Untangling Climate Finance

In this episode, Jay connects with Henry Rowlands, the Co-Founder, CEO, and Director of Soil in Formation (SIF), a U.S. public benefit corporation dedicated to restoring soil health worldwide through advanced soil health measurement technology and a contextual data platform. Henry shares his extensive background in agriculture and soil management. He emphasizes agriculture's critical role globally. He discusses his journey to co-founding SIF and the company’s core objectives. The conversation moves into the challenges SIF aims to address with its remote soil sensor and actionable soil health metrics database. Jay and Henry also explore SIF’s efforts to integrate their technology into agriculture and soil carbon credit methodologies under the major carbon credit standards. Henry outlines the future of SIF, detailing plans for the technology and database release. Resources: Website: Soil in Formation -- About: ⁠Untangling Climate Finance⁠ explores the dynamic field of climate change finance through conversations with industry experts about topics including climate solutions, global carbon markets, carbon projects, novel technologies such as AI and distributed ledger, and much more. If you have any questions, comments, a future guest recommendation, or are interested in joining Jay for an episode, please shoot him a message at: ⁠jtipton@gordianknotstrategies.com⁠ Credits: The podcast is produced by ⁠⁠Gordian Knot Strategies⁠⁠. It is written, narrated, and edited by ⁠⁠Jay Tipton⁠⁠. Special thanks to ⁠Sean Penrith⁠, Jacoba Gundle, Maggie Tipton, and Julie Witherspoon.  Music is by ⁠⁠Diamond_Tunes⁠. 

Tuesday, June 4, 2024 Sliced: Witnessing Progress in the Voluntary Carbon Market In this edition of Sliced, on the heels of the United States Federal Government’s release of its “Principles for High-Integrity Voluntary Carbon Markets,” we point out the progress that has been achieved over the past twelve months in improving the quality of the VCM and explain why a healthy VCM is important.  -- Sliced is a weekly short-form dispatch released every Tuesday that features original thought pieces from our team members with the goal of slicing apart the various complex aspects of climate finance.  If you want to check out the written version of Sliced, click here. And if you want to receive Sliced to your inbox, click ⁠here⁠.  Sliced is produced by ⁠Gordian Knot Strategies⁠. It is written, narrated, and edited by ⁠Jay Tipton⁠. Visit us at www.gordianknotstrategies.com.  Music is by ⁠Coma-Media.

In this episode, Jay covers environmental policy with Timothy Male, the Executive Director of the Environmental Policy Innovation Center (EPIC).  Tim outlines EPIC’s mission and its impact on U.S. environmental policies, focusing on initiatives like environmental restoration. They explore challenges in conservation efforts, especially the long permitting times which can get projects in limbo for years and years. The conversation covers innovative financial mechanisms like debt-for-nature swaps and state revolving loan funds. Tim advocates for significantly increasing this funding and discusses pay-for-success contracts as a scalable policy tool for nature-based climate finance. He also highlights the value in public-private partnerships for finance.  Tim concludes with his vision for the future for the policy ecosystem in the US, stressing the need to improve how policy narratives can drive financial resources toward enhancing our relationship with nature.  -- About: ⁠Untangling Climate Finance⁠ explores the dynamic field of climate change finance through conversations with industry experts about topics including climate solutions, global carbon markets, carbon projects, novel technologies such as AI and distributed ledger, and much more. If you have any questions, comments, a future guest recommendation, or are interested in joining Jay for an episode, please shoot him a message at: ⁠jtipton@gordianknotstrategies.com⁠ Credits: The podcast is produced by ⁠⁠Gordian Knot Strategies⁠⁠. It is written, narrated, and edited by ⁠⁠Jay Tipton⁠⁠. Special thanks to ⁠Sean Penrith⁠, Jacoba Gundle, Maggie Tipton, and Julie Witherspoon.  Music is by ⁠⁠Diamond_Tunes⁠. 

