The Forest Through The Trees - December 2023

In this month’s newsletter, we’re sharing our new project evaluation criteria featuring biodiversity insights, an exciting investment announcement, and a roundup of what we saw on the ground at COP28.

Introducing biodiversity insights and tech improvements with Evaluation Criteria 2.2

Building on recent research and ongoing technology advancements, we are excited to introduce Project Evaluation Criteria 2.2. This latest version update will ensure we continue to surface the highest-quality projects while also offering biodiversity insights to help businesses make investment decisions with impact data beyond carbon.?

What’s new? We’re now quantifying biodiversity impacts, expanding our dynamic baseline technology to Colombia and Peru, and supporting agroforestry projects with continual ARR criteria improvements.

Learn more

Pachama Increases Series B to $64 Million with $9 Million Extension

Amidst a turbulent year for carbon markets, we’re delighted to share that we’ve increased our Series B to $64M with an extension led by Lowercarbon Capital, T.Capital (the investment arm of Deutsche Telekom), and Positive Ventures. We’re also thrilled to announce the strategic addition of the inimitable Ebony Beckwith as a board member.

We see these as indicators of rapidly growing confidence in technology as a critical driver of the next generation of carbon markets. Thanks to this additional investment and expertise, we're excited to move even faster to achieve our mission to restore nature at scale!

See the full announcement

Going beyond carbon: quantifying biodiversity impacts

The benefits of forest carbon projects extend far beyond the carbon they sequester. Protecting and restoring forests provides critical habitat for countless species, reduces extinction rates, and produces valuable ecosystem services.?

We are excited to now offer biodiversity insights as part of our evaluation process, including the impact of conservation or restoration on biodiversity, species extinction risk and threats, and context about the importance of the region.??

Get a virtual demo

On the ground at COP28

As COP28 comes to a close, we're reflecting on our experiences from Dubai and what it all means for carbon markets.

Our experience on the ground: Our CEO, Diego Saez Gil, and VP of Science, Dick Cameron, traveled to Dubai for the first week of COP28. They came away feeling inspired by the widespread support behind carbon markets and the convergence of critical groups like VCMI, ICVCM, SBTi, and GHG Protocol behind a shared end-to-end integrity framework. We’ve been honored to share many stages and meaningful conversations with innovative players in the space. Watch Diego’s interview with the Carbon Exposure Project to hear his vision for the role of nature tech in the next generation of carbon markets.

Our takeaways: There are some highs and lows. It's exciting to see explicit calls to phase out fossil fuels, but we've missed a chance to develop strong international rules for a market that will play a critical role in climate action. However, convergence and leadership in the VCM now become all the more important, serving as inspiration for future Paris agreement-aligned carbon trading rules.

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