Kyle Rudzinski

🇺🇸 The U.S. Federal departments and offices have just released the "Voluntary Carbon Markets Joint Policy Statement and Principles”. We at International Carbon Registry celebrate more clarity on the direction of this important market and its role in the climate crisis. Notable developments include: • The emergence of multi-stakeholder initiatives that have set out standards and principles for high-integrity credit development and responsible credit use; • Improvements to key crediting methodologies, their guiding standards, and tracking systems; • New and improved analytical products and services that aim to strengthen credit transparency and quality comparability, such as carbon credit rating services; • Technologies to support robust measurement, monitoring, reporting, and verification (MMRV); • Multilateral rules, guidance, and procedures developed under Article 6 of the Paris Agreement and the international aviation sector's global carbon market-based measure, which shape certified emissions reductions and removals that often find their home in VCMs'; and • Advances in the development of market infrastructure to improve transparency and liquidity, as well as the integrity of market transactions.

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Climate Capital Guidebook: The Biden-Harris Administration is releasing a new Climate Capital Guidebook to provide a simple, comprehensive map of capital programs across the federal government that are available to climate-related start-ups, small- and medium-sized businesses, and their investors. While larger, institutionally-backed climate companies may have the resources to identify and access federal funding opportunities, smaller enterprises may face greater challenges in navigating these federal programs. https://lnkd.in/eJ3QV4Fw #climatechange #climatetech

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Check out some of out Climate Solutions Portfolio (CSP) registrants - the programs and solutions to decarbonize the making of our clothes... #climatesolutionsportfolio #fashionclimatefund #apparelimpactinstitute

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Check out this recent IUCN report on the Regenerative Blue Economy if you are interested in what the future of the blue economy should look like. Below, I share my perspective as a member of the advisory committee of this initiative, on the main message and a couple features I found particularly striking. ✅The main message (as I read it): The report builds a historical perspective to explain why the 'blue economy', or even the 'sustainable blue economy', are not sufficient anymore. As the decline of ocean life has already been so dramatic that there is not much left to sustain or conserve, we need to raise our ambition and aim at a 'Regenerative Blue Economy'. One that actively addresses climate change an biodiversity loss. Alexandra Cousteau first convinced me of this in 2018 and it has guided my efforts in the space since. As a member of the advisory committee of this report, this was the main message I tried to pass on. 🧬The report (page 11, box 1) says the Regenerative Blue Economy is based on "scientifically grounded assessments". Indeed, I believe we will succeed in building a Regenerative Blue Economy only if we can embed science at the core of economic decisions. We need to overhaul our economic governance (shareholder meetings, boards, investment committees, etc...) to achieve this. This is why for example at SWEN Blue Ocean we created an Impact Committee composed of science and conservation experts to help us make the right investment decisions. We need to do this at scale, across the economy. 🌟Pages 30-31 of the report recognizes the potential of the impact framework of the Ocean Impact Navigator, developed by 1000 Ocean Startups, to apply to the economy as a whole, not just startups. I have always believed that, meaning the impact of the Navigator may expand beyond ocean startups at some point. Helping characterize what belongs to the Regenerative Blue Economy is a step in that direction. Congratulations to the lead authors, RAPHAELA LE GOUVELLO, Francois Simard, and the IUCN team. Thank you for giving me the opportunity to contribute. Adrien Vincent Minna Epps https://lnkd.in/eNKPxYZ4

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We've been working under the hood at LIVSN on the execution behind the word "sustainability" and what it means to put our money where our mouth is. And by "we" I mean Abby Hollis and Wyatt Rice - who have gone above and beyond in this pursuit. I hope you take some time to read the article linked below for context on the how.

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This new high resolution model gives a very detailed picture of both local and global GHG emissions. Interesting to see the front range of Colorado stand out so strongly and also see the density of the midwest and east coast! https://lnkd.in/gjDgq8pY

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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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Climate change solutions can seem big and overwhelming, so I break it down to what I can control. Gardening is a pleasure, an escape, and also an opportunity. 🌱💧 #climatechangesolutions #rainbarrels #watercatchment #nativeplants #biodiversity #rewilding #climatechange

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Great to see the guardrails the White House has proposed around carbon offsets. This approach could help ensure that offsets make a meaningful and measurable reduction in emissions that wouldn’t have happened otherwise. I’m proud that at Juniper, we are committed to zeroing out our emissions not only from our own operations, but across our value chain.   https://lnkd.in/gE7xSZ2v

