metals in the grain itself? What about when increasing soil organic carbon increases nutrient uptake in your lentils and beans? How much consumer value are you losing when your program incentives actually benefit what is being produced but then it is being tossed in with the conventionally grown commodities? Your body doesn’t care about the ‘mass balanced’ health and safety of the food in the supply chain, your body cares about the health and safety of the food on your plate.

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Enhance Your Clients' ESG Impact with HCS HCS Enhanced 100 Year Plus Carbon Credits HCS Enhanced 100 year plus carbon credits are designed to maximize ESG impact. These credits combine the benefits of regenerative agriculture with engineered carbon removal, offering a hybrid scalable and cost-effective solution. Key Benefits: ▪ Rigorous verification and third-party audits ensure integrity. ▪ Exceptional accuracy in CO2 sequestration measurement. ▪ Long-term carbon storage 100 year plus. ▪ Scalable Carbon Removal Credits for less than $100 Recommend HCS Enhanced 100 year plus credits to your clients and help them achieve their sustainability goals. Click here to learn more and receive our current Carbon Book - https://lnkd.in/efH5_MYQ #CarbonSequestration #CarbonRemoval #ESG

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ITMO Pipeline Established: We are thrilled to unveil a groundbreaking partnership between the Climate Action Center of Excellence (CACE) and the Green Economy Partnership (GEP). This strategic collaboration aims to create a robust pipeline of carbon projects, driving forward the implementation of Article 6 of the Paris Agreement while ensuring alignment with the Sustainable Development Goals. Together, CACE and GEP are set to transform climate finance by developing a substantial portfolio of high-integrity Article 6 credits and biodiversity projects. This effort, in collaboration with Emsurge and its innovative auction platform, will attract significant investments into global mitigation projects. Our joint initiative underscores a strong commitment to activating Article 6 of the Paris Agreement, including the generation and trading of Internationally Transferred Mitigation Outcomes (ITMOs), and sparking transformative climate action worldwide. For more details on our partnership and its far-reaching impacts, read the full press release on: https://lnkd.in/dJ-NUmTe #ClimateAction #ITMO #SustainableDevelopment #Biodiversity #Article6 #ClimateFinance #SDGs

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Yesterday morning the US Federal Government took a strong and pragmatic step to encourage companies to engage in the voluntary carbon markets.   The much-needed endorsement will hopefully be a warm-up to SBTI’s announcement in July, and it was a clear call to Corporates to do more and also a clear message that high integrity will be non-negotiable in this market.   I strongly encourage those interested in the area to listen to the full statement, and read the set of integrity principles issued by the Biden administration (https://lnkd.in/embxbGNy).   Secretary Janet Yellen 06:43 – “So let me be clear, we applaud companies that finance decarbonization through purchasing high quality carbon credits. We want this market to succeed, but that requires a widespread commitment to Integrity that instills market trust. There´s a lot more work to do, but if we do it well, we will have the chance to enlist markets as a powerful ally in the fight against climate change.” Samauma   https://lnkd.in/e48MSZhE

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4th iteration of Anson DLE partnership. They started with Lilac IX and made lithium sulphate concentrated eluate on 4 October 2018. Then Lilac IX switched to HCL to make lithium chloride concentrate for Anson from 2019. Then Anson switched to Sunresin adsorbent DLE. Now it’s trying Koch which uses Lanshen adsorbents. But if you look at Koch DLE results in the Standard Lithium DFS Technical Report, the Lithium recovery by LSS LiPro DLE was far inferior to LiSTR. So it looks like superior impurity rejection of LSS LiPro was the main selection criteria. Not lithium recovery efficiency as that still seems very low. That means more energy use is needed for reverse osmosis and mechanical evaporation to concentrate weak eluate - albeit with lower impurities. The devil is always in the DLE detail.

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It has been great to work with ACR at Winrock International to develop a carbon credit standard which recognizes the impact of using LoCI's real-time data and control technology to increase methane capture and reduce harmful emissions from landfills, one of the largest sources of methane emissions. It is gratifying that leading international organizations including the Carbon Offsetting and Reduction Scheme for International Aviation (CORSIA) and now The Integrity Council for the Voluntary Carbon Market (ICVCM), have recognized the integrity, permanence, and impact of LoCI and ACR's methane emission reduction voluntary carbon credits. #technology #sustainability #climatechange

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We at TASC welcome the U.S. Department of the Treasury's intervention on integrity in voluntary carbon markets (VCM). We believe that integrity already exists in the VCM, but of course more can be done to establish the safeguards that ensure it. We very much support the 3 key integrity principles: supply integrity, demand integrity and market integrity. All too often the focus is purely on supply, but without demand and market integrity, none of this can work. As Janet Yellen rightly states; "if we do it well, we have the chance to enlist markets as a powerful ally in the fight against climate change" Let's do it 🙌 https://lnkd.in/gMCyAZqq

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🌍✨ I'm thrilled to announce our latest investment in Chloris Geospatial, a pioneering company in forest carbon monitoring and carbon markets. This investment by the Cisco Foundation reflects our commitment to supporting innovative, early-stage, tech solutions with significant climate impact. Chloris Geospatial's cutting-edge technology, developed under the expertise of Dr. Alessandro Baccini, delivers accurate annual estimates of biomass density and forest carbon stock changes using earth observation data, proprietary sensor fusion, and machine learning algorithms. 🌲🌳 Their solutions are essential for scaling forest conservation and restoration efforts worldwide. We are excited to partner with Chloris Geospatial and join an incredible team of investors, including NextSTEP, AXA Investment Managers, Orbia Ventures, At One Ventures, and Counteract. 🤝 Together, we support Chloris’ mission to advance trustworthy forest carbon monitoring and conservation efforts. Special thanks to Marco Albani, co-founder and CEO of Chloris Geospatial, for leading this visionary company. We look forward to the impactful advancements ahead for the voluntary carbon markets, ESG monitoring, and beyond. 🚀 To learn more about Chloris Geospatial, our Cisco Foundation catalytic participation, and this round: https://shorturl.at/hhHyK #ClimateTech #NBS #CarbonMarkets #ForestConservation #NetZero #ImpactInvesting #SustainableFuture #CiscoFoundation Mary de Wysocki Charu Adesnik Peter Tavernise Naveen Menon John Rivers, Jr. Shai B. Brian Tippens

