Alex Vlassopulos

Pleased to help shape this article that offers businesses a clear path to prepare for coming regulations around #deforestation and #biodiversity. Transparency and accountability are key to making measurable progress toward #netzero. Go FLINTpro!

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Project Drawdown recently delivered a TED talk explaining how big of a contribution our traditional food system is to climate change and most importantly, what areas we need to address in order to cut those emissions significantly given a growing demand for food production in the coming years. It's a really well-rounded analysis and I recommend everyone to watch it and understand this issue better: https://lnkd.in/gQTMKZ9e If you wanna hear industry experts discussing this topic more in-depth, explaining on-the-ground challenges and solutions, join us on Aug 28th for our next event by the Silicon Valley Sustainability & Social Impact Network. ➡ Secure your early-bird tickets before Aug 9: https://lu.ma/8fe60n8x #climatechange #climatesolutions #sustainablefoodsystems #foodtech #agtech #sustainability #socialimpact #sustainableliving #sustainablebusiness #climatemitigation #carbonremoval

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https://lnkd.in/efuGjSjH If you are looking for a new perspective on climate change and solution, I would like to recommend Hannah Ritchie's and Rob Steward's excellent podcasts. The first two — which you can listen — feature Kingsmill Bond (who does fantastic work on the energy transition at the Rocky Mountain Institute) and Sir David King (formerly Chief Scientific Adviser to the UK Government). These first two episodes have quite a different tone and level of optimism; a divergence which makes these conversations even more interesting for me. #climatechange #energytransition

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This is definitely a step in the right direction, but how will it work from a cradle-to-cradle perspective? 🔄 Straight from the horses mouth William McDonough: “Everything is a resource for something else. In nature, the “waste” of one system becomes food for another. Everything can be designed to be disassembled and safely returned to the soil as biological nutrients, or re-utilised as high quality materials for new products as technical nutrients without contamination” This is a decent move, but will drinks containers qualify as technical nutrients? Have they been manufactured in a way that will allows them to reenter the production cycle easily? I have no idea, but thats surely what we should be aiming for?

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📢 Last week The Integrity Council for the Voluntary Carbon Market (ICVCM) confirmed that both Verra's Verified Carbon Standard (VCS) and the Architecture for REDD+ Transactions (ART) program met the rigorous Core Carbon Principles (#CCPs). Proud to be one of the members of the group that helped create these principles, can’t wait to see more and more standards to be aligned with them. This is a significant achievement for the voluntary carbon market, marking a major step towards ensuring the highest levels of integrity and transparency in carbon credits. So who will be next? Thoughts? #CarbonMarket #VCM #CarbonCredits https://lnkd.in/ecYWpexc

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Perhaps the world is waking up and realising that no carbon credit is as important and valuable for our planet as a REDD+ credit. The Integrity Council for the Voluntary Carbon Market (ICVCM) has approved three REDD+ methodologies, as high-integrity Now all we need is for bodies like Verra to stop overreacting to negative press (you cannot appease anti-market fundamentalists, or academics funded by oil countries), stop overreaching (stick to the science, no need for arbitrary virtue-signaling changes), and start realising that project developers are their customers, and that customer service (including timeliness) is extremely important. Demand is going to take off in the next years, as thousands of large firms approach the 2030 deadline for their NetZero pledges. (High quality) REDD+ will be key.

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Beyond the Status Quo: New Chapter in Climate Finance The article published in Carbon Brief explores six of the issues that make climate finance such a “wild west”. Climate finance is plagued by inconsistent definitions, opaque accounting, misaligned spending, loan-based overstatements, uncertain disbursement, and donor-driven agendas. Going forward we need to tackle these issues and here are some thoughts: - Developed countries should provide more funding for climate change mitigation and adaptation. The current $100 billion annual target is not enough to meet the needs of developing countries. - Climate finance should be more transparent and accountable. There needs to be a clear definition of what counts as climate finance and how it is spent. - Climate finance should be more focused on the needs of the most vulnerable countries. This means prioritizing projects that will help to reduce poverty and build resilience to climate change. - Climate finance should be more innovative. We need to explore new ways of financing climate action in addition to strengthening carbon market such as Climate Equity Funds, Climate Insurance and Risk Pools, Green Development Banks, Climate Innovation Funds, Climate Impact Bonds to name a few. - Climate finance should be more inclusive. Women, indigenous peoples, and other marginalized groups should be involved in the design and implementation of climate finance projects. Could DeFi be one of potential keys to unlocking a new era of transparent, efficient, and impactful climate finance? 🤔 Here is the link to the article: https://lnkd.in/dYTMG77x #climatefinance #ClimateFi COP29 Azerbaijan #finance