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I am not in Cali, Colombia, so I will likely not do the traditional "my takeaways" from the event. However, this is what is on my mind this week. It is encouraging to see an increased awareness of the value of water and nature. Now, the question becomes who pays and how to finance solutions. The Biodiversity Finance Factbook is worth reading. It outlines the level of investment that is needed. The estimates are approximately $208 B per year, with $1.15 T needed by 20230. A quote: " Approximately 55% of the global GDP is moderately to highly dependent on nature, but a vastly higher share relies on functioning ecosystems to some degree. Nature-related risks are costing companies and their investors billions of dollars, but many lack sophistication in their approach to managing these risks." The opportunity is now to answer how to increase and finance investments in nature at speed. More to follow on this. #biodiversity #nature #investing #water #climate Earth Finance, Inc. Water Foundry Garrett Kephart Maria Dahrieh Carolina García Arbeláez Michael Alexander James Dalton Rylan Dobson Stuart Orr Alexis Morgan Lauren Steavpack Darin Aldrich James Harvey Sonya Bengali Newsha Ajami, PhD Usha Rao-Monari Avent Bezuidenhoudt Job van Schelven Eliza Roberts

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As sustainability has been a leading innovation driver in agriculture for the last ~5 years, I often wonder if we've made an impact yet? The EPA just released its Inventory of U.S. GHG Emissions & Sinks that ag reduced 1.8% of its GHG emissions from 2021 to 2022, accounting for 10% of national emissions in 2022. 1.8% is the most significant decline of all industries YOY (about 12M metric tons). Recognizing that this is data from one year and highly subject to crop selection & volumes, it's an encouraging number for those of us working day to day on sustainability in ag. I'm curious for your perspectives - is this progress or noise? https://lnkd.in/gBn-uBJS #sustainableag #GHGemissions

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S2G Ventures’ new report, The Climate Finance Relay Race, highlights how asset owners have the opportunity to fill a critical funding gap for climate-focused innovations and how having a solid ecosystem can help them do so. I think this is an important read for anyone interested in #climate #finance. https://lnkd.in/gjtFhHPy Mike Wise Sanjeev Krishnan Jinchen Zou

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Congratulations to Kern Venture Group portfolio company EarthSense, Inc. on winning a Shell GameChanger grant. EarthSense was co-founded by world renowned field roboticist Prof. Girish Chowdhary, and agriculture and soil sustainability expert Dr. Chinmay Soman. EarthSense has created a family of low-cost, AI-powered robots that help farmers easily adopt regenerative farming practices while overcoming labor shortages and improving profitability. EarthSense’s autonomous cover-crop planting robots help farmers reap 10x greater rewards from cover crops. Summer inter-seeding with EarthSense robots in row-crop fields gives cover crops a head start, compared to post-harvest planting with tractors. This ensures better emergence and winter survivability resulting in faster, better growth in the spring. Shell GameChanger provides financial and strategic support to innovative companies with unique technologies that create the future of global sustainable energy supply. With support from Shell GameChanger and in collaboration with Shell’s subsidiary Joint Venture VISION Bioenergy Oilseeds (VISION) LLC, EarthSense will test the performance of camelina planted during Summer and Fall 2024 by EarthSense robots in corn fields. The Shell GameChanger funding will enable EarthSense to validate the performance of robotically inter-seeded camelina as a bioenergy cover crop in corn-soybean rotation in the Midwest. Enabling a corn-camelina-soybean relay cropping system will potentially improve crop rotation efficiencies, and enable American row-crop farmers to protect and improve farm soils while simultaneously earning additional income from producing camelina as a feedstock for sustainable biofuels. https://lnkd.in/gB_kBh7v

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In this article, I articulate why significant investment in the processing and distribution infrastructure is needed to transition the US Midwest agricultural food system to a regenerative one. I use our systems analysis to explain why this is required, yet difficult to accomplish. I then bring two key hallmarks of systemic investing - combinatorial effects and nesting - to convey how the practice of systemic investing can be used to crowd in public and private capital, mitigate risk through synergistic effects, and ultimately drive the scale of impact needed. Systemic investing involves deeply understanding the system's current dynamics (systems analysis) so that we can learn the root problems of a challenge. It is also about designing a systemic portfolio of interventions to address the behaviours these root problems generate (funding architecture). This article serves as a brief and imperfect introduction on how to make this move from systems analysis to interventions. #systemicinvesting #regenerativeagriculture https://lnkd.in/dRXnwurH

