This Week in Carbon

This Week In Carbon
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Welcome to This Week in Carbon, your go-to podcast for all things related to the dynamic world of carbon markets. Join moderator Edward Smith and his weekly guests as they delve into the latest news, emerging trends, and evolving regulations shaping the carbon landscape.

  1. 6 days ago

    The Super-pollutant Hiding in Your Nylon, Your Car & Your Fertiliser — Bill Flederbach (ClimeCo)

    In this episode of This Week in Carbon, host Rene Velasquez sits down with Bill Flederbach, Founder, President and CEO of ClimeCo, one of the most established and mission-driven environmental project developers in North America. ClimeCo has spent over fifteen years building the foundational infrastructure for industrial N2O abatement: developing the protocols, financing the technology, creating the markets, and now expanding into China and India. The result is a portfolio that is abating 30 million tons of CO2 equivalent annually in China alone, with first issuances expected imminently.This episode is a deep dive into nitrous oxide: a super-pollutant 273 times more potent than CO2, that lingers in the atmosphere for over a century, damages the ozone layer, and remains almost entirely absent from mainstream climate conversations.Key topics covered:- What N2O is, where it comes from (nitric acid plants, adipic acid production, ammonia nitrate fertilizer) and why it's invisible in so many climate discussions despite its extraordinary potency- How ClimeCo destroys N2O using catalyst technology and why, unlike forest carbon, it carries zero reversal risk: once destroyed, it's gone permanently- The years of zero-revenue protocol development that underpinned ClimeCo's first projects and what it takes to build a credible methodology from scratch with a registry- The China expansion: 30 million tons under abatement, a 90% baseline mandate that means the first 90% of reductions aren't even credited, and why ClimeCo is pushing for regulatory backstops to prevent the CDM repeat of projects shutting off when incentives disappear- "Follow the molecule" — how ClimeCo maps the supply chains of nylon 6,6 and ammonia nitrate to identify and engage the companies that should care about N2O in their scope 3 footprint- Digital carbon solutions: how ClimeCo is embedding carbon certificates into product serial numbers; retiring credits against individual Lenovo laptops overnight, at scale, automatically- Insetting vs. offsetting: how the REI partnership and automotive supply chain work illustrate scope 3 science-based target reductions through book-and-claim certification- Why the voluntary market is the only revenue stream keeping these abatement projects alive and why regulatory backstops in China and India are essential to prevent history repeating- Portfolio harmony: why Bill believes avoidance, removals, and insetting must all be pursued simultaneously rather than treated as competing approaches- The five-to-ten year vision: a carbon nutritional label on products, as standard as calorie counts on foodAn episode that makes the case that some of the highest-impact, most permanent carbon abatement happening in the world right now is in industrial chemistry facilities and almost no one is talking about it.🎧 Listen now on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, YouTube, and more.

  2. 27 Jul

    From a Jerry Can to Tankers: The Traders Who Built Environmental Markets — Owain Johnson (CME Group)

    In this episode of This Week in Carbon, host Rene Velasquez sits down with Owain Johnson, Managing Director and Global Head of Research and Product Development at CME Group, the man who has literally written the book on commodity benchmarks, and whose forthcoming title, 40 Classic Trades in Environmental Markets, traces the history of carbon, biofuels, biomass, and water markets through the people and deals that shaped them. Owain has spent his career studying how markets are built, how benchmarks become trusted, and how traders manage risk when the world refuses to behave predictably. He previously led energy research and product development at CME, served as Managing Director of the Dubai Mercantile Exchange, and covered Asian energy and commodity markets from Singapore. This is a rare conversation; part market history, part trading psychology, part argument for why markets remain the best tool we have for the climate transition. Key topics covered: The "believers" vs. "non-believers" `: the two types of people who end up in environmental trading, and what that split reveals about how these markets workWhy legal backgrounds are surprisingly common among the best environmental traders and what knowing the regulation gives you that most traders don't haveThe true origins of environmental markets: the US acid rain (SOx/NOx) scheme of the early 1990s and how John Henry and Dr. Richard Sandor built the model everything else was built on, long before Brussels got involvedBrazil's journey from ethanol importer to the Saudi Arabia of biofuels and what that transformation tells us about market designThe Murray Darling Basin water market: why the financialisation of water is controversial and why getting the design right makes it one of the best examples of markets allocating a scarce resource properlyWhy reputation and integrity are the most important currencies in environmental trading: "I can come back from a losing trade — but I can't come back from losing my name in the market"The stress of trading — teeth grinding, sleepless nights, self-worth tied to a daily P&L — and how the best traders manage itThe boom-and-bust problem: what environmental markets urgently need to learn from traditional commodities, and why institutions exiting and re-entering the space destroys value for everyoneThe "trading desk as a tripod" principle: why a minimum of three working strategies is the floor, not the ceilingThe West Africa solar story: why farmers in a remote community wanted a forward curve more than electricity and what that tells us about the miracle of modern financeOmar El Nemar and the first Egyptian onshore carbon trade building a national carbon ecosystem from the ground up with peasant farmers in the upper Nile A sweeping, human conversation about the people, the trades, and the ideas behind markets that most people have never heard of — and why those markets matter. 🎧 Listen now on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, YouTube, and more.