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Good to see more progress from colleagues at The Integrity Council for the Voluntary Carbon Market (ICVCM) in efforts to build end to end integrity in the VCMs. The helps the buyers VCMI focuses on identity high integrity credits. https://lnkd.in/dJMSNxus #carbonmarkets #integrity #climatefinance

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This is an interesting piece by Karen Norton and the Carbonwise team that takes a look at the world of carbon footprint calculation.

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Our Q2 Public Engagement Report is now live. In the third feature, Will Farrell and Hannah Heuser examine ways to engage with demand-side companies to help drive the low carbon transition, using insights from EOS’s engagements with fossil fuel producers. #ESG #climatechange #netzero #stewardship https://bit.ly/3MfR9YM

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I attended the ClimateImpact Summit a few weeks ago. After finally finding time to get through 2000 words of notes, some of the key insights that stuck with me are below. There were so many other points I could have shared from this fantastic conference but that would have made this an unreadable length! I would strongly recommend attending future events by ClimateImpact with talks that explored topics in the perfect level of detail. 📚James Arbib: Co-author of "Rethinking Humanity" highlighted the massive shifts ahead. He thought we were too focused on creating and "shoehorning" new innovation into an old energy system rather than creating a new world with an entirely new clean energy system. On driving change, he said we think change happens because of top down of central player decisions but, in reality, it comes from the ground up. People will experiment with new energies and technology and find competitive advantages that will drive the change. In some positive closing words he said "we have the tech we need to decarbonise the economy - we just need to scale it". ⚡Greg Jackson, CEO of Octopus Energy, had some amazing insights on founding and scaling that business. He also didn't recognise me as a customer who hadn't submitted an energy reading in the last three months so win, win for me. He shared an inspiring journey of resilience and emphasised the importance of being ambitious and opportunistic. One audacious approach I loved was how they created new businesses to solve for gaps in the market inhibiting their existing businesses. He also called for more regional energy pricing which I think would be great to stimulate more investment into renewable infrastructure. 💡Neha Manaktala from J.P. Morgan and Erik Mostenicky from Fidelity Investments shared some corporate venture perspectives. They had great insights on how startups can succeed which included understanding corporate sales processes and knowing what to agree to in exclusivity agreements. JP Morgan had a very mature approach to startup portfolio management - something that Neha shared a lot at a roundtable I hosted the following week! 💬 Finally, a few insights from founders to founders: 1. Ruthless prioritisation is key. Focus on solving customer problems and everything else will fall into place. 2. Honest communication is crucial for a team to work at its best. Ensure your team knows how you are and what you need. 3. Founders need a strong, stubborn courage but must also recognise the importance of hiring a team, and have the humility needed to fill in those gaps. 4. A significant number of founders have considered quitting recently. It's vital to support each other and stay resilient. 5. Control the controllables. Focus only on what you can manage. Thanks to Stephen Murphy, Kendall Smith, Saoirse Kelders 柯莎莎 and all the rest of the fantastic team at ClimateImpact for a fantastic day... better late than never sharing these notes, right?!

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The science behind climate change goes back further than you might think, and the efforts to solve for the risks posed by greenhouse gases do too. This week's blog dives into the fascinating history of carbon markets, tracing their evolution from early scientific warnings to the complex systems we see today. Key Takeaways: - Early Warnings: Scientists like Eunice Foote and Svante Arrhenius laid the groundwork for understanding human-caused climate change in the 19th century. - The Keeling Curve: Roger Revelle and Charles David Keeling's work provided irrefutable evidence of CO2 accumulation in the atmosphere, sparking a new urgency for action. - Market Solutions Emerge: Ronald Coase's work on market mechanisms for environmental issues laid the foundation for carbon offsets and trading systems. - From Theory to Practice: The 1988 pioneering offset project by WRI and AES demonstrated the feasibility of carbon offsets. - International Collaboration: The UNFCCC and Kyoto Protocol provided a global platform for nations to tackle climate change through carbon markets. Read the full story to see how carbon markets have evolved and the challenges they still face!https://lnkd.in/eenvEhS3 #carbonmarkets #climatechange #climatesolutions #sustainability

