Carbon Exposure – Details, episodes & analysis

Welcome back to the first episode of the Carbon Exposure Project season 3! Our guest for this episode is Alvin Lim, former Executive Director and head of Asia Environmental Products at Morgan Stanley. He is also a Senior Fellow at the NUS Business School.

In this episode, the following topics are discussed:

00:00 – Introduction

Rene welcomes Alvin Lim and sets the stage for a deep dive into carbon markets, investing, and impact.

02:06 – Alvin’s Journey into Climate and CarbonFrom

COP15 in 2009 as a student to building a carbon thesis at a sovereign wealth fund.

09:21 – Understanding the Private Carbon Market

What are ecosystem enablers? Exploring infrastructure, data, and services in the carbon value chain.

11:00 – Compliance vs. Project-Based Markets

How these two market types differ and intersect—and how fungibility is starting to emerge.

17:35 – Article 6.2 and 6.4: The Road Ahead

Alvin breaks down international cooperation, policy trends, and cost-saving potential from the 2019 IETA–Maryland study.

20:30 – What Makes a Carbon Project Bankable?

Alvin outlines three key risks investors look for: country/political, merchant/price, and performance risk.

26:00 – Methodological Shifts & Issuance Uncertainty

How changing methodologies (e.g. REDD+ VM0048) affect future credit issuance and investor confidence.

29:49 – De-risking the Market: The Role of Public Capital

Philanthropy, DFIs, and blended finance mechanisms that help crowd in institutional investors.

31:15 – Assessing Project Performance Risk

Why track record, conservative estimates, and insurance matter in evaluating project reliability.

33:00 – Does Vintage Matter? A Carbon Market Myth

A myth-busting segment on vintage bias and the time value of carbon, including a reflection on how trading norms shaped perceptions.

41:07 – The Power of Mentorship and Education

Alvin shares his personal story, teaching roles at NUS and Columbia, and why giving back is essential.

48:46 – Carbon Markets & the Energy Transition

The role carbon finance plays in enabling large-scale transition—especially in Asia.

50:25 – Accelerating Coal Phase-Out in Emerging Markets

Financing and incentives needed to speed up coal retirement.

53:10 – How Do We Actually Accelerate the Transition?

The importance of investment, innovation, and international alignment.

57:16 – Reflections on Progress and What’s Next

A look at where we stand in the global decarbonization journey—and what it will take to reach net zero.

For this episode, the Carbon Exposure Project traveled to Kuala Lumpur to visit the Bursa Malaysia Carbon Market Forum 2024. We sat down with the head of carbon markets at Bursa Malaysia, Dr. Wei Nee, to talk about ongoing carbon market developments in Malaysia and Asia.

Bursa Malaysia led the development and implementation of a Malaysian carbon market framework, leading to the launch of the Bursa Carbon Exchange, BCX, in December 2022. BCX offers a diverse portfolio of standardized carbon credit products, differentiating between nature-based and technological solutions that mitigate emissions. With two recent auctions for carbon credits and Renewable Energy Certificates (RECs), BCX effectively focuses on these two key verticals, enhancing its market offering.

As Malaysia and other Asian countries prepare for COP, Bursa Malaysia is taking an active role in fostering regional collaboration. Dr. Wei Nee shares insights on how they intend to work with neighboring countries like Thailand, Indonesia, and Singapore to build a unified Asian carbon framework.

Join us as we dive into the evolving landscape of carbon markets in Asia and explore how Malaysia is positioning itself at the forefront of this critical transition.

Timestamps:

00:00 Introduction to Wei Nee, Bursa Malaysia, and BCX

03:02 The Diverse Portfolio of BCX

08:28 Creating an Ecosystem at BCX

11:28 Key Takeaways from the Carbon Market Forum

15:12 Why Are Carbon Markets Not Allowed to Evolve?

