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.
Carbon Exposure is a carbon-native production studio specialising in carbon markets — and this podcast sits at the centre of what we do.
Carbon markets are complex, technical, and often misunderstood. Much of the conversation is fragmented, buried in policy language, or disconnected from how the market actually operates.
This podcast is designed to close that gap.
Through conversations with the people shaping the market — policymakers, standard setters, developers, investors, and corporates — we unpack how things work in practice, across policy, project development, and finance.
We cover the full spectrum of carbon markets, but always with the same objective: clarity.
Carbon Exposure extends beyond the podcast into film, digital content, and strategic storytelling — helping organisations communicate more effectively and position themselves for market access.
But it starts here.
Because in carbon markets, understanding the landscape is the first step to participating in it.
In Episode 10 of Season 4 of the Carbon Exposure Podcast, we sit down with Rich Gilmore, CEO of Carbon Growth Partners, on his third appearance on the show.
Rich has a rare gift in this market. He takes the most complicated pieces of carbon finance and distills them into lines anyone can hold onto. ”Stop chopping trees down and stop lighting stuff on fire.” ”Affordable doesn't mean cheap.” ”The world's oldest startup.” This conversation is a case study in why we keep asking him back.
Filmed at Ecosperity in Singapore, the day after Rich helped launch the ARC coalition (Action for Resilient Climate). ARC is a new advanced market commitment backed by Tencent, Mitsubishi, CATL, Bain & Co, Osaka Gas, Vale, and others. What makes it different from other coalitions: it's not just a demand signal. A financing facility is bolted onto it, so project developers who need capital to scale can access blended finance alongside their offtake agreements.
We go deep on how the coalition works, why asymmetric contracts are quietly killing bankable projects, and Rich's BlueMX blue carbon project in Mexico that's going through Verra's digital pathway. Rich also lays out the ”coma test” for anyone in this market (”if you'd been in a coma for three years and woke up now, you wouldn't realize any time had elapsed”), makes the case that most companies are hiding behind integrity concerns to justify inaction, and closes with a sober binary assessment of where the carbon market is heading.
In this episode, we cover:
– Why ARC's three attributes are affordable, safe, and simple
– How the financing facility solves what buyer coalitions alone can't
– Why asymmetric contracts perversely introduce risk into projects
– Prepayments, shortfalls, and the double-dipping problem
– Why the market needs blended finance, not just cheap finance
– The 10 million tonne minimum commitment (and why it's just a floor)
– ”Addressing integrity concerns doesn't introduce a why. It just partially reduces a why not.”
– The LNG cargo case: why offsetting costs 1 to 3% of the cargo value
– BlueMX in Mexico: blue carbon on the ground and why catch rates have tripled
– Going 100% digital with Verra
– Quality, scarcity, and utility as the investor's three-part filter
– Why compliance markets provide both a floor AND a ceiling
– Rich's binary assessment: the carbon market scales by hundreds of times or goes to zero
If you work in carbon markets, climate finance, project development, or anywhere near the transition, this is a must-listen episode.
Chapters
[00:00] Intro
[01:17] Welcome + Third Appearance
[02:04] The ARC Coalition: What It Is and Who's In
[05:00] Affordable, Safe, Simple + The Financing Facility
[09:10] Why Asymmetric Contracts Kill Bankable Projects
[12:05] Prepayments, Shortfalls, and Double-Dipping
[14:22] Grant Funding and Blended Finance
[17:05] Coalition Open + 10 Million Tonne Minimum
[21:56] The Coma Test: Integrity as an Excuse
[24:34] The LNG Cargo Case
[27:58] BlueMX in Mexico: Blue Carbon on the Ground
[32:59] ”Stop Chopping Trees Down, Stop Lighting Stuff on Fire”
[34:56] Going Digital with Verra
[40:08] Quality, Scarcity, Utility
[49:22] The Binary Future of Carbon Markets
#CarbonMarkets #ClimateFinance #CarbonCredits #ARC #BlueCarbon #NBS #Verra #CarbonExposurePodcast
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