What inspired you to want to work on reversing climate change?
I am a sailor, and, in the 1980s, started noticing extreme and concerning changes in otherwise familiar marine environments. When I looked into possible causes, increasing carbon and nitrogen concentrations in the atmosphere seemed to be among the most plausible explanations.
Why did you join Nori?
I am very interested in being part of the process of using blockchain to develop the first platform over which interested buyers and sellers might invest in legitimate carbon removal projects with confidence that the carbon removal e-certificates they buy represent real incremental terrestrial carbon stock gains, and where a token denominated as 1 ton actually equals very close to one ton of CO2 removed from the atmosphere. In most voluntary and compliance carbon market precedents, most of the traded CO2 “offsets” are really worth 50% or less than their face value in real CO2 removals.
Who do you think should be reading this blog post, and why?
Parties interested in investing in projects that might slow down, then potentially reverse, the growth in atmospheric carbon concentrations while they coincidentally support more efficient and sustainable food production, wetlands rehabilitation and undersea ecosystems.
What is the biggest misconception that you think people have about reversing climate change?
That it is all and only about geo-engineering. While some geo-engineering initiatives are likely to prove effective and viable contributors to the goal of reversing atmospheric carbon carbon concentrations in our atmosphere — like direct air capture where recovered carbon is mineralized — other geo-engineering proposals may introduce other unacceptable ecosystem risks. I think Nori, among others, will prove that there are many carbon removal options, including but not limited to geo-engineering, sufficient to reverse the growth trend in atmospheric carbon concentrations, that at are win-wins.
What gets you excited about blockchain?
Efficiency, easy access and transaction transparency.
What kinds of problems do you like to solve?
Problems others say can’t be solved.
What previous experiences did you have that will inform your work at Nori?
I founded and led a major greenhouse gas emissions reduction credit purchasing group for more than a decade. We executed the first, ever, significant carbon removal credit purchase agreements in the world. I would like, e to apply that experience in the new, different, world of blockchain.
What sorts of things will you be working on with Nori?
I will focus on developing and learning from others in the wider community about carbon removal estimation, verification and validation methodologies, risk management and continuous analysis of the economics of carbon removal and greenhouse gas emissions markets.
