Craig Ebert serves as the President of the Climate Action Reserve where he is responsible for ensuring that the organization’s activities meet the highest standards for quality, transparency and environmental integrity. He oversees the organization’s continued leadership and commitment to ensuring offsets are a trusted and powerful economic tool for reducing emissions. In his role, he also leads the organization in identifying and entering into other opportunities that build upon the its knowledge and expertise and further its work under its mission and vision.

During his career, he has helped create the foundations for international, national and state policies to address climate change. He supported U.S. negotiations on international climate change agreements, including negotiations leading up to the creation and signing of the Kyoto Protocol, and helped develop the Clean Development Mechanism (CDM) and Joint Implementation (JI) provisions under the protocol. Craig’s work also involved pioneering efforts on carbon accounting principles and methodologies. He served as the technical director of Estimation of Greenhouse Gas Emissions and Sinks, which was adopted by the IPCC as its GHG Inventory Programme, and was a key architect behind the development of the official U.S. national GHG inventory to meet commitments under the UNFCCC.

Prior to joining the Reserve, Craig advised the Western Climate Initiative (WCI) and served at ICF for nearly 34 years.

Commerce Director Joe Nguyễn was born and raised in Seattle. His experiences as a life-long Washington resident and second-generation Vietnamese American make him an ardent champion for investing in Washington families and residents, expanding economic opportunities, and taking bold steps in our fight against the climate crisis.

Gov. Bob Ferguson appointed Joe as Commerce director on Dec. 27, 2024. He took the helm at Commerce on Jan. 15, 2025. Before that, he was a state senator from 2019-2024. In the senate, he chaired the Environment, Energy & Technology Committee and supported legislation for housing affordability, health care, public transit, climate, and education. He is a longtime advocate for working families and community members who are historically left out of the political process.

Joe grew up in White Center, attended high school in Burien and college at Seattle University. He now lives in West Seattle. He’s worked for Expedia and Microsoft, and has volunteered with organizations for homelessness services and law enforcement oversight.

Mary D. Nichols is widely recognized for a career as one of the world’s most important environmental regulators. Nichols currently serves as Distinguished Counsel At UCLA School of Law, Co-Chair of the Coalition for Reimagined Mobility, Vice Chair of the California-China Climate Institute with former Governor Edmund J. Brown of California, and is a fellow at the American Academy of Arts and Sciences. In December 2020 Nichols completed her long tenure at the CaliforniaAirResources Board(CARB), a post she has held since 2007 and from 1979-1983. Under Republican and Democratic governors, Nichols oversaw the development and implementation of multiple globally recognized programs to cut air pollution and greenhouse gas emissions. During her leadership at the CARB, California became a national leader in developing clean energy and clean transportation solutions that many other states and nations have since adopted. Nichols brings a large area of expertise drawing from her many other positions, including bringing the first litigation under the then-recently passed U.S.Clean Air Act While working at the Center for Law in the Public Interest from 1971-1974. From 1993-1997, Nichols served as Assistant Administrator of Air and Radiation for the U.S.Environmental Protection Agency under President Bill Clinton. Her efforts there led to the first federal air quality standard regulating potentially deadly fine-particle pollution and the acid rain trading program. Nichols has also served as the California Secretary for the Natural Resources Agency from 1997-2003, as Executive Director of Environment Now Foundation; founder of the Los Angeles Office of Natural Resources Defense Council; and Professor and Director at UCLA Institute of Environment. Nichols received her B.A. from Cornell University and her J.D. from Yale Law School.

Rajinder Sahota was appointed as the Deputy Executive Officer for Climate Change and Research in spring of 2021. She is responsible for directing CARB’s scientific, technical, and policy teams as they develop and update the AB 32 Climate Change Scoping Plan to track progress and develop the pathways to achieve the state’s climate targets. She also oversees the economy-wide Cap-and-Trade Program, Low Carbon Fuels Standards, energy and climate policy, fuels programs, California Corporate Greenhouse Gas Reporting and Climate Related Financial Risk Disclosure Programs, Embodied Carbon in Building Materials, and critical research to advance action to improve public health and environmental protection. In Rajinder’s 19 year-career with CARB, she has worked on a variety of projects including analyzing data for children’s health studies, evaluating strategies and their impacts to reduce harmful diesel pollution from locomotives, developing the first comprehensive greenhouse gas reporting and verification regulation, developing the 2017 and 2022 Scoping Plan Updates, leading the development of the first Integrated Resource Targets under SB 350 to reduce greenhouse gas emissions from the electricity sector, and overseeing actions to reduce emissions from the oil and gas sector and fuels sector. She has also served as a point of contact on CARB’s climate policies with other states, and subnational and international governments.

Rajinder received a B.S. and M.S. in Atmospheric Sciences from the University of California, Davis.

Justin Johnson joined MMR in 2016, bringing with him more than 20 years of experience working in federal, state, and municipal government in both the United States and Australia, and the respect of both government and business colleagues around the world.

Immediately prior to joining the firm Justin was the Secretary of Administration for the State of Vermont. In addition, he has worked for Democratic and Republican Governors in Vermont as Commissioner of Environmental Conservation and Deputy Secretary of Natural Resources.

Justin served on the board of the Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative for seven years and is a valuable and trusted source of information and advice for national and international clients seeking to navigate the regulations and policies related to carbon pricing.

Having spent three years as Chief of Staff to a member of the Australian Federal Parliament and as a senior executive at the Mornington Peninsula Shire, a large municipal government in the state of Victoria, Australia, Justin brings a valuable and knowledgeable understanding of international dynamics to our clients.

Apparently he doesn’t really understand what a hobby is because in his spare time Justin has served as a Member of the Governmental Advisory Committee to the U.S. EPA Administrator on the development of U.S. policy positions regarding implementation of the environmental Supplemental Agreements to the North American Free Trade Agreement, Justin has also chaired the Barre City citizen budget committee, served as President of the White River Partnership, and as President of Washington County Farm Bureau.

In 2015 Justin was the winner of the prestigious USEPA Ira Leighton “In Service to States” Award, just the second person to receive this award.

He holds a BA (Journalism) from Royal Melbourne Institute of Technology (RMIT), Melbourne, Victoria, Australia.

Justin and his family live in Barre, VT.

Liane Randolph has spent most of her career in public service, specializing in environmental law and policy, effective administration, and a commitment to transparency and public process. She was appointed Chair of the California Air Resources Board by Governor Gavin Newsom in December 2020. During her time as Chair, CARB has expanded its focus on equity issues and solutions, and the Board has adopted landmark climate and environmental policies, including the 2022 Scoping Plan laying out California’s path to carbon neutrality by 2045, and regulations that will accelerate the transition to a zero-emission transportation system. Prior to her work at CARB, Randolph served as a Commissioner at the California Public Utilities Commission, as Deputy Secretary and General Counsel at the California Natural Resources Agency, and as Chair of the California Fair Political Practices Commission. Randolph earned a Juris Doctor degree from the University of California, Los Angeles School of Law.

Eduardo is the CEO of MÉXICO2, the Mexican Carbon Platform of the Mexican Stock Exchange. He has over twenty years of experience in carbon markets and flexibility mechanisms. From MÉXICO2, he promotes the growth of the carbon market in Mexico and Latin America as a market facilitator, supporting supply, demand, and capacity building. He is a member of the Board of Directors of the Climate Action Reserve. In 2022, he was selected as one of the most sustainable minds in Mexico by Forbes Magazine.

Mark Sippola is the Chief of the Cap-and-Trade Program at the California Air Resources Board (CARB) responsible for leading teams that cover auctions, allowance allocation, market monitoring and oversight, the compliance offset program, registry development and maintenance, and program linkage. His duties include collaboration with other governments exploring cost-effective carbon pricing mechanisms. He joined the California Cap-and-Trade Program in 2013 and has over a decade of experience working on its design and implementation, including close involvement in the formal public processes to update the Cap-and-Trade Program in 2016 and 2018. Prior to working at CARB, he conducted research on airflow and pollutant exposure at two U.S. Department of Energy national labs. Mark has a doctoral degree in Environmental Engineering from the University of California, Berkeley, and a Bachelor of Science in Chemical Engineering from The Ohio State University, and he is a licensed chemical engineer.

Joel Creswell is the Climate Pollution Reduction Program Manager at the Washington Department of Ecology, where he oversees a team of dedicated staff who carry out the agency’s greenhouse gas mitigation programs, including the Cap & Invest Program, the Clean Fuel Standard, the Zero Emissions Vehicles program, and the Hydrofluorocarbon Reduction Program, along with the state’s Greenhouse Gas Emissions Inventory. He is a climate policy expert with a Ph.D. in environmental science and a career spanning the public, private, and academic sectors. His background includes over a decade of environmental field research, federal positions at the Environmental Protection Agency and the House of Representatives, and positions in regional and state government in Washington.

As Executive Director of RGGI, Inc. since 2016, Andrew has been managing RGGI Inc.’s day-to-day operations, overseeing execution of its quarterly CO2 allowance auctions, and engaging RGGI’s internal and external stakeholders. During his tenure, nine participating states grew to twelve by 2022, and auction proceeds went from $2.5 Billion to over $7.5 Billion today. Andrew has also helped to guide the participating states through two program review processes. Prior to RGGI, Andrew founded BusinessClimate, a sustainability consulting firm, where he advised major clients – including Intel, PwC and Bank of America – on corporate sustainability strategy. Andrew began his career as Member of Technical Staff at Bell Laboratories and then moved to finance, working at Goldman Sachs and then Deutsche Bank. Andrew is a published author with articles appearing in business magazines such as strategy+business and on-line sustainability forums including GreenBiz. Andrew has been an invited speaker at the UN, NASA’s Goddard Institute, NYU, Purdue University, and PwC. For five years he served on the board of TransitCenter, an NGO dedicated to sustainable transportation solutions. Andrew holds an MS in Mechanical Engineering and an MBA from Columbia University.