  3. 1 Jul

    What the Retirement Data Isn't Telling You: SBTI 2.0 & the Real State of the VCM — Benjamin Massie

    In this episode of This Week in Carbon, host Edward Smith sits down with Benjamin Massie, Senior Vice President of Environmental Products at Anew Climate, the largest developer of environmental instruments in North America. Ben's team is responsible for marketing and selling carbon credits and removals across Anew's entire portfolio, spanning global voluntary projects, compliance credits, renewable natural gas, and a growing international footprint including a newly announced Singapore office.Ben has been in carbon markets since 2010, moving from compliance markets into the voluntary side, and brings a rare combination of project developer, marketer, and market analyst perspectives to this conversation.With SBTI releasing its new Corporate Net Zero Standard and the voluntary market at an inflection point, this episode gets into the mechanics of what's actually happening beneath the surface.Key topics covered:- Why retirement data alone is misleading — and the hidden wave of forward contracting and credit banking that doesn't show up in the numbers- The two fundamental problems Anew identified when the market stagnated: use-case frameworks for offsets, and credit quality — and what they can and can't control- How Anew is driving the dynamic baseline evolution for US improved forest management (IFM) credits, and what that means for landowners and pricing- The flight to quality in practice: bespoke projects designed around buyer requirements, commanding the highest prices Anew has ever seen- Rating agencies: from novelty to gatekeeper — why some RFPs now require a minimum rating just to be considered, and why standardisation across agencies matters- SBTI v2.0 and the Ongoing Emissions Responsibility (OER) programme: what engaged, advanced, and leadership levels actually require, what the $20 and $80/ton budget commitments mean, and why this is one of the clearest demand signals the VCM has ever had- Why the market's perceived oversupply disappears fast once you filter by project type, geography, and quality criteria- Insetting and in-value chain reductions as an emerging commercial frontier — and why supply chain alignment makes the internal business case far easier- US federal headwinds: how the absence of policy is dampening near-term demand — and why the most committed buyers like Microsoft and JP Morgan are doubling down regardlessA grounded, commercially honest conversation about where the voluntary carbon market actually stands — and why the companies watching from the sidelines may be running out of time.🎧 Listen now on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, YouTube, and more.

  4. 16 Jun

    Why Forest Cover Tells the Wrong Story: Measuring Carbon from Space — Marco Albani

    In this episode of This Week in Carbon, hosts Edward Smith and Rene Velasquez sit down with Marco Albani, Co-founder and Co-CEO of Chloris Geospatial. Marco has spent his career at the intersection of forestry, climate science, and carbon markets - from building the forestry portion of McKinsey's Marginal Abatement Cost Curve, to running the Tropical Forest Alliance, to co-founding Chloris with his former forestry classmate Alessandro Baccini, the scientist whose spaceborne LIDAR research underpins what the company does today.This is a conversation about what it actually takes to measure forest carbon at scale, and why the tools the industry has relied on for decades aren't up to the job.Key topics covered:- Why measuring forest cover is the wrong metric, and why carbon stock is what actually matters for climate outcomes- The fundamental problem with the definition of "forest" and how it creates blind spots in policy and carbon accounting- How Chloris built a carbon time series going back to the year 2000 and the technical limitations that make historical data so hard to reconstruct- Why there is no such thing as "direct measurement" of biomass, and what that means for how we should think about field data vs. remote sensing- The cost reality of satellite data: a $17 million quote for imagery on a project worth $3 million in credits- The three types of customers Chloris serves: carbon market infrastructure (Verra, MSCI, Equitable Earth), project developers under VM47, and corporations tracking Scope 3 supply chain emissions- The Geo AI wave: what foundation models like Google's Alpha Earth get right, where they fall short, and why accuracy assessment is the missing piece- Who should be building the test beds needed to validate these new tools and why philanthropic capital is the right fit- How better measurement translates into more capital flowing to forests, and what consistent measurement across project, subnational, and national scales means for Article 6- Why humility matters as powerful algorithms replace human judgment in landscape decisionsA technically rich, intellectually honest conversation about the infrastructure the carbon market needs to actually work.🎧 Listen now on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, YouTube, and more.

  5. 4 Jun

    Why Bad Baselines Broke REDD+ — And How Satellites Are Fixing It — Ed Mitchard (Space Intelligence)