Tuesday, May 4, 2024 Sliced: Transparency in the Voluntary Carbon Market In this edition of Sliced, we focus on a key voluntary carbon market topic - transparency. We highlight the challenges around transparency, as well as the initiatives from market actors working to improve it and improve the integrity of the VCM.  —  Sliced is a weekly short-form dispatch released every Tuesday that features original thought pieces from our team members with the goal of slicing apart the various complex aspects of climate finance.  If you want to check out the written version of Sliced, click here. And if you want to receive Sliced to your inbox, click ⁠here⁠.  Sliced is produced by ⁠Gordian Knot Strategies⁠. It is written, narrated, and edited by ⁠Jay Tipton⁠. Visit us at www.gordianknotstrategies.com.  Music is by ⁠Coma-Media.

Tuesday, May 7, 2024 Sliced: Let's Not Forget About Article 9 In this edition of Sliced, we shed some light on an often less discussed part of the Paris Agreement, Article 9 and how this key Article impacts climate finance flows from developed to developing nations.  -- Sliced is a weekly short-form dispatch released every Tuesday that features original thought pieces from our team members with the goal of slicing apart the various complex aspects of climate finance.  If you want to check out the written version of Sliced, click here. And if you want to receive Sliced to your inbox, click ⁠here⁠.  Sliced is produced by ⁠Gordian Knot Strategies⁠. It is written, narrated, and edited by ⁠Jay Tipton⁠. Visit us at www.gordianknotstrategies.com.  Music is by ⁠Coma-Media.

Tuesday, April 23, 2024 Sliced: Swapping Debt for Nature In this edition of Sliced, we talk about how debt-for-nature swaps are a climate finance tool that offers many potential advantages and how a new report shows that developing countries could benefit in a big way by this type of financial deal.  -- Sliced is a weekly short-form dispatch released every Tuesday that features original thought pieces from our team members with the goal of slicing apart the various complex aspects of climate finance.  If you want to check out the written version of Sliced, click here. And if you want to receive Sliced to your inbox, click ⁠here⁠.  Sliced is produced by ⁠Gordian Knot Strategies⁠. It is written, narrated, and edited by ⁠Jay Tipton⁠. Visit us at www.gordianknotstrategies.com.  Music is by ⁠Coma-Media.

In this episode, ⁠Jay⁠ connects with ⁠Max DuBuisson, the Vice President of Sustainability, Policy & Engagement at Indigo Ag, an ag-tech company based in Boston. Max gives an overview of Indigo Ag's role in sustainable agriculture and discusses their carbon credit project which involves about 1,000 American farmers managing over 7 million acres across 30 states. He explains the project’s enrollment process, the changes in farming practices, and how these efforts are quantified and certified by methodologies from Verra and the Climate Action Reserve.  Max outlines the financial benefits for participating farmers, with a focus on profit sharing where farmers have earned over $12 million from the program. They discuss Indigo Ag's technological approaches and strategic partnerships aimed at enhancing sustainable practices globally. Show Resources: Indigo Ag Carbon for Farmers Indigo Ag Announces Record-Setting Third Carbon Crop -- About: ⁠Untangling Climate Finance⁠ explores the dynamic field of climate change finance through conversations with industry experts about topics including climate solutions, global carbon markets, carbon projects, novel technologies such as AI and distributed ledger, and much more. If you have any questions, comments, a future guest recommendation, or are interested in joining Jay for an episode, please shoot him a message at: ⁠jtipton@gordianknotstrategies.com⁠ Credits: The podcast is produced by ⁠⁠Gordian Knot Strategies⁠⁠. It is written, narrated, and edited by ⁠⁠Jay Tipton⁠⁠. Special thanks to ⁠Sean Penrith⁠, Jacoba Gundle, Maggie Tipton, and Julie Witherspoon.  Music is by ⁠⁠Diamond_Tunes⁠. 

Tuesday, April 9, 2024 Sliced: Finance for Healthy Forests In this edition of Sliced, we look at improved forest management (IFM) carbon credit projects and how finance is flowing to help American forest owners maintain healthy forests ecosystems.  -- Sliced is a weekly short-form dispatch released every Tuesday that features original thought pieces from our team members with the goal of slicing apart the various complex aspects of climate finance.  If you want to check out the written version of Sliced, click here. And if you want to receive Sliced to your inbox, click ⁠here⁠.  Sliced is produced by ⁠Gordian Knot Strategies⁠. It is written, narrated, and edited by ⁠Jay Tipton⁠. Visit us at www.gordianknotstrategies.com.  Music is by ⁠Coma-Media.