Joan Pinto is Carbon Pulse’s Americas Editor leading a team covering North American compliance and voluntary carbon markets and energy policy. Prior to Carbon Pulse, her career spanned over ten years in capital markets macro strategy research, with a focus on energy markets.

Nathalie recently transitioned to the private sector to drive opportunities and manage risks in commodity trading while shaping solutions for a greener present and future. As Vice President of Carbon Markets – Strategic Accounts at StoneX Group Inc., she oversees key partnerships with corporations and governments, ensuring alignment with international developments to enhance regulatory compliance and operational efficiency.

With over 15 years of experience in sustainable development policy, environmental governance, and climate change diplomacy, Nathalie has played a key role in shaping low-carbon strategies and global greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions reduction policies. She previously served as Vice-Chair of the UN Climate Change Science and Technology Bureau.

Her experience includes senior technical and administrative roles at the Secretariat of the Coalition for Rainforest Nations, where she provided legal assistance to over 50 countries in UNFCCC carbon market negotiations and supported GHG inventory training for the Agriculture, Forestry, and Other Land Use (AFOLU) sector. From 2020 to 2023, she served as Director of Climate Change Adaptation and Mitigation at the Dominican Republic’s Ministry of Environment and Natural Resources.

For 20 years, Katie’s been a trusted leader and facilitator on market solutions to tackle climate change and drive clean private capital at scale. She leads global policy and strategy on behalf of IETA’s 350+ multi-sector business members across the Americas and globally. Recently, Katie led expansion of IETA’s presence across multiple emerging geographies (LATAM, MENA, Asia Pacific) and cross-cutting market formation activities (digital, aviation, CDR CCUS etc.). She currently sits on the Board of the Climate Action Reserve (CAR) along with several Advisory Groups, including Canada’s Commission on Carbon Competitiveness and the Canadian Climate Institute, and is a member of Osgoode Hall Law School’s Faculty. Prior to IETA, Katie worked at ICF International.

Rick is globally recognized as a climate change leader, and for over two decades has advised governments, multinational companies, financial institutions, funds and project sponsors on the economic transition to a low carbon economy, including being a thought leader on carbon and environmental market transactions. He is officially ranked by Chambers USA and Chambers Global as a leading climate change lawyer, an accolade he has held for over 10 years.

Rick serves on the Board of The Climate Registry, is the former Chair of the International Emissions Trading Association (IETA), is the CEO of the Carbon Markets Foundation, and serves on the Board of Advisors to the USC Schwarzenegger Institute.

He was Awarded Chevalier of the National Order of Merit by the President of the Republic of France for his significant contribution to the preparation of the Paris Climate Summit, and the implementation of the Paris Agreement.

Dr. Adam Moreno is the California Air Resources Board’s (CARB) Manager of Nature-Based Strategies. He leads CARB’s team of ecological scientists and modelers identifying the role that natural and working lands play in the state’s efforts in becoming carbon neutral. This work incorporates modeling, remote sensing, and data analytics to set carbon targets, track progress towards these targets, assess the effectiveness of policies, programs, and management strategies, and to use this information to inform policy development. He was previously an earth scientist at NASA Ames Research Center and has also been a Peace Corps volunteer in Paraguay, South America, and a wildland firefighter as a hotshot with the U.S. forest service. He holds a bachelors in computer engineering, a masters in ecological modeling, and a doctorate in remote sensing and forest ecology.

John is a Registered Professional Forester in California with 40 years of experience in forest management. His career began with a small agroforestry project in Eastern Congo (DRC) as a Peace Corps Volunteer, and since then, he has focused on forest quantification and long-term sustainability planning. He has led workgroup processes in California and Mexico for the development of forest carbon protocols and was the lead author of the documents in both jurisdictions.

John continually works to enhance accounting methodologies to improve rigor, scalability, and environmental and social benefits. Passionate about promoting resilient and sustainable forests, he engages in local, regional, and international initiatives that strengthen the connection between forests and the communities they support.

Paulo is a conservation scientist and nature-based solutions expert with over 15 years of experience in applied research and policy linking biodiversity conservation, sustainable development, and climate change. He served in various positions at Mexico’s National Commission of Protected Areas (CONANP) where he coordinated the country’s first National Strategy for Climate Change and Protected Areas. He also served as Conservation Director of Sky Island Alliance, leading bi-national research and multi-stakeholder advocacy efforts in the US-Mexico border ecosystems. Before joining Symbiosis, Paulo held positions at leading companies like NCX and Carbon Direct. Paulo holds a masters in Environmental Management from the Yale School of the Environment, and a PhD in Environmental Studies form the University of California Santa Cruz. He has published academic research in diverse fields including restoration ecology, global change biology, and land-use policy. He is also the author of “Mexico: un Estado sin Tierra”, a book that reviews Mexico’s land tenure history and its effects on conservation policy, and he is an active member of the Assisted Natural Regeneration Alliance.

Taylor has dedicated her professional life to promoting solutions to environmental issues and providing opportunities for communities to benefit and engage in these solutions.

As Executive Director at Restore the Earth, she is responsible for creating partnerships to develop critical large-scale reforestation projects, and works alongside project partners to successfully deliver on each project, ensuring there is a win-win for all involved.

With a background in communications and community engagement, Taylor is particularly passionate about the social and economic impacts of large scale reforestation and the potential of collaboration to unlock additional positive impacts.

Previously, Taylor was at The Water Institute of the Gulf in Baton Rouge. There, she applied her expertise in Integrated Water Resource Management (IWRM) to develop and promote community-based approaches to protecting communities from storm risk and land loss. Prior to that, she was the Program Director at American Council On Renewable Energy in Washington, D.C.

Taylor is a graduate of Queens University (Canada) and has a Master of Science from McGill University with a concentration in Integrated Water Resource Management.

Héctor Rangel is an industrial engineer and financial master. His thesis “Relation Between the Carbon Market and the Development of Renewable Energy Projects in México” was honored by the Committee of Synodals of grade program.

Cumulated experience for more than 18 years in gas-to-energy projects, has directed Biogas de Juárez and filial companies for 15 years. He has conducted 20 verification processes under the Clean Development Mechanism and Climate Action Reserve issuing more than 2 million of CO2e tons.

Currently, He is developing new projects to mitigate greenhouse gases emissions in México mainly methane gas from landfills.

Myles Gray is the Executive Director of United States Biochar Initiative, a non-profit focused on increasing production and use of biochar by developing material standards and end-use markets. He has been working in biochar for nearly 15 years in academia, consulting, industry, and the non-profit sector, and is a professional water resources engineer. Myles specializes in developing biochar products and markets with a focus on soil amendments, biochar-enhanced fertilizers, horticultural substrates, stormwater treatment, and concrete. He holds a B.S. in Earth Science from Cornell University and a M.S. in Soil Science and Water Resources Engineering from Oregon State University. He lives, works, and plays in Portland, Oregon.

Jessica Hinojosa is Carbon Removal Program Manager at Microsoft with a diverse background in energy and climate. Her work focuses on procurement of high-quality carbon removal across a diverse set of pathways, with an emphasis on nascent and highly scalable methods like soil carbon and marine CDR. Prior to Microsoft she spent seven years at Shell, where she worked in the Upstream business and then Nature-Based Solutions R&D. For two months between her time and Shell and joining Microsoft, Jessica consulted for Isometric, a carbon removal registry, and helped co-author Isometric’s Reforestation Protocol. Before Shell, Jessica was a postdoctoral fellow at Caltech in the Division of Geological and Planetary Sciences. She holds a PhD in Marine Geochemistry from the University of Otago in New Zealand, where she was a Fulbright fellow. Before that, she received her BS and MS from Stanford University. Jessica currently resides in Houston, Texas, with her husband, two sons, two cats, and a large rock collection.

As Vice President of Programs for the Climate Action Reserve, Kristen oversees implementation of the Reserve’s registry services ensuring effective and efficient process across the programs. Her responsibilities include managing the Analytical Team, who are the staff that provide support for the reporting, verification of emissions reduction projects and the development of offset protocols. Kristen also oversees the development and updates of the Reserve’s high-integrity carbon offset protocols and Climate Forward methodologies; assisting the Analytical Team with offset protocol and Climate Forward methodology implementation and application; and formulating and refining Reserve program rules and policies.

Kristen previously worked at the Reserve for 7 years, serving in several roles including Program Director, where she played a key role in implementing the Reserve’s role as Offset Project Registry in California’s cap-and-trade program. She also served as the Reserve’s Program Manager, where she was the lead in supporting the Forest Project Protocol, and as the Reserve Administrator, Program Associate and Program Assistant. After her time at the Reserve, she pursued another passion to work in the community and taught high school math and physics. Kristen completed her Bachelor’s degree in health science with a concentration in community health and minor in economics at Cal State Dominguez Hills, and has a Master of Public Administration from the McGeorge School of Law at the University of the Pacific.

