Rubicon Carbon’s Post

Thanks to Tina Brown and @aspenideas for inviting me for a great conversation with Former Climate Envoy and Secretary of State John Kerry, Global Energy and Climate Innovation Editor at the Economist Vijay Vaitheeswaran, and TV Journalist Stephanie Ruhle; focused on the $38 trillion dollars needed by 2050 to address the climate crisis. The bottom line is that our future depends on it, and achieving the financing we need CAN happen. Recent movement from the U.S. Department of the Treasury, Department of Energy, and Department of Agriculture have been a big boost, as they acknowledged the need to employ carbon credits to help companies close the delta on decarbonizing their value chain, while waiting for technologies to help advance decarbonization. Further, the recent passage of monumental legislation -- the Inflation Reduction Act, the Infrastructure Act and the CHIPS Act -- all provide funding and momentum to accelerate the technological and financial progress needed to decarbonize the U.S. economy. And the financial sector, from venture capital and private equity to banks and asset managers, will increasingly invest in and fund more climate-forward projects as they continue to see real returns. I am delighted to be working with TPG Rise Climate Fund as a senior advisor and chairing one of its portfolio companies, Rubicon Carbon, which focuses on offering high-quality carbon credits through diversified and risk-adjusted portfolios. Through this work, along with my 27 years at Bank of America, a leader in clean energy financing, I’m continuing to see the kind of progress that’s possible. It’s the combination of good policy, innovation and capitalism that will create the energy market we need to help make a difference. Not unlike what the space program did for technology -- history rhymes. #AspenIdeas; #Aspen Daily News

IMPERATIVE is proud to announce the receipt of our first ex ante carbon rating from BeZero Carbon. The first 10,000 hectare phase of Imperative’s recently sanctioned South African project, which at full scale will restore 100,000 hectares of land through active replanting of native thicket across a vast area in the Eastern and Western Capes of South Africa, has received an ex ante Standalone Carbon Rating of 'aa' and a BeZero Carbon ex ante Rating of 'Ae'. This ex ante rating puts Imperative’s Spekboom project amongst the highest rated Afforestation, Reforestation and Revegetation projects for which BeZero have issued ex ante ratings. This very strong rating serves as a significant external validation and endorsement of Imperative’s commitment to top-decile quality in our carbon credit projects. As execution progresses on the project, we aim to further increase the project’s rating. Read the full release here: https://lnkd.in/g6ZRkvZC #climateaction #voluntarycarbonmarkets

What does it take to secure finance for nature-based carbon projects? 4 critical components of Microsoft's recent offtake with Ponterra's 10k ha ecosystem restoration project in Panama - 1 - Over 8 months of due diligence Microsoft's team visited the site in person, toured the nursery, spoke to the chief forester, and more. The process involved >50 iterations of the project's financial model. And the 8 months was just the due diligence from term sheet to signature; there was plenty of diligence before the term sheet as well. 2 - A large-scale project Because the due diligence is so thorough and time consuming, projects have to be large enough to deliver a substantial amount of credits. The Ponterra Azuero restoration project is currently 10k hectares, but has the potential to expand to 50k ha+. 3 - A committed buyer to crowd in more investment Microsoft not only signed an offtake agreement through 2040 for a portion of the project's carbon credits (agreeing to purchase a set amount of credits on delivery), but also provided some upfront investment into the project. This long-term commitment from a carbon buyer was crucial for bringing two other investors to the table - Rubicon Carbon and Carbon Streaming Corporation. Microsoft’s offtake commitment reduced the price and cash-flow risk for the other two investors, giving them certainty that there would be a purchaser for at least half of the project’s carbon credits in the future. 4 - A long-term mindset that matches nature's timeline Many investment funds have a 5- to 7-year return expectation, and many carbon buyers are looking to secure credits in the near future. Those timelines don’t match the rate of carbon sequestration in nature restoration projects, which can take several years to pick up as saplings grow. The long-term mindset of Microsoft in securing carbon credits for the future, as well as patient capital from the investors was crucial to give this project the capital to scale on a timeline that made sense for the project type. I wrote a few more words about this over on GreenBiz. 🔗 to article in the comments.