Karl Bach

🌍 Exciting news for the global carbon markets! Secretary Janet L. Yellen's recent remarks on high-integrity voluntary carbon markets (VCMs) mark a significant milestone. At ReNewCred, we fully support the principles she emphasized: supply integrity, demand integrity, and market integrity. These principles are essential for ensuring high-quality carbon credits and transparent corporate emissions reduction. By building trust and transparency, we can transform VCMs into a powerful tool in the fight against climate change. Let’s collaborate to harness the potential of markets and private capital to achieve our global climate goals! 💚🌱 #ClimateAction #Sustainability #CarbonMarkets #ReNewCred

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As somebody who has admittedly taken a more cynical view on 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘶𝘴𝘦 𝘰𝘧 carbon credits and therefore tends to fall on the side of distrust of them (in my ignorance) I find this to be a very useful perspective that sets out both sides of arguments and proposes solutions to address the divisiveness/challenges. It’s true to say that when we are on the same side, it behoves us to build bridges rather than permit rifts to exist. 𝗧𝗵𝗶𝘀 𝗶𝗻 𝗶𝘁𝘀𝗲𝗹𝗳 𝗶𝘀 𝗮 𝘀𝘁𝗿𝗼𝗻𝗴 𝗹𝗲𝗮𝗱𝗲𝗿𝘀𝗵𝗶𝗽 𝘁𝗿𝗮𝗶𝘁! Looking forward to the rest of the series.

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This was the vision of our 2021 XPRIZE Carbon Removal project that was rejected by XPRIZE in 2022...

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How could carbon accounting be more impactful? I often hear people in the industry frustrated at the current “reporting for reporting’s sake” paradigm. Where measuring & reporting one’s carbon footprint takes most of the time, energy and resources. Where many decarbonisation interventions don’t get funded because they are too difficult to capture in a GHG Scope 1-3 inventory or that they simply sit outside of a corporate value chain. We know that we desperately need more impactful progress from companies on societal Net Zero. But how can we ensure that meaningful efforts are objectively recognised and rewarded? To help me answer this question, I’m delighted to have Kaya Axelsson (Research fellow / Head of Policy & Partnerships at Oxford Net Zero) present on her latest research paper where she suggests a new framework of "spheres of influence". I am really excited to explore how this new thinking could complement the existing "Scopes concept" with more of a focus on tangible actions. She will be joined by Amir Sokolowski (Global Director, Climate Change at CDP) and Richard Sheane (co-founder & director 3Keel) for an interactive panel with our Carbon Accounting Alliance (CAA) community on 5th November where we will be discussing how to evolve GHG accounting for impact. Carbon accounting is still a very nascent space. We need to innovate our methodologies to ensure they are serving their ultimate purpose: helping to inform and incentivise decarbonisation. You can sign up through the CAA community platform here: https://lnkd.in/ewJ_HsPb If you are a carbon accounting practitioner and not yet a member, please sign up here: https://lnkd.in/e5ExQ5xc

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Perhaps the world is waking up and realising that no carbon credit is as important and valuable for our planet as a REDD+ credit. The Integrity Council for the Voluntary Carbon Market (ICVCM) has approved three REDD+ methodologies, as high-integrity Now all we need is for bodies like Verra to stop overreacting to negative press (you cannot appease anti-market fundamentalists, or academics funded by oil countries), stop overreaching (stick to the science, no need for arbitrary virtue-signaling changes), and start realising that project developers are their customers, and that customer service (including timeliness) is extremely important. Demand is going to take off in the next years, as thousands of large firms approach the 2030 deadline for their NetZero pledges. (High quality) REDD+ will be key.

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📰 📣 🎇 PR needs to be a core capability for climate tech startups. As climate tech startups launch new technologies and business models to reduce GHG emissions and remove CO2 from the atmosphere, they likely need build markets for their offerings. In addition to "traditional" activities like customer research, product development, and sales, climate tech startups also need to invest in PR capabilities to increase awareness of their solution and influence public policy changes. Thanks to Alex Constantinople (Bessemer Venture Partners), Alex Wilhelm (TechCrunch), JOHN OBRIEN (SBS), and Kelly Ferguson (Claroty) for putting together this great PR guide for startup founders. My takeaways (which I think are true of any stage company in any sector). 🎯 Set clear objectives for your PR activities that support with your business goals 🗣 Be an authentic storyteller -- tell your personal narrative about why / how you founded your company 📈 Don't be afraid to talk about your solution AND your business results 🎣 Nail your messaging to have a hook, details, what in it for them, and an ask 📆 Plan for PR to be a consistent part of your company's operating calendar 💸 Right-size your investment in PR based on your company's size and need Check out the full summary & transcript!! #climatechange #climatecareers #startups