David LaGreca is an accomplished environmental scientist specializing in a wide range of global greenhouse gas (GHG) programs. With expertise spanning environmental policy, management, energy, and sustainability, Mr. LaGreca has led diverse carbon projects, including forestry, renewable energy, oil and gas, food waste avoidance, biogas, blue carbon, and innovative carbon removal technologies. Collaborating closely with Eco’s Asset Development and Life-Cycle Analysis (LCA) teams, he guides clients in implementing renewable energy and low-carbon projects.

Jim Kharouf serves as Head of Marketing and Communications at IncubEx, a specialist firm that designs and develops environmental products and markets. He is a former editor, media and content specialist in financial markets media, public relations and marketing. During his 25-plus years in the financial markets, he helped launch and expand several financial publications (including the Environmental Markets Newsletter), financial websites and produce specialized content for banks, brokers and managed funds.

He served as CEO of John J. Lothian & Co., President and Editor-in-Chief of John Lothian News and led John Lothian Productions. Jim has worked for and contributed to numerous financial publications in the US and Europe for more than two decades and is recognized for his knowledge of global markets and market structure and has frequently spoken and moderated at industry events. He earned his B.A. in journalism from Marquette University.

Jean-Philippe (JP) Brisson is a lawyer ranked nationally and globally who advises oil and gas, power, industrial, and financial institution clients on a wide range of energy and environmental matters, including carbon capture and sequestration and carbon neutrality.

JP is one of the most experienced attorneys in the US in the climate change and carbon neutrality areas. JP is recognized by Chambers Global, Chambers USA, The Legal 500 US, and Who’s Who Legal. He is recognized as a 2021 Environment & Energy Trailblazer by the National Law Journal and a recipient of the 2012 Burton Award for Legal Achievement. He is a registered lobbyist in California where he represents clients before the State Legislature and State Agencies.

JP was previously Vice President in Goldman Sachs’ Global Commodities business where he helped establish Goldman’s US carbon trading desk and worked on a number of private equity transactions. Over his career, he has diligenced, negotiated, structured, and drafted more than 200 environmental commodities transactions and has advised clients on environmental issues in more than 150 M&A, private equity, and banking transactions.

JP currently represents the FivePoint Holdings on the design of NetZero Newhall, the largest carbon neutral city in the world, Microsoft on the deployment of its US$1 billion Climate Innovation Fund, and Occidental Petroleum on a carbon capture and sequestration (CCS) project in Texas.

He formerly served as Global Co-Chair of the Environmental Regulation & Transactions Practice. JP is a trustee of Boys Hope Girls Hope New York.

Richard W. Corey served the second-longest tenure as Executive Officer (EO) of the California Air Resources Board (CARB). In his role at AJW, Richard supports clients with his deep knowledge of decarbonization policy mechanisms, markets, technologies, and stakeholders at the state, federal, and international levels.

He has over 30 years of experience in developing and implementing California’s program. Richard’s work included establishing partnerships with other states in the U.S. and jurisdictions around the world including Canada, China, Mexico, Australia, and many members of the European Union.

While at CARB, Richard managed a team of more than 1,800 engineers, scientists, and other professionals responsible for a broad range of programs including those concerning clean fuels, climate, incentives, and air toxics. His team was responsible for developing and implementing a series of first-in-the-world programs to slash greenhouse gas emissions.

His team also developed measures and incentives to reduce emissions from a variety of freight-related sources, including port trucks, transport refrigeration units, cargo handling operations, maritime operations, rail-related goods movement, and measures to reduce emissions from stationary and portable diesel engines, as well as several strategies to reduce toxic air contaminants from a wide variety of sources that adversely impact communities. Richard was responsible for administering an annual budget of approximately $3 billion.

Growing up in an immigrant-farmworker household shaped a lot Alfredo’s perspective on how public policy and regulations directly impact Californians and is a driver in his dedication to helping others navigate their way through the most complicated labyrinths that the State Capitol Building has to offer.

With a decade of experience working on policy and politics in Sacramento, Alfredo developed and honed his approach to implementing successful policy and funding strategies working for the Legislature and outside the Legislature as a lobbyist for government agencies and large NGOs. Because he has worked for the Legislature, Alfredo has an intimate, behind-the-scenes understanding of the legislative process and has cultivated strong relationships with key members and staff.

Alfredo has provided tailored lobbying and consulting services for some of the largest global nonprofit organizations, land trusts, renewable fuels companies, and local agencies and has been at the center of some of the largest policy and funding fights in the natural resources, water, climate, and mitigation issue areas. Whether working on complicated matters before regulatory agencies like the Air Resources Board or any of the legislative and budgetary committees of the Capitol, Alfredo distinguishes himself with a unique approach to politics and policy. A trusted resource not only in the legislature, but with key Agencies in the Administration, Alfredo has an almost uncanny ability to see what others miss in real-time.

Michelle Passero is the Director of Climate and Nature-based Solutions for The Nature Conservancy in California. She has over 20 years of experience working in land conservation, environmental law, and policy with expertise in natural resources and climate change. She has co-authored multiple publications supporting the role of nature-based climate strategies to address climate change. She is a member of the California State Board of Food and Agriculture and has served as an expert advisor to multiple state initiatives, including the California Department of Insurance Climate Insurance Working Group, the California Office of Planning and Research Integrated Climate Adaptation and Resiliency Program, and The Bay Area Council California Resilience Challenge. She holds an LL.M. in Sustainable International Development from the University of Washington and a J.D. from the University of San Francisco.

Areas of expertise: California climate policy, environmental justice, cap and trade, air quality, land use & transportation policy.

Katelyn leads and coordinates EDF’s political engagement and advocacy work in California, and supports the organization’s water, climate, energy, and transportation policy goals in the state. She also leads in-state efforts to defend the Inflation Reduction Act.

In the eight years Roedner Sutter has been with EDF, she has led state-level engagement on climate policy in California elsewhere across the Western United States and contributed to EDF’s work on international carbon markets. She has co-led the organization’s Environmental Justice Council and serves as the Assembly appointee to California’s Independent Emissions Market Advisory Committee. Prior to joining EDF, Roedner Sutter led the environmental justice program at Catholic Charities in the Diocese of Stockton.

Nicholas W. (“Nico”) van Aelstyn is a partner in the Real Estate, Energy, Land Use & Environmental Practice Group in the firm’s San Francisco office and is Team Leader of the ESG and Sustainability Team. He is also a member of the Energy Team.

Areas of Practice

Nico has more than 25 years of environmental counseling and litigation experience. His environmental compliance counseling practice focuses on the full scope of environmental regulation of soils, air and water, as well as many products. His climate change practice encompasses California’s Cap-and-Trade Program (compliance, rulemaking, enforcement and emission trading contracts) and other aspects of AB 32, as well as related state, federal and international programs. His climate finance practice includes handling complex offset transactions in both compliance markets and the VCM, market advice, and ESG counseling. Through his work with the International Emissions Trading Association, Nico is well known for his work to advance voluntary carbon markets, including its Legal Working Group’s development of model ERPAs. He is a founding member and the Team Leader of the firm’s ESG & Sustainability team; Nico’s focus within the Team is on addressing clients’ needs with respect to climate disclosure requirements (Scope 1, 2 & 3 GHG emissions and climate finance risks). Nico’s transactional experience includes environmental due diligence for a wide variety of real estate and corporate transactions, with special expertise in the renewable energy development projects. Nico’s environmental litigation practice focuses on cost recovery actions, regulatory enforcement actions (e.g., administrative enforcement proceedings brought by CARB, DTSC, DPR, AQMDs, RWQCBs and other agencies), writ proceedings to challenge regulations, and representation of PRPs and PRP groups at Superfund sites; he has particular expertise with contaminated sediment sites. Nico has represented clients in every lawsuit filed to date challenging California’s Cap-and-Trade Program. His broad litigation experience also includes commercial, real estate, intellectual property and appellate cases. He has handled matters in state and federal courts across the country, including the U.S. Supreme Court, and various administrative fora.

As Head of Impact & Integrity at Indigo Ag, Max leads a team whose areas of focus include the GHG accounting standards and methodologies, MRV for carbon credits and supply chain programs, carbon credit sales, corporate ESG strategy, strategic engagement with external partners, thought leadership and positioning within the sustainability sector, and engaging with corporate customers for ag sustainability solutions. With a background in biology, corporate environmental management, and eco-entrepreneurship, he has strived to build rigor and credibility within the context of market-based climate solutions since 2008. He actively participates in advisory groups for organizations such as the USDA, European Commission, ICVCM, State of Washington, and Climate Action Reserve. Prior to joining Indigo Max was Policy Director at the Climate Action Reserve, a leading voluntary offset registry and standards organization.

As an Associate Director at the Climate Action Reserve, McKenzie is responsible for standardizing and advancing the Reserve’s protocol development process where she leads internal and external reviews of new protocol concepts, oversees internal management of protocols under development, and assesses new carbon market policies for protocol revisions and updates. McKenzie serves as the implementation lead for the Nature-Based Agriculture Sector Team where she strives to evolve and expand agricultural carbon offset protocols to the meet growing market demands in this sector. Additionally, McKenzie leans on her technical background and experience to support the Industrial Processes and Gases Sector Team.

Prior to joining the Climate Action Reserve, McKenzie worked as Director of Stewardship & Regulatory Affairs at Fertilizer Canada where she oversaw policy and programs related to sustainable nutrient management and industrial processes. McKenzie is from Ottawa, Ontario which is where she completed her B.Sc. and M.Sc. degrees in Chemistry. Her research at Carleton University focused on the development of nanoparticle-based DNA aptamer selection methods to improve in-field biosensor detection of harmful agricultural mycotoxins.

