In 2022, Carbon Markets are broken. In 2030, Carbon Markets are projected to be worth $50B (McKinsey, Jan 2021). Put these together and you get both a perfect challenge for a tech startup and a massive opportunity for investors to make money and make a difference. Today's experts, roundtable participants, and startup presenters will focus on this massive global opportunity.
Silicon Valley, California, December 10, 2022/Meeting Recap/ The Cleantech Council held our meeting on “FIXING CARBON MARKETS” on Thursday, December 8. The meeting was based on the growing understanding that, so far, carbon credits of dubious quality have been swamping the markets, and have given buyers a sort of “permission” to pollute, while offering up less than expected results in terms of actual tons of CO2 offset to the atmosphere.
Our Roundtable discussion, featured Seth Baruch, President at Carbonomics and Manu Pillai, Founder at Carbon Bridge. Both had good ideas about the reasons carbon markets have faltered so far
Our speakers addressed the problem of greenwashing, and offered concrete solutions to fix what isn’t working. One of the key take-aways for corporations with ESG programs, or individuals was to be honest about your objectives (in the voluntary offset markets). If you’re seeking to fund some project, whether if offsets a ton of CO2 or not, just talk about the project. And if you’re serious about offsetting, then do due diligence to find a reliable source of projects and ratings, and do “trust, but verify.” Thanks to our panelists for offering ideas on these, and a handful of other topics.
From there, our meeting went to our usual set of fast pitches from a great batch of innovators. They presented us with a bunch of shovel-ready projects for capturing, reducing, and offsetting carbon – all with an eye on profitability.
Thank you to all our speakers, and to Mayfield for hosting us. Members can find presentations from this meeting in the Member Library.