Tuesday, April 2, 2024 Sliced: Germany and its Novel Climate Protection Contracts In this edition of Sliced, we look at Germany's new climate finance and greenhouse gas emissions reductions mechanism, climate protection contracts (CPCs). -- Sliced is a weekly short-form dispatch released every Tuesday that features original thought pieces from our team members with the goal of slicing apart the various complex aspects of climate finance.  If you want to check out the written version of Sliced, click here. And if you want to receive Sliced to your inbox, click ⁠here⁠.  Sliced is produced by ⁠Gordian Knot Strategies⁠. It is written, narrated, and edited by ⁠Jay Tipton⁠. Visit us at www.gordianknotstrategies.com. Music is by ⁠Coma-Media.

Tuesday, March 19, 2024 Sliced: IMPACT Q1 Updates In this edition of Sliced, we use our IMPACT framework (Integrity, Momentum, Pricing, Achievement, Collaboration, Targets) to reflect on movement around climate finance, carbon markets, and impact investing in the first quarter of 2024.  — Sliced is a weekly short-form dispatch released every Tuesday that features original thought pieces from our team members with the goal of slicing apart the various complex aspects of climate finance.  If you want to check out the written version of Sliced, click here. And if you want to receive Sliced to your inbox, click ⁠here⁠.  Sliced is produced by ⁠Gordian Knot Strategies⁠. It is written, narrated, and edited by ⁠Jay Tipton⁠. Visit us at www.gordianknotstrategies.com.  Music is by ⁠Coma-Media.

In this episode, ⁠Jay⁠ speaks with ⁠Rick Gilmore, the President & CEO of GIC Group.  They discuss GIC Group’s new endeavor, the Commodities Plus Carbon, or CPC, which is a futures contract combining agricultural commodities with voluntary carbon markets, aiming to give farmers a premium on their crop yield. Rick explains the details of the futures contract, why he believes it is an important innovation, and why right now is the best time do introduce the product. He also explains how they integrate carbon sequestration into the product and how they are measuring and verifying the carbon emissions.  Show Resources: GIC Group Commodities Plus Carbon (CPC) ucrop.it  -- ⁠Untangling Climate Finance⁠ explores the dynamic field of climate change finance through conversations with industry experts about topics including climate solutions, global carbon markets, carbon projects, novel technologies such as AI and distributed ledger, and much more. If you have any questions, comments, a future guest recommendation, or are interested in joining Jay for an episode, please shoot him a message at: ⁠jtipton@gordianknotstrategies.com⁠ Credits: The podcast is produced by ⁠⁠Gordian Knot Strategies⁠⁠. It is written, narrated, and edited by ⁠⁠Jay Tipton⁠⁠. Special thanks to ⁠Sean Penrith⁠, Jacoba Gundle, Maggie Tipton, and Julie Witherspoon.  Music is by ⁠⁠Diamond_Tunes⁠. 

Tuesday, March 5, 2024 Sliced: Oxford Offsetting Principles In this edition of Sliced, we look at the recent release of the Oxford Principles for Net Zero Aligned Carbon Offsetting from the University of Oxford and offer a suggestion for carbon credit buyers. -- Sliced is a weekly short-form dispatch released every Tuesday that features original thought pieces from our team members with the goal of slicing apart the various complex aspects of climate finance.  If you want to check out the written version of Sliced, click here. And if you want to receive Sliced to your inbox, click ⁠here⁠.  Sliced is produced by ⁠Gordian Knot Strategies⁠. It is written, narrated, and edited by ⁠Jay Tipton⁠. Visit us at www.gordianknotstrategies.com.  Music is by ⁠Coma-Media.