Dr. Jason Ackerson is a Research Soil Scientist and Program Director for several soil carbon measurement and technology discovery projects at the Soil Health Institute. Dr. Ackerson previously served as an Assistant Professor and Extension Specialist in the Department of Agronomy at Purdue University, where his research focused on developing proximal sensors to quantify soil properties and develop digital soil maps. He received his B.S. in Natural Resources and Environmental Science from the University of Illinois and M.S. and Ph.D. in Soil Science from Texas A&M University.

Lucia von Reusner is Director of Carbon Protocols & Policy at Regrow Ag. She has spent over a decade scaling sustainable farming and land use practices with leading food and agricultural brands. At Regrow, she drives innovation in carbon markets, helping clients translate bold climate ambition into high-integrity projects with measurable impact. Prior to Regrow, Lucia led forest carbon projects at Earthshot Labs and advanced corporate climate goals in agriculture with the United Nations Principles for Responsible Investment and at Waxman Strategies. She holds a B.S. in Natural Resources Management from Cornell University’s College of Agriculture and Life Sciences and is a Fulbright Research Award recipient. She is a current member of the California Climate Action Reserve’s Soil Enrichment Working Group, WBCSD Scope 3 working group, VCI Food & Ag working group, and the Policy & Standards Committee for the International Soil Carbon Industry Alliance.

Marion is a climate and sustainable development entrepreneur who has dedicated her career to the transformation of our economic system through the redefinition of value.

Prior to co-founding SustainCERT in 2018, Marion was CEO of the Gold Standard Foundation, a leading carbon market standard where she led the launch of the Gold Standard for the Global Goals (GS4GG) as well as the Value Change Program, also co-founding the Sustainable Development Initiative and the Climate Ledger Initiative.

Before joining Gold Standard, Marion spent seven years in Asia where she founded the Nexus Carbon for Development, a successful co-operative of development organizations looking to scale climate mitigation programs through results-based finance.

Marion is a recognised thought leader on the following topics: net zero corporate climate action, leveraging technology to drive impact at scale, the innovation and transformation of impact verification, new economy leadership and climate entrepreneurship.

Carlos Cordova is the Director of Environmental Solutions for the Americas at S&P Global Commodity Insights, where he spearheads strategic initiatives across governments, standards bodies, and environmental programs. Based in Washington, DC, he leads the development and implementation of cutting-edge solutions for the Environmental Registry and Meta Registry platforms, driving innovation and integrity in global carbon markets.

With over 15 years of leadership experience in environmental sustainability, Carlos has played a pivotal role in advancing global forestry, REDD+, carbon pricing mechanisms, and market-based climate solutions. His career spans high-impact positions at the World Bank Group and the Inter-American Development Bank, where he contributed to transformative projects both in Washington, DC, and on international field assignments.

Carlos holds dual degrees in Economics and International Development, as well as an MBA from the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA). Fluent in Spanish and Portuguese, he is a recognized thought leader committed to fostering sustainable solutions and advancing global climate action.

Nina is an environmental scientist with over 15 years of experience in greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions inventory and carbon offset project verification. She manages TÜV SÜD America’s—formerly Ruby Canyon Environmental—GHG offsets programs and compliance reporting, overseeing teams that validate and verify carbon offset projects and GHG emissions reports across North America and globally.

As the manager of GHG offsets programs and compliance reporting, Nina leads teams conducting validations and verifications for a wide range of carbon offset projects and emissions reporting programs. She works with diverse clients, including private companies, government agencies, and nonprofit organizations, across sectors such as energy, manufacturing, transportation, waste management, and land use. Her work spans multiple regulatory and voluntary programs, ensuring compliance with evolving standards and market requirements.

Travis leads The Climate Trust’s grasslands program by working closely with landowners, land trusts, and the private sector to use carbon markets as a means of increasing the pace and scale of conservation across the Great Plains. Through building collaborative relationships, providing detailed technical analysis, and overseeing all aspects of project development, he has helped expand TCTs portfolio of nature-based solutions over the last four years.

Prior to joining The Climate Trust, Travis synthesized data for Colorado State University’s annual greenhouse gas inventory reports and led a post-wildfire forest restoration project in Northern Colorado to test the effectiveness of low-cost assisted regeneration.

Travis holds two Bachelor of Science degrees in Natural Resources Management and Ecosystem Science & Sustainability from Colorado State University.

As Head of Policy, Janet is responsible for leading outreach, guidance and engagement on key climate issues important to Anew and Anew’s clients including carbon markets, natural climate solutions, GHG inventories, carbon strategy, reporting/disclosure, goal setting and carbon neutrality. As the Co-Chair of the Business Alliance for Climate Action, Janet helps lead a coalition of carbon market participants in advocating for effective and enabling regulation of the carbon market. Janet brings a wide spectrum of experience on environmental issues to her work at Anew. Prior to Anew, she was part of the management team at the Pew Center on Global Climate Change, in DC and helped launch Pew’s successor, the Center on Climate and Energy Solutions. At Pew and C2ES, Janet was their carbon markets expert and led many coalitions directed at market-based climate policy. She also led their engagement and initiatives with the corporate community, including their Business Environmental Leadership Council (BELC), composed primarily of Fortune 500 companies.

As a recognized expert on climate issues, Janet is the Chair of the Board for the Climate Registry. She has also been an advisor to the World Bank’s High-Level Panel on Carbon Pricing Competitiveness (final paper author), the NRG COSIA Carbon XPRIZE (advisory board) and American University’s Center for Environmental Policy and Arizona State’s Urban Resilience Network. She is past member of the review team for the Fourth National Climate Assessment, National Research Council’s Roundtable on Climate Change Education and the Council of Canadian Academies on oil sands environmental technologies.

Janet holds a Ph.D. and Master of Science in (natural resource) economics and an undergraduate degree in geology.

An expert in climate science, Dr Spencer Meyer has more than 20 years’ experience developing nature-based solutions with a focus on forests, climate and water. As a forester and landscape ecologist, he has worked with forest industry, conservation NGOs, private foundations and governments on forest management, carbon markets, conservation finance, and partnership development.

Before joining BeZero Carbon, Spencer was the head of science at NCX, a climate tech pioneer in the voluntary carbon market, where he led carbon markets, biodiversity and co-benefits research. He previously worked at the Highstead Foundation, Harvard Forest, Yale School of the Environment, The Nature Conservancy and the University of Maine.

Education

• Yale University, Post-doc, Yale School of the Environment and Center for Business and the Environment
• University of Maine, PhD in Forest Management and Sustainability Science
• University of Maine, MS in Forest Management
• Dartmouth College, AB in Environmental Studies

Research association

Craig Ebert serves as the President of the Climate Action Reserve where he is responsible for ensuring that the organization’s activities meet the highest standards for quality, transparency and environmental integrity. He oversees the organization’s continued leadership and commitment to ensuring offsets are a trusted and powerful economic tool for reducing emissions. In his role, he also leads the organization in identifying and entering into other opportunities that build upon the its knowledge and expertise and further its work under its mission and vision.

During his career, he has helped create the foundations for international, national and state policies to address climate change. He supported U.S. negotiations on international climate change agreements, including negotiations leading up to the creation and signing of the Kyoto Protocol, and helped develop the Clean Development Mechanism (CDM) and Joint Implementation (JI) provisions under the protocol. Craig’s work also involved pioneering efforts on carbon accounting principles and methodologies. He served as the technical director of Estimation of Greenhouse Gas Emissions and Sinks, which was adopted by the IPCC as its GHG Inventory Programme, and was a key architect behind the development of the official U.S. national GHG inventory to meet commitments under the UNFCCC.

Prior to joining the Reserve, Craig advised the Western Climate Initiative (WCI) and served at ICF for nearly 34 years.

Jordan supervises the policy analysis and rulemaking team within the Low Carbon Fuel Standard program at CARB. Prior to this role, Jordan led the Agency’s transportation decarbonization planning as part of the 2022 Scoping Plan Update, and has developed regulatory proposals for several regulations at CARB. Jordan graduated from UC Davis with a degree in Environmental Policy Analysis & Planning.

Jessica Dell is the editorial manager of North American environmental markets at Argus Media, overseeing biofuels and carbon coverage. She has been with Argus since 2011. She started in the London office and is now based in northern California. She has reported on west coast refined products, biofuels and biomass, low-carbon fuel standard programs and emissions markets. Jessica holds a masters degrees from the London School of Economics and an undergraduate degree from the University of California, Berkeley.

As the Director of Latin America, Amy oversees the development and implementation of the Reserve’s protocols and programs throughout Latin America. Amy further manages stakeholder engagement, consulting services, and technical assistance to support climate policies and carbon markets in Latin America. Amy coordinates with the Reserve’s Analytical and Communications and Business Outreach Teams to ensure the Reserve’s programmatic policies and outreach efforts support the Reserve’s operations throughout Latin America.

Amy previously worked in the Bay of Jiquilisco, El Salvador, where she supported local communities and government institutions in developing and implementing forest management plans and advancing environmental policies and sustainable economic opportunities. Amy has further lived, studied, and worked in Mexico, Costa Rica, Spain, and Norway. Amy graduated from the Middlebury Institute of International Studies, where she received a Master’s in International Environmental Policy and a Master’s in Business Administration. Amy received her Bachelor of Arts in Biology with a Concentration in Environmental Studies from Kenyon College.