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The Nature and Climate Crisis: Conferences vs. On the Ground Action! The gap between discussing climate financing and real-world action can’t be bigger. While conferences and podcasts on nature restoration and carbon projects thrive, we must prioritize on-the-ground progress. Carbon “tech” start-ups and “financial infrastructure” like exchanges / marketplaces attracting (and burning) millions of dollars are important, but they only work if we can successfully bring carbon projects from paper to soil. Yes, select corporates are ready to sign large offtake deals, but largely without upfront capital payments. Yes, many funds are emerging but want to invest in de-risked projects with larger cheques (>$20-50m). The biggest gap lies in funding early-stage initiatives ($100k to $5m) for feasibility, design, development, and validation. Honestly, I think if we just redirect 50% of conference budgets into these crucial early-stage initiatives - most of the financing gap could be closed. With our investments in Thryve.Earth Alcom Klimacap we are dedicated to building carbon project development capabilities and mobilizing necessary financing. By adopting a structured and commercial approach early on, we can empower vital nature and land restoration efforts on the ground. Vinay Kulkarni Ron Steinherz Prateek Tiwari Siddharth Kaul Tom Enger Galuh Pandita Yiwei Lee Jonathan Hang Ethan Tan Janet Kim Jolynn Swee

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Good to see more progress from colleagues at The Integrity Council for the Voluntary Carbon Market (ICVCM) in efforts to build end to end integrity in the VCMs. The helps the buyers VCMI focuses on identity high integrity credits. https://lnkd.in/dJMSNxus #carbonmarkets #integrity #climatefinance

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Very excited to share my latest piece in Forbes - "Adaptation and resilience in corporate climate agendas" If any of the below resonates, esp. with those working on adaptation + resilience and/or corporate climate + sustainability - our team at Riffle Ventures would love to hear from you! Main idea - climate adaptation and resilience can be an innovation driver for companies and we need to accelerate this agenda. 🏭 Most discussions around corporations and their climate agendas focus on if, how, and how quickly, big businesses are reducing their greenhouse gas emissions, as well as decreasing their own negative externalities on the natural environment. 💰 However, in parallel climate change is creating growing financial, infrastructure, health and other risks that could disrupt large companies, some of which is already happening. While the tools and strategies for decarbonization are fairly well-covered, we are only scratching the surface when it comes to building resilience and adapting to a warming planet. 🈺 Of course, emissions and corporate sustainability targets need urgent attention and commitment, but in parallel we need to make sure companies writ large are adapting to and building resilience against climate risks - e.g. droughts, floods, fires, grid instability and weakening infrastructure - are all a growing reality on a warming planet. 🆘 Corporations, regardless of industry and geography will require support across the board in navigating climate change's most pressing threats. The risk of not doing so could have near-term, material impacts on protecting critical infrastructure as well as access to necessary products and services - food and medicine - and could also negatively impact human's themselves - heat stress, job loss, etc. 🤖 There is a growing technology solution set focusing on climate adaptation and resilience, and we need to bridge the gap between between these climate tech startups and the corporate sector. In turn, corporations can have an enormous impact in helping to scale climate innovations and bolster the surrounding ecosystem. Many thanks to Jackie Roberts for providing time and insight for the article, Dhruv Jesrani for being the design wizard and to Suma Reddy Connie Bowen Abrar Chaudhury Alhan Fakhr Laith Kawar Madeleine Futterman Emmanuelle Palikuca Omar Saif Andrew Chang Hope Petraro Tom K. Deepa Lounsbury for their guidance along the way while we did the research for this, and for Dahna Goldstein for being the connection to Jackie! #ClimateAction #SustainableBusiness #CorporateResponsibility #SustainabilityGoals #ClimateLeadership #CorporateSustainability #SustainableDevelopment #ClimateInnovation #ClimateChangeAdaptation #ResilienceStrategies #SustainableSolutions #ClimateResilience #BuildingResilience #ClimateChangeResponse #AdaptationStrategies

