“These (carbon) marketplaces and standards and operators, they're really opportunities for an innovation sandbox where we're saying, ‘Okay, what's the tech that we need to build? What are the frameworks that we need to build? What sort of systems do we need in place between public and private interests? Between spot markets and futures? How do they relate to other financial systems that we have?’ It's an opportunity to finally start to say ‘How do we fix these problems? What do we need to change? Who else needs to be at the table? And how do we raise all boats with the tide?’” -Oliver Miltenberger
Oliver Miltenberger joins hosts Patrick Leung and Armando Davila to demystify carbon markets and to share his insider’s view of the exciting threshold that the evolution of carbon markets has currently arrived at. Oliver breaks down the complexity of the past, present, and future of the markets and then takes listeners beneath the surface into deeper issues that the market can be a vehicle for addressing. This illuminating conversation is a perfect mix of mind and heart that will leave you feeling informed and inspired.
IN THIS EPISODE:
- Oliver’s journey from conservation to carbon markets and how he is working to push the envelope and evolve carbon markets as we know them
- The role of money and politics in conservation (or lack thereof) and how that opened Oliver’s eyes to the potential of carbon markets
- How the carbon market is like the wild west and like an “innovation sandbox”
- The carbon market’s role as a pathway to a broader goal
- The past limitations of the carbon market and how it has evolved
- The crucial role that corporations and other mega-sources of finance play in funding climate solutions and the role that carbon markets play in making this investment possible
- Important discussions that need to be had around carbon markets and climate change adaptation
- How Covid derailed some climate change conversations and efforts
- Why it’s important for carbon projects to prioritize societal well-being over carbon
- Carbon pricing 101 and shifts that need to happen to raise the price of carbon
- Carbon sequestration permanence and how it is difficult to predict it accurately
- How carbon market claims may give investors a sense of having a license to pollute and how to address this challenge
- The impact of Article 6 of the Paris Agreement, which allows for carbon trading between countries, and how it’s allowing more nature-based projects to exist
- The importance of starting to bring disparate carbon markets with variable standards together to solve issues around trust, quality, and transparency
- The cultural shift that need to happen in order for systemic change to be possible
RELEVANT LINKS:
Earthshot Labs: www.earthshot.eco
Oliver’s LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/oliver-miltenberger/
Songs by Nick Barbachano: https://nickbarbachanomusic.bandcamp.com/
Intro & Outro Music by Little Whale: https://littlewhale.bandcamp.com