Oscar is a philosopher and passionate entrepreneur driven by the objective to scale the social, environmental and climate impact his work, concentrate on sustainability and climate change mitigation to be part of the radical transformation that our planet so urgently needs.

Head of International Affairs of Bioforestal Innovación Sustentable, a nature-based solutions developer with important experience and expertise developing forest carbon capture projects for community and private landowners in Mexico.

Venture partner of Danta, a fund that backs pre-seed climate tech startups in Latam by leveraging alliances with developed climate tech ecosystems worldwide. He is also a Board Member of the World Bioenergy Association.

Actively driving Mexico’s development and firm believer in its potential, Oscar is an avid traveler, film lover, foodie and melomaniac.

Ikarus Janzen is the Chief Commercial Officer and Co-Founder of Varaha, the leading carbon removal company in Asia. He leads all commercial efforts, including project financing, marketing, sales, and equity fundraising. Under his leadership, Varaha secured the largest biochar deal globally with Google and developed key partnerships with leading intermediaries. Before Varaha, he launched one of the first climate tech venture capital funds, investing in transformative startups across energy, mobility, fintech, and carbon markets. With a background spanning energy storage, EVs, and carbon markets, he combines deep technical expertise with strategic execution. Ikarus is also passionate about building high-performance teams, fostering a culture of innovation and impact while attracting top-tier talent to the climate sector. He holds a Master’s in Business Administration & Electrical Energy Technology from RWTH Aachen University.

Jamie Tolan is a Research Scientist in the Physical Modeling team, which focuses on early stage, cross-functional projects at the intersection of physical sciences and computer science. Current projects include topics such as mapping, sustainability and datacenter optimization, leveraging physics based models and novel technologies in computer vision and machine learning.

Prior to joining Meta, Jamie worked as a Remote Sensing Scientist at an agricultural imaging startup. Jamie’s academic career included a PhD and postdoc position at Stanford University studying the early universe through observations of the Cosmic Microwave Background Radiation.

Johanna Depenthal has been passionate about supporting community-based forest conservation since childhood. In her role as Director of Project Research at Cool Effect, Johanna is responsible for maintaining the nonprofit’s standard of high scientific integrity and strong social benefits when reviewing carbon reduction and removal projects. Johanna has a PhD in Forest Resources and Conservation from the University of Florida, a Master of Environmental Management degree with a focus on community-based conservation from Duke University, and an undergraduate degree in Environmental Science. Over the course of her research, Johanna has had the privilege of laying the groundwork for a dry forest conservation program in coastal Peru; analyzing the interactions between payments for ecosystem services, improved forest management, and protected areas in three regions of Mexico; researching trends in the production of chicle, a non-timber forest product; and studying how members of three Maya communities in the Yucatán Peninsula engage with their forests.

Bryan Van Stippen is Program Director for National Indian Carbon Coalition, an initiative of the Indian Land Tenure Foundation (ILTF) and the Intertribal Agriculture Council that provides education and technical assistance to Tribal Nation, Alaska Native Village & Corporations, Native Hawaiian organizations, and First Nations in Canada on the development of nature-based climate solutions on Tribal and Indigenous land. An Oneida Nation of Wisconsin member, Van Stippen served as Tribal Attorney for the Ho-Chunk Nation Department of Justice in Wisconsin, where he was responsible for land acquisition and other land-related issues. He earned a Bachelors Degree in Business Administration and a Masters in Computer Information Systems from Tarleton State University in Texas. Van Stippen is a graduate of the University of North Dakota School of Law (J.D.); the University of Tulsa College of Law (LL.M. in American Indian and Indigenous Law); and the University of Arizona James E. Rogers College of Law (S.J.D in Indigenous Peoples Law & Policy). He lives with his wife and two children in Green Bay, Wisconsin.

Bryan is a representative on the 1t.org US Stakeholder Council, an appointee on the Growing Climate Solutions Act Advisory Council, a Legacy Member of the Ecosystem Service Marketplace Consortium, and a representative on the Bipartisan Policy Center Farm and Forest Carbon Solutions Task Force.

Rosendo Pérez Antonio is an Environmental Scientist graduated from the University of Sierra Juarez (UNSIJ) in 2014. He started performing biological monitoring activities with the Community of San Juan Lachao, mainly with felines and white tail deer; in late 2014 he was trained for Forest Carbon Inventories by the Climate Action Reserve team since San Juan Lachao was starting their pilot project for Carbon Offsets. From 2016 to 2020, Rosendo oversaw the development of Carbon Offset Projects in different communities across México, having examples in the States of Puebla, State of Mexico, Hidalgo and the Yucatan Peninsula; by 2021 he had helped developed over 35 projects for ICICO (Spanish for Integrator of Campesino and Indigenous Communities of Oaxaca), a local NGO focused on the environmental, social, and economic development of its member communities. At the moment, Rosendo is co-directing the organization, overseeing more than 20 projects in the State of Oaxaca, and trying to expand the focus of these projects beyond Carbon Offsets by including water capture and monitoring, biological corridors, forest health and social safeguards in both practical and research-based activities, collaborating with Nicholas School of the Environment from Duke University, North Carolina State University, Mexico National Autonomous University, and University of Quebec in the “Researching Oaxaca’s Socio-Ecological Systems” hub.

Gregorio Anguiano Echevarría, member of the Indigenous Community of Nuevo San Juan Parangaricutiro in Michoacán, Mexico.

I am an Agricultural Engineer specializing in Forestry and have a Master’s degree in Public Sustainability Management from the Universidad Michoacana de San Nicolas de Hidalgo. I am currently the Coordinator of my Indigenous Community’s Forest Carbon Project and Legal Representative of the Carbon Project Development Agency, “Grupo de Gestión Social, Agrario y Forestal S.C.”

I continue my training in topics related to the International Voluntary Carbon Market as the main alternative for maintaining and continuing my community’s project and developing projects with the highest possible integrity, fairness, and sustainability for the ejidos and Indigenous communities of Mexico.

Jack Blackwell has served as Vice President of Lands & Resources at Chugach Alaska Corporation since 2023. Jack manages nearly a million acres of land for Chugach Alaska Corporation, which is an Alaska Native Corporation. Prior to joining Chugach, Jack retired from the Alaska Department of Natural Resources, where he spent over three decades managing state parks in Alaska, retiring as Superintendent of the Kenai Peninsula and Prince William Sound Region. Jack has spent his career managing public and private land in Alaska and earned a Bachelor of Science degree in Natural Resources Management from the University of Alaska, Fairbanks.

Jack was raised in Alaska and is married to Michelle. Together they have two adult children. Jack lives in Anchorage, Alaska and enjoys spending time outdoors.

Since 1990, she has collaborated with the Topia Integral Forest Conservation and Development Unit (UCDFI TOPIA), offering advice, training, and support to ejidos (communal lands) and communities in the state of Durango. Over the years, she has promoted certification of good forest management from national and international organizations and has promoted productive programs such as beekeeping, living pharmacies, and women’s community enterprises, which benefit local communities.

Her commitment to the protection and conservation of natural resources has led her to work alongside various civil society organizations on soil, water, and forest restoration projects. In 2021, she secured the first Hydrological Ecosystem Services Sponsorship with the Del Fuerte Company and the Topia Ejido. Thanks to its success, this project has been extended to two other ejidos (communal lands) and has included two communities in the development of the carbon project.

Currently, it coordinates 11 Carbon Capture Projects under the CAR protocol, distributed across three clusters in the state of Durango. These projects not only contribute to climate change mitigation, but also generate employment and strengthen the social fabric, allowing communities to work together to conserve and protect their forest resources.

For 20 years, Katie’s been a trusted leader and facilitator on market solutions to tackle climate change and drive clean private capital at scale. She leads global policy and strategy on behalf of IETA’s 350+ multi-sector business members across the Americas and globally. Recently, Katie led expansion of IETA’s presence across multiple emerging geographies (LATAM, MENA, Asia Pacific) and cross-cutting market formation activities (digital, aviation, CDR CCUS etc.). She currently sits on the Board of the Climate Action Reserve (CAR) along with several Advisory Groups, including Canada’s Commission on Carbon Competitiveness and the Canadian Climate Institute, and is a member of Osgoode Hall Law School’s Faculty. Prior to IETA, Katie worked at ICF International.

Craig Ebert serves as the President of the Climate Action Reserve where he is responsible for ensuring that the organization’s activities meet the highest standards for quality, transparency and environmental integrity. He oversees the organization’s continued leadership and commitment to ensuring offsets are a trusted and powerful economic tool for reducing emissions. In his role, he also leads the organization in identifying and entering into other opportunities that build upon the its knowledge and expertise and further its work under its mission and vision.

During his career, he has helped create the foundations for international, national and state policies to address climate change. He supported U.S. negotiations on international climate change agreements, including negotiations leading up to the creation and signing of the Kyoto Protocol, and helped develop the Clean Development Mechanism (CDM) and Joint Implementation (JI) provisions under the protocol. Craig’s work also involved pioneering efforts on carbon accounting principles and methodologies. He served as the technical director of Estimation of Greenhouse Gas Emissions and Sinks, which was adopted by the IPCC as its GHG Inventory Programme, and was a key architect behind the development of the official U.S. national GHG inventory to meet commitments under the UNFCCC.

Prior to joining the Reserve, Craig advised the Western Climate Initiative (WCI) and served at ICF for nearly 34 years.