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Labour’s recent £1bn commitment has put Carbon Capture in the headlines - which is a pretty wide topic. Let’s dive in. 🏊‍♂️ In principle, future-facing investment into new climate technologies should 100% be welcomed… but it depends on what signal it sends to industry and the economy about what the UK thinks is important. Carbon Capture and Storage (CCS) offers an interim solution for tackling the carbon emissions of essential but hard-to-abate industries like steel production, concrete, biogenic CO2 sources from ethanol and biogas production, and treating water and food waste. Because of a lack of action, CCS has a place in today’s economy helping dirty, but essential industries, become as close to carbon neutral as possible. But given Labour's focus on long-term growth, investment should be about creating the UK economy of the future — not keeping the status quo and locking our economy into enduring reliance on fossil fuels. This will take bold action and long-term thinking. For instance, the UK has an opportunity to be the dominant global force in offshore wind, build a future-proofed grid, and super-charge carbon-negative technologies such as DAC to return carbon atoms from the atmosphere to the geological formations they originally came from. I’d love to see more on these fronts. Before you jump me - let’s state the obvious: we also need to insulate homes, rewild our environment and maximise biodiversity. Everyone should eventually have a heat pump and drive electric cars. There is no silver bullet to climate change. Announcements like this must not be used as an excuse for the energy sector to delay the adoption of available decarbonisation technologies, despite the challenges they may present. We risk the latter if investment and policy focuses on singular solutions that do not force our industry and economy to evolve for the better - never mind that it’s the right thing to do for our kids. Just sayin’ https://lnkd.in/eMvfp9Ez Mission Zero Technologies #dac #pointsource #decarbonisation #labour #carbon #uk #billion #climate #climatechange #CarbonCapture #ClimatePolicy #Sustainability #NetZero #DirectAirCapture #LabourConference2024

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No insights, overview, round-up, just a big shout out to an incredible team that brought Startup Discovery School Climate Fest to life at Impact Hub London in London. So much discussion concerning climate (tech), often feels abstract. We talk of the problem without reference to those currently facing the impact of climate change...right..now. Tech demo days are great, but we needed something more. Something that brings people together who view the challenge from different angles—entrepreneurs, investors, activists, curious folk, and anyone else interested. Climate Fest was the first attempt at convening this diverse group of people and long may it continue. A Shout Out 📣 A big shout out to Farrah Rainfly, who highlighted the great work Lifeafterhummus Community Benefit Society has done mobilising resources to retrofit community housing in Somerstown, London. Thanks to Kieron Boyle CEO of the Impact Investing Institute, who gave insights on *how* money can work better in supporting what is called 'the only transition' to net zero. Reuben Christian for leading us in 'Dream Rehab' session alongside our own Taz Latif. Another thanks goes to Radhika Srinivasan, who led us in a conversation around driving equitable transitions to net zero. And finally Margarita Skarkou, Nikki Gaddo FRSA and Ann Stevenson who joined me as we discussed convenience, consumerism and the circular economy. Onwards ⏩ #climatechange #climatetech #justtransition #team

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The market for carbon offset credits is currently facing a resurgence of criticism as more than 80 nonprofit organizations come together to oppose their use in climate strategies. The carbon trading mechanism has been around since the late 90s, and barely moves the needle on decarbonization. VCM has its use cases; like protecting forests which would otherwise be logged. But enabling companies to decarbonize on a global scale, it is vastly inadequate, ineffective and constantly scrutinized for greenwashing. 𝗧𝗵𝗲 𝗳𝘂𝘁𝘂𝗿𝗲 𝗶𝘀 𝗶𝗻𝘀𝗲𝘁𝘁𝗶𝗻𝗴: 𝗿𝗲𝗱𝘂𝗰𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗲𝗺𝗶𝘀𝘀𝗶𝗼𝗻𝘀 𝘄𝗶𝘁𝗵𝗶𝗻 𝗮 𝘀𝘂𝗽𝗽𝗹𝘆 𝗰𝗵𝗮𝗶𝗻 𝗼𝗿 𝗶𝗻𝗱𝘂𝘀𝘁𝗿𝘆. But [we] lack simple and effective mechanisms to scale insetting. Organizations need systems to capture value from their [potential] green investments, enable co-investment and risk/benefit sharing among all stakeholders. A company that 𝐢̲𝐧̲𝐯̲𝐞̲𝐬̲𝐭̲𝐬̲ in decarbonizing its scope 1-2 operations, also reduces the scope 3 of all its stakeholders 𝐟̲𝐨̲𝐫̲ ̲𝐟̲𝐫̲𝐞̲𝐞̲. This is modus operandi is unsustainable and needs to change. A system such as Carbon3 aims to enable this cost/benefit sharing and de-risking investments across entire value chains to directly inset scope 1-to-3 emissions. #GHG #NetZero #Sustainability #Decarbonisation #Scope3 #Insets #VCM #Offsets Source: https://lnkd.in/ewWn7T-M

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After years of thinking about it, I started publishing articles on all things Climatetech back in April. I want to preview a piece I've been working on with two friends and get your thoughts. Writing has been a humbling endeavor, but no small part of that comes from my desire to write and research a bit of everything. The inevitable development is that I have 30 articles in varying stages of completion. Given my work to build Offset Atlas, an effort to create more accessible on-ramps to carbon markets through insights and education, my thoughts and thus writing have gravitated towards writing about #Carbon and the #VCM. I'm excited to say that Mike Martinez, Kaden Gulamani, and I are nearing completion for an article on consolidation in the carbon markets. As we wrap up I want to hear your big questions. Drop your thoughts in the comments below, I will answer here and preview the questions that will be addressed in our piece! p.s. We want all the data so if you have a source you prefer or feel is overlooked drop us a link!

