Forests, Fires, and Carbon Credits
Forests, Fires, and Carbon Credits
by Diego Saez Gil
Forests around the world are on fire. Unfortunately, that will be true at almost any moment in the years and decades ahead. While fires are a natural part of many forest ecosystems, we know that global warming has contributed to an unnatural and alarming increase in their frequency and intensity.
Forests can recover from fires, but they cannot recover from human-driven deforestation. As of today, humans have clear-cut more than half of Earth’s forests -- and we’re not slowing down. In 2020 alone, we lost an area of forests the size of the Netherlands due to deforestation, mainly in the tropical rainforests of Brazil, Peru, Bolivia, Congo, and Indonesia. Tropical forests have the highest concentration of carbon stored per hectare, not to mention the highest concentration of biodiversity in the world. These forests are clear-cut for agriculture, cattle-ranching, and mining, and the wood is generally sold to manufacture paper, a process that also releases carbon into the atmosphere. Once cleared, these forests are likely gone forever.
Deforestation is the result of a stark economic choice faced by landowners. Until recently, the only way to generate an income from forests was to clear-cut them for agriculture, cattle-ranching, and mining. As the majority of forests -- especially tropical forests -- exist in low per-capita income nations, the economic pressure is very real.
The market for carbon credits was created to provide an alternative to clear-cutting. The idea was simple: we should be able to pay landowners for the carbon stored in their forests, no matter where those forests are. Who should pay? Those who emit carbon into the atmosphere in the first place: corporations and governments.
Since this idea was introduced by the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change, carbon markets have evolved into a patchwork of protocols and mechanisms. As with all emerging ideas, these initial implementations have left several key questions unanswered: do carbon credits actually deliver an incremental climate benefit? Can we ensure that forest owners follow through on their commitments? What happens when carbon-financed forests burn?
At Pachama, we believe these questions can and must be answered with the use of technology -- and we’re working on it. With satellite data and AI, we can determine baselines for forest carbon content and deforestation rates in order to establish the true environmental benefit -- “additionality,” in carbon-speak -- of a forest project. We can also estimate and account for fire risks, and monitor projects for ongoing disturbances, a concept that is novel to forest carbon. We believe that beyond these incremental benefits, data and technology can be harnessed to create a digital-first protocol, which will allow the market to scale with integrity and transparency.
Pachama’s mission is to restore nature to solve climate change. Achieving this mission will require that we build more effective mechanisms to steer funding to landowners, and in the process, overcome the fear, uncertainty, and doubt which have held back the market’s growth. If you are called by this mission, join us!
🎙Startup Series
This week, Jason caught up with Amanda Li, Co-Founder & COO of Banyan Infrastructure. Banyan Infrastructure is unleashing capital to accelerate the development of next-generation infrastructure projects to provide essential services across the globe and transform the world's energy systems into sustainable forms of energy.
💼Banyan is hiring a Business Development Manager/Director and a Senior Java Engineer! You can also DM Amanda in MCJ slack!
✨Highlights
Climate Jobs
For more positions and openings, check out the #climatejobs channel in Slack.
Ridwell, is working to identifying great PEOPLE for their team. Positions include full-stack engineers (mid to senior level), as well as an Engineering Manager role.
UrbanFootprint.com is looking for a Director of Engineering, backend and frontend Senior Software Engineers, Account Executives, and Product Managers. Based in Berkeley, CA.
Finch is hiring a social media manager (job description)
An exciting (and rare) opportunity for a highly motivated and passionate person to join Clean Energy Trust in Chicago as a Program Manager. Clean Energy Trust is a small but mighty team investing in seed-stage, Midwest-based climate tech startups via our 501vc Platform.
Joules Accelerator is hiring a Marketing and Community Engagement Associate. Joules is 501c3 based out of Charlotte, NC working to accelerate early-stage (post-seed, pre-Series A-ish) startups with our regional ecosystem of corporate partners.
Niskanen Center, a moderate think tank in DC, is searching for a new Director of Climate Policy.
Techstars is hiring for 3 fantastic roles: ESG Project Manager, Climate Change Practice Entrepreneur In Residence, and Sustainability Accelerator Entrepreneur In Residence.
Pachama is now recruiting for a really unique Product Manager role. This role would work to develop the roadmap for their remote-sensing and machine learning systems and then ensure they execute on it.
Patch is working to make their first Talent hire. Check out Brennan’s tweet here.
An unnamed company is looking for a great Head of Product for a sustainable food venture that has an amazing pathway to making cultivated meat affordable and scalable.
Branch Energy is a green energy provider focused on helping consumers reduce their energy bills and carbon footprints. They are hiring across all technical roles!
Yard Stick is hiring two field roles based in the Midwest. The senior role is a Soil Carbon Field Manager that Manager role will supervise 1-2 Soil Carbon Field Specialists.
Climate Events
For more community events, check out the #events channel in Slack or the MCJ Calendar on Luma.
☕️Women in Climate Meet-up (8/25 at 12 pm ET RSVP) This is meant to be a safe space for women to discuss, collaborate, celebrate, share knowledge about their climate journey and support each other. We follow a Lean Coffee format and always get through a variety of topics. Email davis.hannah.r@gmail.com for a calendar invite.
🗽NYC Meet-up (8/25 at 6 pm ET RSVP) The channel is planning to meet at The Grey Dog in The West Village. (49 Carmine St, New York, NY 10014) Check out the #nyc channel for more.
🧊MCJ Ice Breaker (8/27 at 4 pm ET RSVP) Come meet a fellow MCJer from the comfort of your computer. Enjoy several 1:1 & group conversations with fellow community members.
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