Eduardo is the CEO of MÉXICO2, the Mexican Carbon Platform of the Mexican Stock Exchange. He has over twenty years of experience in carbon markets and flexibility mechanisms. From MÉXICO2, he promotes the growth of the carbon market in Mexico and Latin America as a market facilitator, supporting supply, demand, and capacity building. He is a member of the Board of Directors of the Climate Action Reserve. In 2022, he was selected as one of the most sustainable minds in Mexico by Forbes Magazine.

Linda Barrera has over 15 years of experience advising clients on energy and climate policies, including on renewable and energy efficiency energy programs and carbon markets. She has served in senior leadership roles at the California Energy Commission, including as chief counsel, as an advisor for a former Vice Chair, and as assistant chief counsel. Linda also worked as an attorney with the California Public Utilities Commission on ratesetting and cost of capital proceedings. Linda has led rulemakings to advance energy efficiency programs, drafted legislation to facilitate permitting of solar, wind, and energy storage facilities, and helped implement multimillion-dollar grant and incentive programs. Linda is currently providing strategic advice on the development of new carbon pricing instruments and energy programs in Latin America. She was born and raised in Panama and earned a Bachelor of Science in Mechanical Engineering from The University of Texas at Austin, and a Juris Doctor and certificate in environmental and natural resources law from Lewis & Clark Law School.

Angélica Lizeth Jiménez Hernández is an Engineer in Natural Resources and an Environmental Specialist. She has studies in Government and Local Management, Circular Economy, Risk Management, Integrated Watershed Management, and Socio-environmental Conflicts. Currently, she directs the Institute for the Environment and Sustainable Development of the State of Colima. She has contributed to the development of studies and work on Climate Change, Environmental Education, Water Resources, Urban Forestry, Resilience, and Biodiversity for the state of Colima. She has been a promoter of public policies aimed at protecting the forests that supply water to the state’s cities.

Jennifer heads up ClearBlue’s Market Intelligence service, bringing over two decades of experience guiding clients through the complex landscape of environmental markets, with an emphasis on policy analysis and forecasting pricing for environmental commodities. Jennifer’s focus areas include compliance Cap-and-Trade and Fuel Standards markets, along with the voluntary carbon markets.
Prior to joining ClearBlue Markets nearly four years ago, Jennifer helped build the newly-founded environmental practice as Director of Emissions and Clean Energy at PIRA Energy Group, acquired by S&P Global Platts in 2016. Jennifer holds a master’s degree in economics from Cornell University and a bachelor’s degree in mathematics from Drew University.

Mike Wallace is an internationally recognized expert with nearly 30 years of experience in sustainability, ESG reporting/compliance, and managing social and human capital issues. He currently serves as the Chief Decarbonization Officer at Persefoni, a carbon accounting technology company, where he oversees strategic partnerships to help with the integration and application of Persefoni’s climate accounting and management platform (CMAP). Prior to joining Persefoni, Wallace was a partner at the global sustainability consultancy, ERM where he counseled clients on corporate responsibility and sustainability solutions and helped shape several strategic partnerships for ERM. In that role, Wallace also served as the Interim Executive Director for the Social & Human Capital Coalition, a multi-stakeholder project of the World Business Council for Sustainable Development (WBCSD). His work included overseeing the establishment of the overall governance structure, technical council and global network that drove the creation of the Social & Human Capital Protocol, which was officially launched at GreenBiz 2019 by the founders WBCSD, Nasdaq, and Microsoft. Prior to ERM, Wallace was a director for the Global Reporting Initiative (GRI), where he worked on foundational initiatives such as the International Integrated Reporting Council (IRRC), the European Commission proposal on corporate ESG reporting, and the UN Sustainable Stock Exchange Initiative (SSEi) on ESG listing guidance.

Emily is a Managing Partner at Hua Nani Partners, a strategic climate and energy consulting firm. Emily works broadly across subnational climate and environmental policy advocacy with a focus on the economic analysis, and financing of subnational policies and carbon markets. Emily specializes in regulatory and legislative strategy for clean energy and climate policy in California. Emily is also on the board of Zero Foodprint promoting regenerative agriculture and on-farm climate solutions.

Prior to Hua Nani Partners, Emily was a Climate Economist at Rhodium Group where she analyzed the economic impact of climate change policy responses. Emily also worked with the Climate Impact Lab, focusing on hyper local climate damages and the Social Cost of Carbon. Prior to Rhodium, Emily was the Chief Economist for the California Air Resources Board where she oversaw the economic analyses of California’s portfolio of climate and air quality policies. She also worked on the design and implementation of the Cap-and-Trade Program and Low Carbon Fuel Standard.

Emily holds a Ph.D. in Agricultural and Resource Economics from UC Davis and a Bachelor’s degree in energy, environmental, and mineral economics from Penn State.

Sarah Izant was appointed by Governor Gavin Newsom in November 2023 to serve as Deputy Secretary for Climate Policy at the California Environmental Protection Agency. Prior to joining CalEPA, Izant served the City and County of San Francisco as Mayor London N. Breed’s Manager of State and Federal Affairs, Environmental Policy Advisor, and Deputy Press Director. She has worked in both state and federal government, as an advisor at the California Public Utilities Commission and Executive Fellow at the California Air Resources Board, and as a Constituent Services Representative in the Office of U.S. Senator Dianne Feinstein. Sarah holds a Bachelor of Arts in Public Policy Analysis and Hispanic Studies from Scripps College.

Joel Creswell is the Climate Pollution Reduction Program Manager at the Washington Department of Ecology, where he oversees a team of dedicated staff who carry out the agency’s greenhouse gas mitigation programs, including the Cap & Invest Program, the Clean Fuel Standard, the Zero Emissions Vehicles program, and the Hydrofluorocarbon Reduction Program, along with the state’s Greenhouse Gas Emissions Inventory. He is a climate policy expert with a Ph.D. in environmental science and a career spanning the public, private, and academic sectors. His background includes over a decade of environmental field research, federal positions at the Environmental Protection Agency and the House of Representatives, and positions in regional and state government in Washington.

Virgil Welch is a Partner at Caliber Strategies, a leading California consulting firm that works with clean technology and policy innovators to achieve successful regulatory, administrative and market outcomes. He also serves as Director of the California Carbon Solutions Coalition, a business & labor coalition working to ensure that carbon capture, removal and sequestration technologies play a key role in California’s approach to climate action.

He has worked at the forefront of California’s climate, air quality and clean energy programs for more than two decades.

Mr. Welch served as a Governor’s appointee under three administrations as Special Counsel and Chief Advisor to California Air Resources Board Chair Mary D. Nichols. In his role at CARB he helped to lead the creation of multiple globally recognized programs to cut pollution and greenhouse emissions though deployment of clean technologies, including multiple sets of standards for cleaner light, medium and heavy-duty vehicles; an economy-wide cap-and-trade program; a Low Carbon Fuel Standard; a comprehensive set of programs to slash short-lived climate pollutants. Mr. Welch worked extensively with the thousands of professional scientists, engineers, lawyers and regulatory experts at CARB to devise and successfully implement policies and regulations grounded in data, science and economics. He led CARB efforts to engage with a broad range of stakeholders, businesses and state, local, federal and international governments.

Prior to his service at the California Air Resources Board, Mr. Welch helped lead the Environmental Defense Fund’s successful sponsorship of Assembly Bill 32, the California Global Warming Solutions Act of 2006.

Mr. Welch holds a Bachelor of Arts in Political Science from the University of North Texas and a Master of Public Affairs and Juris Doctor from the University of Texas at Austin. He is a member of the California State Bar.

Pankaj is the Managing Director of Climate Services at CarbonBetter, with 15+ years of experience in the Energy and Sustainability space, leading and advising Fortune 500 companies on sustainability, energy transition and the carbon markets. At CarbonBetter, among other topics Pankaj advises his clients on effectively participating in the Voluntary carbon markets including purchasing avoidance and removal credits. Prior to CabonBetter, Pankaj was an Associate Partner at McKinsey & Company, providing strategic guidance to US and global firms, including to the Department of Energy to accelerate and drive energy transition. Specifically, Pankaj supported DOE in developing a strategy to grow CCUS in the US, recommendations from which were eventually incorporated into the IRA.

Pankaj holds an engineering degree from Indian Institute of Technology Kanpur, India and an MBA from Northwestern Kellogg School of Management. He has lived and worked across China, Brazil and the US and in his free time, he enjoys playing and watching basketball.

Nora is Head of Market Development & Policy at Charm Industrial, where she is working to shape the carbon removal market to commercialize permanent removal of legacy carbon emissions via bio-oil sequestration. Prior to Charm, she designed and led the government engagement and business development strategy at Saildrone as the Senior Director of Government Relations. She previously served at the White House in the Obama Administration, and has held a variety of roles in the private sector, government, and nonprofits at the intersection of industry, policy, and government.

Jason Gray is an environmental attorney and climate policy expert who serves as Project Director of the Governors’ Climate and Forests Task Force (GCF Task Force) at the Emmett Institute on Climate Change and the Environment at UCLA School of Law. Jason previously served as chief of California’s Cap and-Trade Program at the California Air Resources Board (CARB), the state agency tasked with formulating and implementing the state’s world-leading climate policies. In this position, Jason oversaw a staff of more than 30 experts and managers tasked with designing and implementing California’s carbon market. He represented CARB within the GCF Task Force for nearly a decade, and previously served as manager of the Cap-and-Trade Program’s market monitoring section and as an attorney supporting the development and implementation of climate and air quality regulations at CARB. Jason has also worked on environmental education, biodiversity conservation, local capacity building, and sustainable development projects with the U.S. Peace Corps and WWF in the Central African country of Gabon. He received a B.A. in Biology and French from Gonzaga University, and a J.D. and Certificate in Environmental and Natural Resources Law from Lewis & Clark Law School.