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Monitoring, reporting, and verification (MRV) for carbon markets is confusing. There are 6+ organizations with 35 standards that cover different CDR technologies and have overlapping & different "rules" for the same technology. CDR.fyi, Tank Chen, and Nadine Walsh published a great guide to demystify the MRV landscape. They did a great job simplifying and clarifying the topic. Take a look!! #climatechange #climatetech #climatecareers #climateaction

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Corporations are quietly cancelling their flagship Net Zero commitments as they are unworkable. I can live with that assuming they have a plan B. But that 85% of businesses aren’t even trying is not good enough. In ten years of following this space, I still recognise the dedicated few trying to push lower impact supply chains through against the tide of boardroom desire. Our next generation of sustainability heroes needs to be the purchasing and procurement departments who control the supply chain. They are seeing that focusing on lower impact products with their suppliers, job by job, year by year, is how we are going to shift to a lower carbon economy. Scope 3 is important but it must be looked at through product carbon footprints. That is just simpler. Hopefully more than 15% of boardrooms can wrap their heads around that.

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For those interested in collaborative climate-action I highly recommend the Tamarack Institute's recent publication: “10 - A Guide to Advancing Climate Equity through Placed-Based Collaboration”.  It contains 10 of each of the following topics: questions to assess readiness, great ideas, inspiring stories, useful resources and ways to get started. Based on my years of experience with collaborative approaches this guide shares very valuable insights. I particularly liked the lessons learned encapsulated in the Foreword: “We’ve found that collaboratives need to be built on a foundation of trust between diverse groups, including trusting that others will follow through on commitments and recognizing that each partner may take action in unique but equally valid ways. We’ve learned that successful partnerships benefit from one group that ‘anchors’ the project and keeps momentum going, while supporting coordination across partners. And our experience has shown that collaboration takes time, both to execute projects and to ensure broad and inclusive participation. We are creatures of habit, and until we get used to collaborating, we can fail to see the opportunities that are open to us; yet, like a muscle, collaboration skills get stronger with use.” https://lnkd.in/gAXvz9tN #Tamarackinstitute #communityengagement #climatejustice

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The damage function is one of the inputs to modelling the “social cost of carbon”, a measure policymakers use to gauge whether investments to reduce climate change are worthwhile. Different methodologies produce wildly different answers. In 2022 America’s Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) proposed revising up its estimate of the social cost of carbon from $51 to $190. Messrs Känzig’s and Bilal’s calculations produce a figure more than five times higher, at $1,056 a ton of carbon-dioxide equivalent. Thus they calculate that it would be worthwhile for America to pursue radical decarbonization even if no other country joined in. #climatechange #climateeconomics #climatetech

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🌍 The Future of Climate Risk Reporting As climate-related reporting regulations ramp up, it's not just crucial but required for organisations to adopt climate-based reporting. This move not only boosts financial transparency but also aligns with global standards and attracts international capital. Good for the environment and good for business! Effective climate risk disclosures ensure climate impacts are central to business decisions and provide accountability for mitigating environmental risks. CSIRO's work in this space highlights how design-led approaches can improve climate risk reporting. Using Generative AI to assess these claims is a fantastic use case, and their pilot project offers innovative ways to enhance report integrity. This isn't just about tech—it's about understanding the complex systems we operate in, from economics and politics to society and nature. Digital Village was fortunate to assist in exploring these relationships through the facilitation of a Warm Data Lab, ensuring these AI systems are designed responsibly with all stakeholders in mind. Thanks for your important work, Justine Lacey, Cara Stitzlein, and the rest of the Responsible Innovation team at CSIRO. And terrific facilitation, Catherine Donnelley and Clare Babbage! https://lnkd.in/gPK6wQdZ #ClimateRisk #Sustainability #Innovation #WarmDataLabs #CSIRO #Transparency #GlobalStandards Thanks to those supporting this work in using technology to enable important change: Derryn Heilbuth, Adam Alexander, Audrey Lobo-Pulo, Nikki Thompson, Beth Dowe, Dan Leverington, Lee Schofield, Mac Bryla, William Glamore, Simon Fielke, Torres Webb, Jessica Stromberg

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