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A fascinating categorization of #CDR in an article exploring the "#CDR #emissions gap" in the latest edition of Nature Climate Change: > Conventional CDR on land: This includes #afforestation, in which trees are planted when previously there were none, and #reforestation, which means restoring areas where the trees have been cut down or degraded. > Novel CDR: This includes all CDR methods that are not based on #forestry and #landuse change, such as #biochar, #directaircapture (#DAC) and #bioenergy with #carboncapture and storage (BECCS). I understand this grouping, but I would argue that categorizing #CDR by Engineered Solution and #NatureBased solution might be more telling. I suspect it allows a more accurate assessment of scalability and #CarbonInvestmentEfficiency (#CIE). https://lnkd.in/gzTdydN3

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Our Free Regenerative Investing Workshop in London has changed its date and time to 2pm-4pm on the 22nd April! To reserve your place, introducing you to the "Principles of Regenerative Investing - creating strategies to future proof your assets from market volatility" - we look at real case studies from across sectors and geographies - Hosted together with EthicalFin, Henmil Group Family Office and Vedra Partners, reserve your place. Places are limited! Book your place on the link below #finance #familyoffice #investing #regenerativeinvesting

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🌍 The US government’s new Voluntary Carbon Markets Joint Policy Statement and Principles highlights VCMs as a powerful tool to mobilize substantial private capital for global climate change mitigation projects. A huge signal when climate commitments are far from ensured on the policy side. And a strong support for organizations doing so already. Key principles include: · Credible Standards: Carbon credits must meet rigorous decarbonization standards. · Avoid Harm: Projects should avoid environmental and social harm, promoting co-benefits. · Prioritize Reductions: Companies should focus on measurable emissions reductions within their value chains. · Transparency: Public disclosure of purchased and retired credits is essential. · Accurate Claims: Claims must reflect the true climate impact of credits. · Market Integrity: Participants should support efforts to enhance market integrity. · Efficiency: Policies should facilitate efficient market participation and reduce transaction costs. Read CEEZER's analysis by Natalie Steinemann, Lucas van Doorn, and Dr. Carla Woydt here: https://lnkd.in/e8SNtCjP #ClimateAction #CarbonMarkets #Sustainability #EnvironmentalJustice #NetZero

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🚨 COP29: A Missed Opportunity for Global Climate Action – What It Means for Fashion 🌍👗 As COP29 concludes without meaningful progress, many are calling it a failure. I see it differently: it’s a wake-up call for our sector to show up bigger and bolder at COP30 in Brazil. This year's summit underscores the need for industries like ours to step up independently, rather than waiting for mandates. At Apparel Impact Institute, we believe fashion has a unique role as a cultural leader driving systemic change. As I shared in Rachel Cernansky's piece in Vogue Business: “We just have to step up, lead by example, and stop waiting for someone else to do it.” Fashion is deeply connected to global challenges like agriculture, water systems, and renewable energy. By leveraging our industry’s innovative spirit and storytelling power, we can rally collective action—not just for our sector, but as part of a broader movement. Here’s how we can redefine the narrative: ✅ Advocate for fair financing models for suppliers and farmers in the Global South. ✅ Prioritize just transitions and equitable supply chain practices. ✅ Move beyond greenwashing to true climate action—and make it visible. 🌿 The road ahead is clear: the responsibility is ours to design a sustainable future. Read more in the article here: https://lnkd.in/gtFCjTm3 What steps do you think the fashion industry must take to lead the way? Let’s discuss in the comments! ⬇️ #COP29 #Sustainability #FashionLeadership #ClimateAction #Decarbonization #JustTransition

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"we need to put people at the heart of climate action" - CAST research confirms what many of us in the field know - transformative systems change can not happen without working on models of co-design and participatory decision-making. Ownership and agency is key for people to not just see themselves in the climate story - but to see their own power to have impact. #climate #communications #climateAction

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