Silvia Llamas Prado was appointed Head of the International Affairs and Financial Promotion Unit at Mexico’s National Forestry Commission (CONAFOR) on November 16, 2024. Her responsibilities include designing, implementing, monitoring, and evaluating policies and strategies related to international cooperation and climate change, as well as fostering financial support for the forestry sector. Silvia has over 20 years of experience in ecosystem conservation, natural resource management, and low-emission rural development, as well as in working with regional and international partnerships to promote REDD+. Before joining CONAFOR, Silvia coordinated the GCF Task Force in Mexico through Pronatura Sur A.C., a global subnational network spanning 11 countries. Silvia holds a Bachelor’s degree in Biology and a Master’s degree in Regional Studies in Environment and Development.

Allison Gacad is a senior environmental markets correspondent at Carbon Pulse for the Americas, where she reports on carbon markets and climate policy. She has also reported on international climate negotiations from COP28 and COP29. Allison is based in Vancouver, British Columbia.

Lisa DeMarco is a Senior Partner and the CEO at Resilient LLP. She is called to the bar in Canada and England and is recognized as a global expert in climate and energy law. Lisa has nearly three decades of experience in all aspects of climate change and clean energy law. She assists financial institutions, energy companies, innovators, governments, non-governmental organizations, and Indigenous business organizations on domestic and overseas renewable power and energy transition projects, sustainable and climate finance transactions, carbon dioxide removals, carbon capture use and storage, climate-related financial disclosure, corporate climate strategy, environmental and social governance (ESG), green bonds, net-zero target setting and pathways, the Paris Agreement, carbon trading (domestic, international, voluntary, and compliance), climate-related compliance and litigation, and sustainable business strategy. She also represents several governments and leading energy companies in a wide variety of international dispute resolution proceedings, and natural gas, power, pipeline and energy storage matters before the Ontario Energy Board and the Canadian Energy Regulator.

Lisa is a director of the boards of the and International Emissions Trading Association, MaRS Discovery District, and Planetary Technologies and member of Climate Economy Strategic Council and of the Expert Advisory Group of Voluntary Carbon Market Integrity initiative (VCMI). Lisa is ranked by Chambers Global as one of the world’s leading climate change lawyers and regularly attends on the United Nations climate negotiations. Lisa has a Bachelor of Science (Hon.) in Human and Environmental Biology (Western University), a Master of Science in Environmental Toxicology (University of Toronto), a Bachelor of Laws (Osgoode Hall), and a Master of Studies in International Environmental Law, summa cum laude (Vermont Law School).

Rick is globally recognized as a climate change leader, and for over two decades has advised governments, multinational companies, financial institutions, funds and project sponsors on the economic transition to a low carbon economy, including being a thought leader on carbon and environmental market transactions. He is officially ranked by Chambers USA and Chambers Global as a leading climate change lawyer, an accolade he has held for over 10 years.

Rick serves on the Board of The Climate Registry, is the former Chair of the International Emissions Trading Association (IETA), is the CEO of the Carbon Markets Foundation, and serves on the Board of Advisors to the USC Schwarzenegger Institute.

He was Awarded Chevalier of the National Order of Merit by the President of the Republic of France for his significant contribution to the preparation of the Paris Climate Summit, and the implementation of the Paris Agreement.

Utkarsh (Uti) Agarwal has worked in carbon markets for over a decade. As the Americas Carbon Originator at BP, Uti transacts California, Washington, Alberta TIER and RGGI compliance carbon markets in the Americas, emerging markets like CORSIA, and voluntary carbon markets globally. Uti joined BP from Emergent, a non-profit that launched the $1.5b LEAF Coalition where he was the Vice President and head of Transactions. Uti is an experienced investor in renewable energy and climate finance, including at Encourage Capital in New York, where he invested in some of the first forestry carbon projects for the California cap and trade program.

Russell Karas is the Head of Commodities at Xpansiv, the world’s largest infrastructure provider for environmental commodities. He leads the exchange business, which involves developing and scaling carbon and renewable energy markets, managing strategic customers and partnerships, and enhancing front-end trading technologies.

Russell has lead the most recent partnership with the Johannesburg Stock Exchange (JSE) to launch a carbon and renewable energy marketplace in South Africa. This is the first step in a broader effort to work with local partners to develop environmental registries and marketplaces across the continent.

Prior to Xpansiv, Russell spent a decade at CME Group overseeing the Environmental and North American Crude and Refined businesses. At CME he launched more than 100 derivative contracts, including the Global Emissions Offset (GEO) and Nature-based Global Emissions Offset (N-GEO) futures contracts developed with Xpansiv.

He has a B.A. from Hofstra University’s Honor College in Political Science and Economics, an M.S. in International Affairs and an M.B.A. in Finance, Strategy, and Marketing from New York University.

Adelfio Ronci is Director, Environmental Products at ICE Futures Europe, He is responsible for sales and market development of ICE’s carbon credits portfolio, both Futures and Spot Auctions.

He joined ICE in January 2022. Previously he was Sales director Global Commodities at EEX and Head of sales at Nasdaq for their Commodity derivatives business. Both roles were in Singapore.

Prior to that he worked as a Forward Freight Agreement (FFA)/Option trader for a shipping operator, as well as an FFA/Iron Ore broker for Imarex/Clarksons.

He holds a degree in Economics and Business from La Sapienza (Rome – Italy)

Lizzie Lokey Aldrich is the Vice President of Business Development at Anew where she leads the voluntary offset sales team. In this role, she guides the sales initiatives, runs educational webinars, writes newsletters and blogs on current trends in voluntary offset markets, develops marketing materials, implements marketing strategies, negotiates sales agreements, and transacts offsets. She has worked in carbon and renewable energy markets for over 20 years and authored a book on carbon finance in Latin America published by Routledge, as well as over 20 peer-reviewed journal articles and four book chapters. Lizzie has her B.A. from Middlebury College, where she majored in Environmental Studies and Latin American Studies, and was a National Science Foundation Fellow while she earned her M.S. and Ph.D. at the University of Colorado.

Paula DiPerna is a pioneer of the nexus between environmental policy and finance, especially carbon pricing and environmental markets. She serves currently as Special Advisor to CDP. In addition, Ms. DiPerna serves on the Distinguished Advisory Board of the Integrity Council for the Voluntary Carbon Market (ICVCM) and the Sustainability Advisory Council of Jupiter Asset Management. DiPerna also serves on the Board of Directors of The HistoryMakers in the US, the largest oral and video archive of profiles of 20th and 21st century African-American leaders across all sectors.

Paula DiPerna is widely published author, global public speaker, and guest lecturer. Her most recent non-fiction book, Pricing the Priceless: The Financial Transformation to Value the Planet… (Wiley) was named to the 2023 Financial Times roster of “Best Summer Reads: Economics.” DiPerna is a columnist for Environment magazine and ESG Review

DiPerna also served formerly as President of CCX-International (Chicago Climate Exchange), which launched and operated the world’s first cap-and-trade system to address climate change, and pioneered emissions trading worldwide; President of the Joyce Foundation, a major US philanthropy; and as a writer, co-producer and Vice |President for International Affairs for the Cousteau Society, whose principal was oceans pioneer, Jacques-|Yves Cousteau.

DiPerna is also a novelist, and her book, The Discoveries of Mrs. Christopher Columbus was published in Portugal in 2023 by Grupo LeYa Casa das Letras, having earlier been published in the US, Germany and Turkey.

Ms. DiPerna is a member of the Women’s Forum of New York, the New York Economic Club, and the Council on Foreign Relations and based in New York City.

Natalie Urban is the Origination & Partnerships Director at Symbiosis Coalition, an advance market commitment from Microsoft, Google, Salesforce, and Meta to contract 20M tonnes of high quality nature-based carbon removal by 2030. At Symbiosis, she leads project sourcing, RFP operations, and commercial offtake negotiations, as well as investor partnerships. Prior to Symbiosis, she worked for Pachama, a technology-focused reforestation company, where she focused on project origination, project financing, and structuring corporate carbon offtakes, with a focus on North and South America. She previously worked in private equity and infrastructure investing at Brown Brothers Harriman and GI Partners, and led the Energy & Environment team of the Stanford GSB Impact Fund. She holds an MBA and a BS in Environmental Engineering from Stanford.

Mandy Rambharos is the Chief Executive Officer of Verra, the world’s leading voluntary carbon market standard. With over two decades of experience in the energy and climate sectors, Mandy is a recognized leader in global climate cooperation and just energy transitions. Before joining Verra, Mandy served as Vice President for Global Climate Cooperation at the Environmental Defense Fund (EDF), where she directed multilateral climate engagements and led initiatives, including working on the Energy Transition Accelerator, to advance carbon markets and carbon pricing strategies that promote low-emissions futures while supporting marginalized communities. Her work at the global level was pivotal in shaping global climate policies under the Paris Agreement, working closely with international bodies such as the United Nations, G20, Business and multilateral organizations. Mandy’s career also includes a significant tenure at South Africa’s Eskom Holdings, the largest electric utility on the African continent. As General Manager for Just Energy Transition, she was instrumental in developing Eskom’s strategy to transition from a coal-dominated utility to a renewable energy player. Mandy’s expertise in the energy industry, mitigation, climate financing, and global climate negotiations was crucial in establishing the Just Energy Transition Partnership at COP26, a landmark agreement between South Africa and major international partners including Germany, France, the United Kingdom, the United States, and the European Union. A former negotiator for South Africa and Africa, at the United Nations climate talks, Mandy co-chaired the successful outcome of Article 6 at COP26, which governs international carbon markets under the Paris Agreement.