In this episode, Jay speaks with Grant Canary (Founder & CEO) and Jonathan Loevner (VP, Carbon Markets & Policy) of Mast Reforestation.  The three connected in September 2023 and dove deep into the innovative financial mechanisms and environmental strategies driving Mast’s post-wildfire reforestation efforts. They discuss their $15 million project financing deal with Carbon Stream and the concept of stream financing as an approach to supporting reforestation projects, highlighting its potential to unlock new opportunities in carbon removal credits.  They detail how their work not only restores ecosystems but also contributes to the global carbon sequestration effort. Grant and Jonathan share insights into the challenges of scaling their business, emphasizing the importance of clever financing in accelerating reforestation efforts. Grant and Jonathan shed light on the methodologies that underpin their projects, particularly focusing on the US Forest Protocol from Climate Action Reserve (CAR). Additionally, they touch upon the novel concept of wood vaults. Through their conversation, Jay, Grant, and Jonathan illustrate the multifaceted approach Mast Reforestation is taking to address forest fires, a shortage of seedlings, and blending finance and creative environmental solutions. Show Resources: Video: Mast Reforestation Project: Sheep Creek Ranch, Montana Puro.earth: Terrestrial Storage of Biomass (Wood Vault) Protocol Climate Action Reserve (CAR): U.S. Forest Protocol Climate Forward: Reforestation Protocol -- Untangling Climate Finance explores the dynamic field of climate change finance through conversations with industry experts about topics including climate solutions, global carbon markets, carbon projects, novel technologies such as AI and distributed ledger, and much more. If you have any questions, comments, a future guest recommendation, or are interested in joining Jay for an episode, please shoot him a message at: jtipton@gordianknotstrategies.com Credits: The podcast is produced by ⁠Gordian Knot Strategies⁠. It is written, narrated, and edited by ⁠Jay Tipton⁠. Special thanks to Sean Penrith, Jacoba Gundle, Maggie Tipton, and Julie Witherspoon.  Music is by ⁠Diamond_Tunes. 

Tuesday, February 13, 2024 Sliced: Feeling the Heat In this edition of Sliced, recent record breaking temperatures around the world, inspire a look at the climate finance necessary to turn the thermostat down.  -- Sliced is a weekly short-form dispatch released every Tuesday that features original thought pieces from our team members with the goal of slicing apart the various complex aspects of climate finance.  If you want to check out the written version of Sliced, click here. And if you want to receive Sliced to your inbox, click ⁠here⁠.  Sliced is produced by ⁠Gordian Knot Strategies⁠. It is written, narrated, and edited by ⁠Jay Tipton⁠. Visit us at www.gordianknotstrategies.com.  Music is by ⁠Yrii Semchyshyn⁠.

Tuesday, February 6, 2024 Sliced: The Case for Debt, Bowties, and Nature In this edition of Sliced, we investigate an interesting source of climate finance, Debt For Nature (D4N) swaps.  -- Sliced is a weekly short-form dispatch released every Tuesday that features original thought pieces from our team members with the goal of slicing apart the various complex aspects of climate finance.  If you want to check out the written version of Sliced, click here. And if you want to receive Sliced to your inbox, click ⁠here⁠.  Sliced is produced by ⁠Gordian Knot Strategies⁠. It is written, narrated, and edited by ⁠Jay Tipton⁠. Visit us at www.gordianknotstrategies.com.  Music is by ⁠Yrii Semchyshyn⁠.

Tuesday, January 23, 2024 Sliced: Offsetting My 2023 Carbon Emissions In this edition of Sliced, Jay explains how he uses high-quality carbon credits to offset his 2023 carbon emissions. He also encourages others to find ways to help the planet. -- Sliced is a weekly short-form dispatch released every Tuesday that features original thought pieces from our team members with the goal of slicing apart the various complex aspects of climate finance.  If you want to check out the written version of Sliced, click here. And if you want to receive Sliced to your inbox, click ⁠here⁠.  Sliced is produced by ⁠Gordian Knot Strategies⁠. It is written, narrated, and edited by ⁠Jay Tipton⁠. Visit us at www.gordianknotstrategies.com.  Music is by ⁠Yrii Semchyshyn⁠.