    In this episode of This Week in Carbon, hosts Edward Smith and Rene Velasquez sit down with Ed Mitchard, Co-founder and Chief Scientist of Space Intelligence, one of just three companies selected by Verra to produce the jurisdictional risk maps that underpin VM0048, and the geospatial intelligence provider powering due diligence for the Symbiosis Coalition. Ed's path to the carbon markets is unlike most. A teenage documentary competition took him to the Amazon at 15, where deforestation was impossible to ignore even inside a pristine national park. That moment set the course of his career — from biology at Oxford, to a PhD in Edinburgh, six months at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory working on radar satellite data, and eventually co-founding Space Intelligence in 2018. This episode goes deep on the infrastructure, the science, and the hard truths behind high-integrity forest carbon. Key topics: Why corporates are forming advanced market coalitions instead of buying spot credits — and the real early-stage financing gap behind itThe ARC Coalition announced at Ecosperity Singapore: what makes it structurally different from Symbiosis, including its integrated financing facilityDurability vs. permanence — why the distinction matters and how Space Intelligence helps buyers assess long-term site riskThe removals vs. avoidance false binary: why deprioritising REDD+ at a time when tropical deforestation drives 15–20% of global emissions may be the market's most costly mistakeWhat broke first-generation REDD+ baselines — and how VM0048 fixes overcrediting by removing developer discretion entirelyThe real-world impact of the 2023 backlash on deforestation rates inside dormant project boundariesWhy free Copernicus satellite data could be the unlock for DMRV at scale across tens of thousands of nature-based projectsA rigorous, science-grounded conversation at the centre of the forest carbon debate. Essential listening for anyone in carbon markets, nature-based solutions, or climate finance. 🎧 Listen now on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, YouTube, and more.

  6. 26 May

    Nature vs Tech is a False Binary: The Case for Climate Portfolios | Dr. Susan Cook-Patton

    One of the world’s leading scientists on natural climate solutions joins us on This Week in Carbon. In this episode, Rene Velasquez sits down with Dr. Susan Cook-Patton from The Nature Conservancy. Susan has spent the last decade leading research on reforestation, agroforestry, and unlocking the climate potential of nature-based solutions.This is a rich, science-driven conversation about how we can scale high-integrity natural climate solutions faster and smarter.We explore:• Why natural climate solutions must be part of a broader portfolio — not in competition with engineered removals• The important shift from “permanence” to “durability”• Rethinking buffer pools, insurance, permanence trusts, and innovative risk management tools• The false nature vs technology binary• How to manage reversal risks using data-driven approaches• The urgent danger of inaction and missed opportunities in this critical decadeSusan shares practical insights on how we can reduce uncertainty, build better portfolios, and use nature now while buying time for technological solutions to scale.A thoughtful, optimistic, and deeply informed discussion on the role of forests, nature, and science in the future of carbon markets and climate action.

  7. 11 May

    The Architecture of Trust — Mark Kenber on VCMI, Scope 3 & the Future of Carbon Markets

    One of the architects of the modern verified carbon market joins us on This Week in Carbon. In this episode, Ed Smith and Rene Velasquez sit down with Mark Kenber — Executive Director of VCMI, former CEO of The Climate Group, founder of what became the Voluntary Carbon Standard (now Verra), and current ICVCM board member. This is a deep dive into the institutional history, integrity debates, and future direction of carbon markets. We explore:• How the VCS was originally built• Why integrity debates keep resurfacing in the VCM• The tension between perfection and participation• Greenwashing vs “green hushing”• The Scope 3 Action Code controversy• CCP-labelled credits and Article 6.4• The convergence of voluntary and compliance carbon markets• Why governments are becoming increasingly central to market development Mark also shares his perspective on why carbon credits remain essential for climate finance — particularly in emerging markets — and why waiting for perfect solutions risks delaying real climate action. A substantive and wide-ranging conversation on trust, policy, markets, and the future architecture of climate finance.

  8. 5 May

    The Hidden Gigaton: Why Super Pollutants Are Carbon Markets’ Blind Spot

    In this episode of This Week in Carbon, Rene Velasquez sits down with Fritz Troller, founder of Therm, to unpack one of the most overlooked challenges in climate: super pollutants. Often described as the “hidden gigaton,” these gases — including refrigerants, methane, and fluorinated gases — are responsible for a disproportionate share of near-term warming. As Fritz explains, nearly half of global heating to date has been driven by super pollutants — yet they remain largely invisible in mainstream carbon market conversations.   The critical difference?Unlike CO₂, super pollutants cannot be removed once released into the atmosphere. That makes prevention — not removal — the only viable strategy. The conversation dives into: Why refrigeration systems are a massive, under appreciated emissions sourceThe “leaky infrastructure” problem across global food supply chainsHow carbon finance is being used to incentivise avoidance at sourceThe rise of super pollutant credits — and why buyers like Google and JPMorgan are paying attentionThe growing role of insetting across supply chains (upstream and downstream)Why this category is consistently receiving top-tier ratings from agencies like BeZero and CalyxThe opportunity — and urgency — of scaling solutions across Article 5 (Global South) marketsFritz also outlines Therm’s multi-channel strategy across voluntary markets, compliance systems, and insetting — offering a rare look at how to build resilience in a still-evolving carbon market. This is a timely discussion on a category that may lack the storytelling appeal of nature-based solutions — but from a pure climate impact perspective, may be among the most important levers we have.

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About

Welcome to This Week in Carbon, your go-to podcast for all things related to the dynamic world of carbon markets. Join moderator Edward Smith and his weekly guests as they delve into the latest news, emerging trends, and evolving regulations shaping the carbon landscape.

Information

  • Creator
    This Week In Carbon
  • Years Active
    2025 - 2026
  • Episodes
    58
  • Rating
    Clean
  • Copyright
    © This Week In Carbon
  • Show Website
    This Week in Carbon

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