Dr. Michael Gillenwater is a co-founder, Executive Director, and Dean of the Greenhouse Gas Management Institute. He is a recognized thought leader on GHG measurement, reporting, verification (MRV), carbon management, and environmental accounting.

• A four time IPCC lead author and contributor to its 2007 Nobel Peace Prize
• At the USEPA, established the U.S. GHG emissions inventory program and served on the U.S. negotiating team to UNFCCC
• Member of the Integrity Council for the Voluntary Carbon Market (ICVCM) Expert Panel and contributed to development of its Assessment Framework.
• Member of the Science-based Targets Initiative (SBTi) governing Technical Council
• Core advisor to the GHG Protocol Corporate Standard
• Co-founded and co-Editor in Chief for the journal Carbon Management
• Fulbright Scholar and completed graduate education at MIT and Princeton University where his PhD advanced our understanding of additionality and design of environmental commodities.

Jessica leads the Asset Innovations team at ClimeCo, a global sustainability company with projects and partners all over the world. She works with her team to evaluate and develop pathways to market for environmental attributes from a variety of greenhouse gas (GHG) reduction projects. Her team specializes in navigating new market instruments, complex GHG programs, and optimizing industrial decarbonization projects. Jessica has worked in environmental markets for over a decade and is excited to see the evolution and transfer of knowledge of market-based solutions to address value chain emissions.

Robert Parkhurst focuses on generating new, environmental revenue streams for farmers, ranchers, and forest owners through environmental markets. Mr. Parkhurst has more than 25 years of experience designing and implementing environmental markets. He has investigated practices that: reduce methane from dairy cows and the cultivation of rice; sequester carbon in forests and on grasslands; and reduce nitrous oxide emissions from a variety of crops including corn, almonds, tomatoes and wine grapes. Mr. Parkhurst has written and supported the development of more than a dozen different agriculture focused protocols. He is currently working with Fortune 500 food companies, nonprofits, governments, and agriculture input companies to design and implement policies and environmental markets that help them meet their climate goals.

Mr. Parkhurst also has been widely recognized for his sustainability expertise. He received a Climate Protection Award from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency for his leadership on climate change and three “CARROT” awards from the Climate Action Reserve for his work developing credible, accurate, and consistent GHG reporting standards. He was appointed to and co-led the agriculture subcommittee of the California Air Resources Board’s Compliance Offset Protocol Task Force. Mr. Parkhurst’s work has been published in multiple peer-reviewed journals, including Carbon Management, Climate Policy and Rangeland Ecology & Management. He has also co-authored reports with the United States Department of Agriculture and American Farmland Trust.

David is a Managing Director at the Inlandsis Fund and has more than 20 years of experience in environmental markets. Inlandsis is an investment manager that has supported over 40 carbon offset projects in Canada and the US, starting in 2017. Its anchor investor is a Canadian pension fund, Fondaction. David started his career managing environmental projects at the World Bank and has also worked at the Nature Conservancy acquiring land for conservation. He began working in carbon markets in 2009 and has been active in them ever since.

Luke Oliver leads the KraneShares Climate solutions business building innovative products that provide access to unique markets within this growing investment universe. In addition to curating the firm’s climate, carbon and impact strategies, Luke works closely with clients to educate on the asset class and client implementation strategies. He is a regular industry commentator on TV, press, and online media and is responsible for digestible research on climate topics.

Prior to joining KraneShares, Luke built and ran the $21bn US XTrackers ETF business at DWS (formerly Deutsche Asset Management) where he pioneered currency hedging, onshore China, and more recently ESG strategies which were among the first to recognize the need for value-aligned portfolios. Prior to this, he was the portfolio manager of $16bn in commodity assets across the PowerShares DB Commodity ETF suite. Luke has a reputation for building strong, diverse teams, creating profitable businesses, and bringing innovative solutions to market.

Zara is Vice President, Business Development at Catona Climate, where she works with offtake clients to structure partnerships and financing opportunities for nature-based carbon projects. Before joining Catona, Zara spent nearly a decade with Citigroup in London as a Director in the Sustainability and Corporate Transitions team within the Investment Bank. There, she collaborated with large corporations across various industries to develop Net Zero strategies in alignment with their financial strategies — through instruments such as green bonds, green loans, and private placements — while also engaging with public sector entities to explore blended finance opportunities.

Miguel is the Analytical Team Manager LATAM at the Climate Action Reserve, where he supports the development and growth of nature-based carbon offset protocols with a focus on the Reserve’s work in LATAM. He also supports the operation and administration of the Climate Action Reserve Program.

Prior to joining the Reserve, Miguel worked in the carbon markets space as lead analyst of climate assets, technical lead assessing carbon projects in early stages, and verifier of international forestry and Blue C projects. He has also worked on climate change adaptation, developing carbon footprint assessment and decarbonization strategies for the corporate sector, as well as project developer of social afforestation and reforestation projects for private and public initiatives in countries such as Colombia, India or Madagascar.

Miguel is from Ávila in Spain, he completed his B.Sc. & M.Sc. degrees in Forestry and Natural Resources Management as well as a B.Sc. degree in International Cooperation for Development in Madrid at the Polytechnic University of Madrid.

Combining a background in economics with leadership roles in public sector transformation, I currently serve as Secretary of Energy Transition in the Province of Córdoba, a major agricultural and industrial region of Argentina. My experience in public services regulation, Argentina’s pioneering carbon market pilot program, and energy policy advisory positions me to help design and implement innovative solutions for the challenges of climate change and Córdoba’s sustainable energy future.

Ricardo Torres Hernandez was born in Mexico. He has a wide range of experience in topics such as Climate Change, Greenhouse Effect Inventories, Environmental Management, Environmental Legislation and Regulations, and Waste Management.

He has a bachelor degree in Environmental Chemist Engineer, a specialty in Megacities Environmental Management and a master’s degree in Environmental Sciences. From December 2010 until January 2016, held the position of Head of Department of Environmental Protection, afterwards he was Director of environmental control from June 2016 until November 2018. Ricardo Torres has held the position of Undersecretary of the Environment since December 2018 till date.

My experience is in carbon credit insurance and commercialization, sustainability consulting, environmental policy, and environmental education with an environmental science and policy background. I’m the Head of Carbon Markets at Kita, a carbon insurance company, and Lloyd’s of London Coverholder. In my role I provide the carbon market expertise in development of new carbon insurance products and refinement of existing ones to ensure they’re fit for purpose.

Kita’s mission is to enable carbon projects and technologies to scale by offering a suite of insurance products to the carbon markets. Reducing risks in carbon transactions increases confidence for those investing in these projects and thus unlocks greater flows of capital, allowing carbon projects and their positive climate impacts to scale.

Dr. Katharyn Duffy is an ecologist specializing in fire-adapted ecosystems, biodiversity, and carbon dynamics, with a focus on Western U.S. forests. Her research examines the effects of fire suppression, climate change, and management strategies—such as fuel reduction treatments—on ecosystem resilience. As a lead researcher at Vibrant Planet, Dr. Duffy applies advanced data analysis and ex-post quantification frameworks to support landscape-scale conservation and climate adaptation planning. Her work bridges science and action, developing innovative strategies to restore forest health, protect biodiversity, and enhance carbon storage in a rapidly changing climate.

Leveraging 20 years of experience and a proven track record in the financial services industry, Ms. Durschinger founded Terra Global Capital in 2006 to attract private sector capital to nature-based solutions. Ms. Durschinger is recognized as a pioneer and innovator in alignment of development values and financially viable approaches to sustainable landscape management. Terra is a global leader in nature-based solutions program development, greenhouse gas quantification and community-based business model development, by providing technical expertise and investment capital to a global client base of governments, NGOs, and private companies in a collaborative and participatory manner. Under Durschinger’s leadership, Terra has financed numerous commercially viable sustainable landscape management programs, launched an investment fund that provides climate finance to the nature-based solutions sector in the global south. Prior to Terra, Ms. Durschinger held senior management positions in the areas of derivatives trading, investment management, algorithmic trading, risk management, and securities lending. She is a member of the IETA Council and Verra VCS Program Advisory Group and has served on numerous standards committees including Co-chair of IETA Natural Capital Solutions Working Group, REDD+ Social & Environmental Standards Committee, and Verra – VCS JNR Expert Working Group. Ms. Durschinger and her family make small production olive oil on their farm in Mendocino County. Among her previous employers are JP Morgan, Merrill Lynch, Barclays Global Investors, and Charles Schwab.

Margaret Morales is director of carbon at Trellis Group. She brings more than a decade of experience in climate policy, communications and project development. Prior to joining Trellis, she led the marketing and communications team at forest carbon project developer Terraformation. She also launched the research program on natural carbon capture in working lands at the climate policy think tank, Sightline Institute. She holds a bachelor’s degree in environmental studies from Duke University and a master’s degree from the University of British Columbia.