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"A key takeaway from this report is that retirements of credits have remained steady. This is the most fundamental metric to assess the health of demand for voluntary carbon credits. The rate of credit retirement shows that end users are indeed consistently using carbon credits generated. Most of the drop in sales seem to be attributable to a drop in speculative purchases. This is not entirely surprising. In short, people have stopped believing in the upside of the current iteration of the voluntary market and are demanding higher quality, integrity, and durability. The call for high integrity, along with general demand hesitancy, indicates a need to build an updated version of the market that incentivizes investment and expands access to participation in high-quality projects." Insightful analysis from my colleague Calvin Tran -- if anything, this news is all the more validating that the Family Forest Carbon Program's commitment to high quality credits will be a worthwhile investment.

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VCM sentiment continued to strengthen this week according to ClearBlue Markets. 📈 As we saw through 2023, sentiment is not a rollercoaster that only goes up. But, hopefully these results mean those interested in climate finance are now able to better discern neccessary and welcome criticism from unserious stone throwing. 🤡🚗

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🌍 EARTH DAY immediate action: 50 days to Europe Election day! 🗳️ Election Day in Europe is on June 9th. Climate is on the ballot—ensure your opinion is represented! Regardless of opinions, make sure you cast yours! 🌐 Leaders and policymakers define by today's decisions the societies we want for the next decades (hello regulation and legislation inertia!). What's at stake? The principles, priorities and values you want for tomorrow's socety. 🌟 What’s decided in Brussels does not stay in Brussels. European frameworks significantly influence national policies and determine our continent's weight and competitiveness, affecting our economies and communities. 💡 Your voice has power—use it wisely! Immediately today you can learn about your candidates Thank you Ryan Panchadsaram Speed & Scale John Doerr for backing that up and making sure the climate progress is tracked at scale for information ! Thank you Chloe Pahud Sandrine Dixson-Declève and everyone at Civocracy 📢to remind that we need to VOTE ANYWAY.

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I've been revisiting this article from ACR at Winrock International recently. With all of the press and interest on the #VCM lately, it's a good reminder to step back and remember the role of carbon markets. The world is off track to meet Paris Agreement goals, with current policies leading to 2.7°C of warming. Carbon markets offer a scalable solution: reducing mitigation costs, increasing climate ambition, and mobilizing finance, while also providing significant co-benefits such as protecting ecosystems, involving diverse communities in climate action, and driving policy changes. https://lnkd.in/e4_PkF5g

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This is exciting leadership from the US Government. Acknowledging the power of the VCM to drive climate ambition globally, and building on the evidence that companies that buy high integrity #carboncredits are decarbonising faster.

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🌍💼 **Wall Street's Breakthrough Moment for Carbon Offsets! 💸🌳🚀** After decades on Wall Street, Tom Montag is diving into carbon offsets with Rubicon Carbon, a venture launched by Hank Paulson at TPG Inc.'s Rise Climate. 🌱 Rubicon aims to buy credits from forest projects and wind farms, helping polluters offset their emissions. With $300 Million USD from TPG and strategic backing from Bank of America and JPMorgan Chase & Co., Rubicon is poised for impact. 💪🏦 However, scandals and lawsuits have slowed growth, and carbon offset prices have declined since their 2022 peak. 😔 Despite this, Montag and other Wall Street leaders are optimistic. 💡 Last month, Rubicon partnered with Microsoft for a tree-planting project in Panama. 🌴 The US government's recent endorsement of offsets for Scope 3 emissions is a game-changer. 🏛️ Top banks like J.P. Morgan, Barclays, and Citigroup are expanding their carbon trading and finance desks. 🌐 BloombergNEF forecasts a $1 Trillion market within three decades. 📈 Montag compares this moment to the derivatives market post-2008 crisis: "You need to build trust." 🔄 Trust and regulatory support are crucial. Key industry-led bodies are stepping up, and countries like Colombia and Australia are integrating credits into their carbon policies. 🌍 The market is moving towards a diversified, quality-focused approach to ensure effectiveness. 🌟 Rubicon's innovative method adjusts credits based on project quality, inspired by insights from firms like BeZero Carbon. 📊 As Alexia Kelly from the High Tide Foundation says, "We've lost three years of climate action because we can't agree on how to account for this stuff." 🚀 Montag adds, "Action to reduce carbon today is more impactful than carbon reductions 15 years in the future." ⏳ https://lnkd.in/gaCXq5S8 #ClimateFinance #CarbonOffsets #Sustainability #CarbonMarkets #GreenInvestment #WallStreet #CarbonCredits

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This is good news. Europe & the USA both moving forward on this issue. While many carbon credits aren’t worth the paper they are written on there are good quality credits out there that do represent a genuine removal of carbon from the atmosphere including carbon stored in wood products in the built environment as occurred with the timber framed Founder’s Building at the University of Washington. This groundbreaking example facilitated by #AureusEarth is covered in my new book: https://lnkd.in/ex6S9k93

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