17:39 Carbon Collaboration Within the ASEAN Region

23:25 The Domestic Ambitions of BCX

27:55 BCX’s Expectations for COP29

29:30 Advancing Carbon Project Financing as a Multi-Asset Exchange

37:46 End Note

In this episode, the tables are turned. Vincent Verweij, Co-Head of Carbon Markets at Valitera, hosts our Carbon Exposure Project founder, Rene Velasquez. Rene met Vincent at a conference, started mentoring him, and they now work together at Valitera, a business they started together with two other partners. Valitera helps clients achieve their net-zero ambitions by providing the best possible advice and access to environmental markets. In this episode, the following topics are addressed: 1:10 Expectations: Developments in the VCM 2:46 The changing market sentiment 5:46 Rene’s background in the carbon markets 10:30 The growth of the VCM 11:40 Addressing growing pains 14:36 CXP’s goal 15:47 The importance of mentoring 20:46 The goal and purpose Valitera 24:49: Biggest threats for the market

Welcome to the first episode of season 2 of the Carbon Exposure Project! We have amazing episodes and guests lined up to provide engaging discussions and insights into everything that has to do with carbon markets. Our first guest: Lorna Ritchie, Director of Public Affairs at the ICVCM. Enjoy! Timestamps: 1:50: Background of ICVCM 5:00: Core carbon principles 8:05 Reaction from buyers on the CCP-eligible program 9:30 Background of Lorna 12:05 The intersection between the compliance and voluntary markets 14:20 The program assessment process 17:50 corresponding adjustments 24:02 Why carbon credits are essential 28:38 A positive note: the future is bright

In this video, the great initiative 'Women in Carbon' takes over the podcast for one episode. Women in Carbon aims to demonstrate the importance of having balanced diversity within markets and organizations. Today, Camile and Eilís have the opportunity to take charge of our male host's role and co-host the podcast together.

Topics discussed in this episode:

00:34: Introduction Eilís

2:34 Joining Women in Carbon

3:47 How WiC helps the Carbon Industry

7:25 changing diversity in the markets and companies

11:35 Long-term partnership between WiC and the CXP

In this episode, we dive into a great initiative to drive gender diversity in the carbon markets: Women In Carbon. Our guest in this episode is Camile Pêtre, CFO of BeZero Carbon; one of the top carbon market rating agencies.

In this episode, the following topics will be discussed:

1:22 Introduction Camile Pêtre

3:53 Women in Carbon

4:43 Benefits of Women in Carbon

10:21 The Growth of Women In Carbon

11:40 Events of Women In Carbon

13:21 What’s next for Women In Carbon?

14:17 Constraints in taking the next steps

Explore an absolute masterclass from one of the most experienced carbon professionals in the field. For more than 20 years, he has worked in carbon markets and has played a real part in shaping the market to where it is right now. The following topics are discussed in this episode:

1:23 Introduction Mark Lewis; his professional career

3:02 The history of carbon markets

7:32 The pricing of carbon

9:09 Climate-related policy changes in jurisdictions

10:18 Efficient allocation of resources

14:15 Carbon Border Adjustment Mechanism

19:09 Importance of a global carbon price

19:55 Article 6 23:49 EU ETS

25:03 Allowance of offset use in the EU ETC

30:46 Why carbon pricing is necessary

32:37 The perfect endnote

This episode highlights the role of insurance in carbon markets to reduce uncertainty and turn risks into opportunities. The following topics are discussed in this episode: 0.57 Introduction: Natalia 6:20 The establishment of Kita 8:10 Risk and insurance companies in the carbon markets 11:26 Risk as an opportunity 14:14 Risk in the carbon markets 15:55 Insurance for project developers 17:20 Insurance for buyers 17:51 Timing risk 19:16 Unlocking capital; insurances bringing opportunities 22:50 How the insurance is structured 27:03 Portfolio Insurance 30:53 Buffers 35:00 Hopes for insurance to unlock

KlimaDAO, co-founded by Giorgio Donà-Danioni, reached a market cap of billions of Dollars within a few months. In this conversation, Giorgio explains the establishment and development of KlimaDAO and talks about his new projects; Carbonmark and KCG.

Timestamp:

1:51 Introduction Georgio 

4:42 Blockchain in carbon markets; democratizing the market 

15:00 Launch of the blockchain

18:12 How the Klima coin exploded 

22:50 Friction with the traditional carbon credit ecosystem 

36:21 Building forward with Carbonmark 

38:44 KCG 

Dive into a masterclass on Article 6, as Kelley Hamrick simplifies the complex topics of carbon markets. In this COP28 UAE Special episode, the following topics are discussed:

0.50 Introduction; Kelley and carbon markets

5:17 COP28; moving from talking to taking action

8:00 Carbon markets and article 6.2

15:18 Article 6.4

21:00 Fungibility between articles 6.4 and 6.2; interoperability

23:07 Article 6.8

25:00 Hopes for COP28

29:00 The non-profit sector

33:41 Resolve the lack of resources in the global south