Carbon Exposure

Carbon Exposure

Welcome to the Carbon Exposure Podcast! A platform for peer-to-peer conversations with people who are driving forward the carbon markets of tomorrow. Join your host Rene Velasquez we get to discuss topics at the intersection of ESG and finance over cocktails, with the amazing backdrop of the lion city, Singapore.

  1. 17/12/2025

    Why Climate Inaction Is the Biggest Financial Risk - Scobie Mackay (Co-founder & CEO, Imperative)

    In this episode of the Carbon Exposure Project, we sit down with Scobie Mackay, Co-Founder & CEO of Imperative, to unpack what it will take to make nature a genuinely investable asset class. Scobie brings a rare perspective — combining 15+ years in structured finance at Macquarie and Standard Chartered with hands-on experience developing infrastructure-grade nature-based carbon removal projects across the Global South. We explore why capital has struggled to flow into nature at scale, why delivery and reputational risk remain misunderstood, and why the risk of climate inaction is still not being priced into financial decision-making — despite trillions of dollars at stake. This is a conversation about projects, execution, and capital discipline, not theory. 🔍 What we cover Why the risk of climate and biodiversity inaction remains off balance sheetTreating nature-based carbon projects like infrastructure, not offsetsProfessionalising project development to attract institutional capitalDelivery risk, permanence, and why “day-one diligence” isn’t enoughBuilding large-scale native ecosystem and mangrove restoration projectsLong-term offtakes, insurance, and managing commodity price riskWhy biodiversity outcomes are already commanding a market premium ⏱️ Chapters 00:00 Introduction 02:30 From finance to climate 05:20 Climate and biodiversity as a test of collective intelligence 06:40 Discovering carbon markets 08:40 Why institutional capital struggles with carbon projects 11:15 Treating nature projects like infrastructure 14:45 Imperative’s focus: nature-based removals 17:00 Flight to quality and removals 20:10 Execution risk and project controls 24:00 In-house execution and long-term operations 27:40 Risk in carbon markets 32:10 Pricing the risk of climate inaction 40:00 Insurance, offtakes, and delivery guarantees 46:50 Biodiversity premiums and market signals 53:00 Making nature investable

    56 min
  2. 03/12/2025

    How Verity Nature is Planting 4 BILLION trees in Kenya - Duncan Van Der Merwe

    How Verity Nature is Planting 4 Billion Trees in Kenya 🌳 | Duncan Van Der Merwe In this episode of Carbon Exposure, we sit down with Duncan Van Der Merwe – Co-founder & Chair of Verity Nature to unpack one of the world’s most ambitious nature-based climate programmes. Verity Nature is a profit-for-purpose company that designs, builds and operates large-scale nature restoration projects with local communities at the centre. From their base in Australia, with teams in New Zealand, East Africa and beyond, they focus on high-integrity carbon and co-benefit credits backed by science, technology and long-term operations.  Their projects span reforestation and landscape regeneration in New Zealand (e.g. Black Hill Station in Canterbury and a large natural regeneration programme in the Chatham Islands) and blue carbon restoration pilots in Australia, where they’re restoring coastal and tidal ecosystems as future carbon sinks.  At the heart of this conversation is Kenya. Under President Ruto’s national drive to plant 15 billion trees by 2032, the Kenyan government has asked Verity Nature to help restore degraded landscapes at unprecedented scale.  Verity has proposed reforesting up to 4 billion native trees as part of this effort – potentially the largest ARR (Afforestation/Reforestation/Revegetation) programme in the voluntary carbon market. Their model combines: Infrastructure-grade project design – 40-year operations with long-term permanence rights Community-led restoration – partnering with local organisations like CCB Corridors and using mobile tools (e.g. “Si Si Na Miti”) so farmers and grandmothers can plant trees, track survival and earn income Tech from satellites to blockchain – remote sensing, MRV and digital traceability to show exactly where credits come from and how trees are performing over time What we cover:  00:00 – Introduction: Why Nature-Based Removals Need Infrastructure Thinking 04:30 – Verity Nature’s Model: Building & Operating Long-Term Projects 09:00 – Why East Africa? Strategic Focus on Kenya and Uganda 14:00 – The Kenya Project: Tying into President Ruto’s 15-Billion-Tree Vision 19:30 – Planting Up to 4 Billion Trees: Scale, Design and Execution 25:00 – Communities, Farmers and Grandmothers: Why Women Are Central 31:00 – Tech Stack: From Satellites to Blockchain for Integrity & MRV 38:00 – Risk Management & Delivery: Avoiding the Non-Delivery Trap 45:00 – The 400M Credit Pipeline & the 2030 Removals Gap 51:00 – What Buyers Should Do Now & Closing Reflections

    56 min
  3. 05/11/2025

    An Investor’s View on the Next Generation of Climate Investments – John Sharp (Hatcher)

    The Carbon Exposure Project is back to wrap up Season 3 of the Carbon Exposure Project after the summer break! This week, we sit down in Singapore with John Sharp, co-founder of Hatcher — an investor, technologist, and builder who has helped raise hundreds of millions for nature-based climate projects. John brings a rare investor’s lens to the voluntary carbon markets: what really happened after the Guardian exposé, why investor confidence evaporated, and how capital is now pivoting toward infrastructure-grade climate solutions. From the rise and fall of Carbon Nation to bold bets on green steel, carbontech, and even a space-based sunshield, this episode explores where the next generation of climate investments will come from — and what makes them truly bankable. 💡 In this episode: 💸 The Carbon Nation story — raising $250M for nature-based solutions before the 2023 crash 📉 How sentiment collapsed after the Guardian article — and what that meant for investors 🏗️ The shift toward infrastructure-grade assets: green steel, cement, and carbontech 🌍 What makes a project “bankable” in climate finance 🚀 John’s next frontier: Earth Guard, a satellite project designed to stabilize Earth’s temperature Chapters:  00:00 – Introduction: From Music to Markets 05:30 – Building Hatcher: Automating Venture Capital 07:00 – Entering Carbon: Launching Carbon Nation 09:30 – Market Shock: The Guardian Article & Carbon Crisis 15:00 – Lessons from the Field: Soil, Cookstoves & Mangroves 23:40 – Pivoting Strategy: From Carbon to Green Infrastructure 34:50 – The Bigger Picture: How Large Is the Carbon Market Really? 38:00 – Policy & the Politics of Carbon Pricing 45:00 – Investing in Climate Tech: Hardware, Deep Tech & Patience 55:30 – Beyond Earth: The Earth Guard Project

    1h 11m

About

Welcome to the Carbon Exposure Podcast! A platform for peer-to-peer conversations with people who are driving forward the carbon markets of tomorrow. Join your host Rene Velasquez we get to discuss topics at the intersection of ESG and finance over cocktails, with the amazing backdrop of the lion city, Singapore.