What I learned working for the world’s largest coalition to save tropical forest trees

After two years, today is my last day as chief commercial officer of Emergent , the nonprofit coordinator of the #LEAF Coalition. It has been an honor and a privilege to have worked alongside so many talented sustainability leaders from the private sector, public sector, and civil society in launching what quickly became the world’s largest coalition dedicated to incentivizing and rewarding tropical forest governments and their constituents to halt deforestation within their jurisdictions. As I transition to the TIME CO2 team, I will take what I’ve learned and experienced into my next chapter as a force multiplier in our shared effort to combat climate change. Here are my top 7 reflections from my time with LEAF:

1.??????Uncommon collaboration can produce uncommon results. The highlight of my time at Emergent was witnessing how corporate, public, and civil sector cooperation created a momentum and a scale never seen before in the nature-based solutions arena – I hope to see this replicated at pace elsewhere and I encourage sustainability practitioners to seek out uncommon partnerships.

2.??????Going above and beyond. It was a treat to witness companies punch way above their weight – recruiting other companies to the cause, influencing home country governments, educating standards bodies, and building trust with forest country leaders. To those bold superstar pioneers that took early and material action, I salute you.

3.??????Movements make history, not transactions. In meetings with hundreds of sustainability practitioners about the possibility of large-scale forest conservation at a pace that matters, I was heartened to see that most buyers of jurisdictional (JREDD) emissions reductions credits evaluated taking part in what they see as a movement and a cross-pollinating community, not just some transaction.

4.??????The perfect can be the enemy of the good. Whether an NGO writing guidance documents, a government establishing criteria for participation, a media outlet dampening collective ambition, or companies relying on impractical standards, I was dispirited to witness more than $1 billion of uncommitted conservation finance because of rules or perspectives too narrowly focused on perfection – as visionary and practical leaders, we can and must do better.

5.??????Carbon footprint over legacy. I saw fewer companies than anticipated thinking beyond counterbalancing more than a fraction of their CO2 footprint. Maintaining a collective focus solely on one’s business impacts prevents a 1.5C pathway from becoming a reality and isn’t exemplary of leaders thinking in the long-term viability of the businesses that they run nor in their companies' legacies.

6.??????One methodology to unlock billions of $. It was inspiring to see how a new crediting methodology could open the door for companies to feel part of forest countries’ forest conservation and decarbonization journeys, something that forest countries have been working towards for a long time to become reality. Companies can do much more to ensure the methodology’s success and the success of forest jurisdictions in the voluntary carbon market.

7.??????Integrity matters – As a pioneer in building awareness of JREDD, it was satisfying to see potential buyers acknowledge the integrity of the JREDD methodology and to see civil society and the media recognize the integrity of buyers who are committed to decarbonizing their value chain and helping to halt and reverse deforestation via initiatives like LEAF.

Since its inception in 2021, the LEAF founders and participants and the amazing Emergent team grew total demand for JREDD+ credits to a staggering 150 million metric tonnes of CO2e emissions reductions, or the equivalent of $1.5 billion in results-based payments. What’s perhaps more inspiring is the fact that more than 30 nations or states submitted proposals for how they would reduce CO2e emissions from tropical deforestation that amounted to over one billion metric tonnes of CO2e. Yet, it should be no surprise that though LEAF is one of the largest nature-based solutions initiatives ever created, it is not near enough to save the world's remaining tropical forest trees that are critical to keep our planet on a 1.5C pathway -- the private sector must dramatically ratchet up support of initiatives like LEAF.

In my next adventure, I aim to multiply my impact at TIME CO2 and will be rooting for LEAF colleagues and friends from the sidelines.

Eron Bloomgarden , Ruben Lubowski , Jamey Mulligan , Per F I Pharo , Maggie Charnley , Chris Dragisic , Matthias Berninger , David Radermacher , Jop Weterings , Max Scher , Ameet Konkar , Claire Lund , Luis Coloma Yepes , Rebecca Kershaw , Karrie Denniston , Ralf Pfitzner , Thomas Lingard , Owen Bethell , Mathew Nelson , Amelia DeLuca , Dr James Robey , Brian Sylvester , Nicole Lovett , Amy Hunter , Mikael Blommé , Timo Lieber , Alexia Laird , Teresa Hartmann , Betty Cremmins , Roman Czebiniak , Mary Grady , Benjamin Simonds , Heather McGeory , Giulia Carbone