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Very excited to share my latest piece in Forbes - "Adaptation and resilience in corporate climate agendas" If any of the below resonates, esp. with those working on adaptation + resilience and/or corporate climate + sustainability - our team at Riffle Ventures would love to hear from you! Main idea - climate adaptation and resilience can be an innovation driver for companies and we need to accelerate this agenda. 🏭 Most discussions around corporations and their climate agendas focus on if, how, and how quickly, big businesses are reducing their greenhouse gas emissions, as well as decreasing their own negative externalities on the natural environment. 💰 However, in parallel climate change is creating growing financial, infrastructure, health and other risks that could disrupt large companies, some of which is already happening. While the tools and strategies for decarbonization are fairly well-covered, we are only scratching the surface when it comes to building resilience and adapting to a warming planet. 🈺 Of course, emissions and corporate sustainability targets need urgent attention and commitment, but in parallel we need to make sure companies writ large are adapting to and building resilience against climate risks - e.g. droughts, floods, fires, grid instability and weakening infrastructure - are all a growing reality on a warming planet. 🆘 Corporations, regardless of industry and geography will require support across the board in navigating climate change's most pressing threats. The risk of not doing so could have near-term, material impacts on protecting critical infrastructure as well as access to necessary products and services - food and medicine - and could also negatively impact human's themselves - heat stress, job loss, etc. 🤖 There is a growing technology solution set focusing on climate adaptation and resilience, and we need to bridge the gap between between these climate tech startups and the corporate sector. In turn, corporations can have an enormous impact in helping to scale climate innovations and bolster the surrounding ecosystem. Many thanks to Jackie Roberts for providing time and insight for the article, Dhruv Jesrani for being the design wizard and to Suma Reddy Connie Bowen Abrar Chaudhury Alhan Fakhr Laith Kawar Madeleine Futterman Emmanuelle Palikuca Omar Saif Andrew Chang Hope Petraro Tom K. Deepa Lounsbury for their guidance along the way while we did the research for this, and for Dahna Goldstein for being the connection to Jackie! #ClimateAction #SustainableBusiness #CorporateResponsibility #SustainabilityGoals #ClimateLeadership #CorporateSustainability #SustainableDevelopment #ClimateInnovation #ClimateChangeAdaptation #ResilienceStrategies #SustainableSolutions #ClimateResilience #BuildingResilience #ClimateChangeResponse #AdaptationStrategies

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It was so great to be 65 people and take action on climate. 💡 I learned something new - that without increased transmission capacity, it will be difficult to transition to a 100% clean power grid. Battery storage alone is not enough to adequately and efficiently balance a grid with significant solar and wind generation, we need to add total capacity and improve interregional transmission across the entire U.S. power grid.

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Today the White House announced new actions to expand access to capital for small and medium-sized climate businesses and startups. These include the release of a guidebook of capital programs across the federal government and an expansion of small business financing under the 504 Loan Program. CEBN President Lynn Abramson provided a statement of support: “As the White House’s new Climate Capital Guidebook states, ‘start-ups and small businesses are at the heart of new ideas and solutions.’ CEBN is encouraged to see the Administration take these important steps to expand access to capital for our nation’s small business innovators that are pushing the clean energy economy forward." See our full statement here: https://lnkd.in/gbaAr7bd See the White House’s Climate Capital Guidebook here: https://lnkd.in/gtkDHmwE

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I love a story... The article in this post is a must read for those seeking a really simple case study based "walk-through" of the real world challenges of reaching net zero carbon emissions. It gives a balanced perspective of both sides of the reduce vs. offset debate. My favourite part: "In a perfect world, we would have started our campus retrofit in 1990 and be done by now. In that world, everyone could get the energy they need from low-cost emissions-free sources, could rapidly eliminate emissions from agriculture, deforestation and industry and preserve livelihoods. We don’t live in that world. No one knows how to completely solve climate change, and although we’re making great strides it will take time. Offsets can leverage substantial amounts of capital to keep carbon out of the atmosphere – capital that would otherwise not be utilized." Thanks Stephen Porder for your valuable contribution, and Thomas Schroder for highlighting it!

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