Ask five people in the carbon market whether buyers should prioritise nature or technology, and you’ll get five strong opinions, but rarely a clear answer to what the right mix actually looks like in practice.  The two pieces below approach the question from different starting points. One argues that nature’s scale, speed, and co-benefits make […]

This spring the North American Carbon World (NACW) event celebrated its 25th anniversary, a small milestone in the evolution of carbon markets. In honor of the celebration, Katherine Hamilton, Ecosystem Marketplace Advisory Board member and co-author of Voluntary Carbon Markets: A Business Guide sat down with Alexia Kelly, market veteran and Managing Director of the […]

Scroll through carbon market commentary on LinkedIn and a pattern emerges quickly. On one side: nature-based solutions are irreplaceable, available now, and essential at scale. On the other: they are temporary, risky, and a distraction from the engineered removals that will actually get us to net zero. Both camps are confident. Both are missing the […]

The first quarter of Conversations on Integrity offers a clear snapshot of our current position on greenhouse gas accounting, safeguards, and financing for nature-based carbon. I read the three pieces with optimism. While there is still room for improvement, the overall trajectory reflects strengthening integrity and a clearer understanding of what is required—progress that would have been […]

Voluntary carbon markets have spent years refining supply-side and demand-side integrity. Both are essential – but neither guarantees that projects can be built, survive shocks, or scale.  What’s missing is financing integrity: whether capital is structured to let high integrity projects happen, especially for smaller or community-led developers. Even best methodologies and the most committed […]

When integrity is discussed in the voluntary carbon market (VCM), it is still largely defined by carbon metrics. Even the controversies that have drawn the most scrutiny — from over-crediting to overstated climate claims — are typically framed in terms of carbon performance. Ask what makes a “high-quality” carbon credit, and you will likely hear […]

Nature-based carbon projects have operated for more than 25 years. Early assumptions that greenhouse gas accounting would be simple have proven wrong. What has occurred instead is a steady evolution of integrity, as accounting weaknesses have been identified and progressively addressed. The problem is not measuring carbon stocks… There is a persistent misconception that integrity […]