Carbon Exposure Project
Carbon Exposure Project
Podcast Description
Welcome to the Carbon Exposure Project! A platform for peer-to-peer conversations with people who are driving forward the carbon markets of tomorrow.
Join your host Rene Velasquez we get to discuss topics at the intersection of ESG and finance over cocktails, with the amazing backdrop of the lion city, Singapore.
Podcast Insights
Content Themes
The show explores a variety of themes at the intersection of environmental, social, and governance (ESG) criteria and finance, discussing topics such as carbon market investment strategies, the complexities of compliance vs. project-based markets, and the impact of carbon credits on global decarbonization efforts. Episodes feature insights on emerging trends like the role of blue carbon, insurance in carbon markets, and the influence of public capital on market de-risking.
Welcome to the Carbon Exposure Podcast! A platform for peer-to-peer conversations with people who are driving forward the carbon markets of tomorrow.
Join your host Rene Velasquez we get to discuss topics at the intersection of ESG and finance over cocktails, with the amazing backdrop of the lion city, Singapore.
In this episode of the Carbon Exposure Project, we sit down with Scobie Mackay, Co-Founder & CEO of Imperative, to unpack what it will take to make nature a genuinely investable asset class.
Scobie brings a rare perspective — combining 15+ years in structured finance at Macquarie and Standard Chartered with hands-on experience developing infrastructure-grade nature-based carbon removal projects across the Global South.
We explore why capital has struggled to flow into nature at scale, why delivery and reputational risk remain misunderstood, and why the risk of climate inaction is still not being priced into financial decision-making — despite trillions of dollars at stake.
This is a conversation about projects, execution, and capital discipline, not theory.
🔍 What we cover
- Why the risk of climate and biodiversity inaction remains off balance sheet
- Treating nature-based carbon projects like infrastructure, not offsets
- Professionalising project development to attract institutional capital
- Delivery risk, permanence, and why “day-one diligence” isn’t enough
- Building large-scale native ecosystem and mangrove restoration projects
- Long-term offtakes, insurance, and managing commodity price risk
- Why biodiversity outcomes are already commanding a market premium
⏱️ Chapters
00:00 Introduction
02:30 From finance to climate
05:20 Climate and biodiversity as a test of collective intelligence
06:40 Discovering carbon markets
08:40 Why institutional capital struggles with carbon projects
11:15 Treating nature projects like infrastructure
14:45 Imperative’s focus: nature-based removals
17:00 Flight to quality and removals
20:10 Execution risk and project controls
24:00 In-house execution and long-term operations
27:40 Risk in carbon markets
32:10 Pricing the risk of climate inaction
40:00 Insurance, offtakes, and delivery guarantees
46:50 Biodiversity premiums and market signals
53:00 Making nature investable
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