In this episode, Jay chats with carbon market expert, Dr. Lambert Schneider.   Jay taps into Dr. Schneider's policy and research expertise on all things regarding carbon markets, both voluntary and compliance. Dr. Schneider offers a brief history lesson on the development of the Clean Development Mechanism (CDM) and its evolution into the Paris Agreement Article 6 carbon markets, which are still under construction. They dig into the Article 6.2 market which allows for cooperation between countries on carbon projects and trading. They discuss the roles that some of the key carbon market actors play and what issues need to be addressed to get climate finance moving. Dr. Schneider shares his concerns about certain market elements and his hopes for the future of the markets. Show Resources: Dr. Schneider's Publications -- Untangling Climate Finance explores the dynamic field of climate change finance through conversations with industry experts about topics including climate solutions, global carbon markets, carbon projects, novel technologies such as AI and distributed ledger, and much more. If you have any questions, comments, a future guest recommendation, or are interested in joining Jay for an episode, please shoot him a message at: jtipton@gordianknotstrategies.com Credits: The podcast is produced by ⁠Gordian Knot Strategies⁠. It is written, narrated, and edited by ⁠Jay Tipton⁠. Special thanks to Sean Penrith, Jacoba Gundle, Maggie Tipton, and Julie Witherspoon.  Music is by ⁠Diamond_Tunes. 

Tuesday, January 9, 2024 Sliced: 2024 Predictions In this edition of Sliced, we use our IMPACT framework to offer our predicted developments in carbon markets for 2024. To read our Review of 2023, click this link: https://gordianknotstrategies.com/2023/12/19/our-take-a-brief-review-of-climate-finance-and-carbon-markets-in-2023/- - Sliced is a weekly short-form dispatch released every Tuesday that features original thought pieces from our team members with the goal of slicing apart the various complex aspects of climate finance. If you want to check out the written version of Sliced, click here. And if you want to receive Sliced to your inbox, click ⁠here⁠. Sliced is produced by ⁠Gordian Knot Strategies⁠. It is written, narrated, and edited by ⁠Jay Tipton⁠. Visit us at www.gordianknotstrategies.com. Music is by ⁠Yrii Semchyshyn⁠.

In this episode, Jay talks with Nathan Truitt (Executive Vice President, Climate Funding - American Forest Foundation). They cover topics including forest carbon credit projects, an innovative new green bond, AFF’s recent Verra methodology, and the challenges and opportunities for scaling up climate finance focused on forest projects.  If you have questions, comments, a future guest recommendation, or are interested in joining Jay for an episode, please shoot him a message at: jtipton@gordianknotstrategies.com Show Resources: American Forest Foundation (AFF) AFF’s Family Forest Carbon Program Verra - VM0045 Methodology for Improved Forest Management Using Dynamic Matched Baselines from National Forest Inventories, v1.0 Credits:  Untangling Climate Finance is a production of Gordian Knot Strategies. This episode was written, produced, and edited by Jay Tipton.  Special thanks to Sean Penrith, Jacoba Gundle, Maggie Tipton, and Julie Witherspoon.  Music is by Diamond_Tunes.

In this episode, Jay talks with carbon market veteran, David Antonioli. The two spoke in October about the current state of the voluntary carbon market. David shared insights on some of the issues plaguing carbon markets while offering ideas on ways for improvement. David also talks about where he sees himself heading after leaving his CEO role at Verra in May. Show Resources: OPINION: Corresponding tools: How to integrate the voluntary carbon market into the Paris Agreement Under the Curve - Why the VCM is so Important -- Untangling Climate Finance explores the dynamic field of climate change finance through conversations with industry experts about topics including climate solutions, global carbon markets, carbon projects, novel technologies such as AI and distributed ledger, and much more. If you have any questions, comments, a future guest recommendation, or are interested in joining Jay for an episode, please shoot him a message at: jtipton@gordianknotstrategies.com Credits: The podcast is produced by ⁠Gordian Knot Strategies⁠. It is written, narrated, and edited by ⁠Jay Tipton⁠. Special thanks to Sean Penrith, Jacoba Gundle, Maggie Tipton, and Julie Witherspoon. Music is by ⁠Diamond_Tunes.