Our Edge
We are experts maximising impact
Vertree’s team members have extensive experience working with corporates to deliver strategic action plans on how to navigate the transition to carbon neutrality
Leadership team
Ariel Perez
Dominique Strasdin
David Costa-D'Sa
Rodrigo Bezerra
Cheryl Bowler
Camille Barbancon
David Stead
Muireann Mageras
Alexandra Constantinescu
Ariel Perez
With over a decade of experience trading, investing and managing risk in environmental markets, he is passionate about mobilizing the private sector to affect change while leveraging market-based mechanisms and nature to address the climate crisis. He joined Hartree in 2015 to set up and lead the Environmental Products business. Prior to this, he was a managing partner at Mercuria and global head of emissions trading for Citigroup in London. Ariel holds a BS in applied economics and management from Cornell University.
Dominique Strasdin
David Costa-D'Sa
With over 20 years of experience in the energy and environmental markets with Linklaters, Deutsche Bank and Goldman Sachs, he remains deeply committed to the energy transition story and to the need for urgent action to prevent an impending climate crisis. Involved in the carbon markets from their early stages, he co-founded and built the first Environmental Financial Products business as part of the energy desk within Deutsche Bank. He is experienced in dealing with all aspects of the carbon markets – from trading offset credits to developing emissions reducing/avoiding projects – and brings a commercial aspect to sustainability topics, as he believes that an understanding of markets is crucial in any solution to the climate change and energy transition challenge.
Rodrigo Bezerra
Rodrigo has over 15 years of experience in environmental markets and carbon finance in BP, IADB and EcoSecurities. His technical expertise spans in projects in 5 continents; and sectors such as renewable energy, energy efficiency, waste management, and forestry. He has worked on the implementation of one of the largest global carbon offset portfolios under the CDM, and has coordinated an international cooperation for the dissemination of low carbon agriculture technologies among smallholder farmers in the Amazon and Atlantic Forest Regions in Brazil. Rodrigo serves as a member of the VCS advisory committee which provides strategic guidance on the evolution of the VCS Program.
Cheryl Bowler
Cheryl has over 20 years’ experience in energy and environmental markets with a focus on Australia and Asia. She traded electricity for a mixed portfolio of generation in NSW and established the environmental products trading business at Westpac. Cheryl subsequently went into consulting in the climate change and sustainability industry with a focus on decarbonisation strategies and carbon markets.
She is committed to helping companies achieve their carbon reduction and net-zero goals and recently joined Vertree to cover the APAC region. Cheryl has a BE in electrical engineering and an MBA in technology management.
Camille Barbancon
Camille joined Hartree in 2014, assisting corporate clients in their risk management and structuring needs across all energy markets including carbon emissions. Her commitment to the energy transition and belief in nature-based solutions to address climate change led her to join Vertree earlier this year. As part of the Sales team, she is committed to lead companies on their sustainability journey and build long-term relationships with project developers – ensuring the strength and lasting impact of Vertree’ s portfolio.
Prior to Hartree she spent two years at Societe Generale and Lloyds Bank on their FX and Energy desks after completing her Master’s Degree in a leading Business School in France.
David Stead
David has more than 15 years’ experience trading in the capital markets, living and working around the world. He brings an in-depth knowledge of risk management and investment products to Vertree, part of our unrivalled structuring capability. David has an MBA from London Business School and originally trained as an Engineer at Imperial College London.
His focus is on managing the large, diverse portfolio of projects and emissions reductions that Vertree has created, and creating bespoke solutions for customers.
Muireann Mageras
Muireann joined Hartree Partners in November 2021 to lead climate advisory for the Environmental Products desk and Vertree. She has over a decade of experience in corporate sustainability and strategy, working with companies predominantly in the energy and industrial sectors on their approaches to climate change and decarbonisation. She has led engagements through all stages of the corporate journey to net zero – from risk and materiality to environmental footprinting, emissions reductions, target setting, carbon portfolio development, and disclosure.
Prior to Hartree, Muireann was at South Pole where she built the North American advisory business, as well as Deloitte Consulting, Innosight, and the World Economic Forum. She holds an MSc in Environmental Economics & Climate Change from the London School of Economics, and a BA in International Studies from Johns Hopkins University.
Alexandra Constantinescu
Alexandra joined the Hartree Environmental Products team in January 2020, focusing on voluntary carbon markets and forestry projects in particular. Prior to this, she was an Energy Consultant at Hartree, where she worked with various upstream, midstream and downstream clients in Europe and the Middle East on business strategy development, energy transition strategy articulation, portfolio analyses and other policy and market assessment engagements. Alexandra started her career in media and research, having previously worked for the business development team of Thomson Reuters. She holds a Master’s degree in Environment and Development from the London School of Economics, and a Bachelor’s degree in Politics and International Relations from the University of Kent, Canterbury.
Latest from the knowledge centre
What is Carbon Dioxide Removal (CDR)?
With a rapidly closing window of opportunity to limit temperature rise to 1.5 degrees, Vertree’s Head of Technological Carbon Removal,…
With a rapidly closing window of opportunity to limit temperature rise to 1.5 degrees, Vertree’s Head of Technological Carbon Removal, David Stead, examines the role of CDR technologies on the pathway to net zero.
Recognised by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) as required to achieve global and national targets for net zero greenhouse gas emissions[1], CDR is rising up the global agenda. Reducing emissions is an urgent imperative but ultimately will not alone be sufficient to achieve net zero, certainly not in the limited time frame required and especially considering that global emissions remain on the up (rising 0.9% to 36.8 billion tonnes in 2022[2]).
But CDR it is not without its challenges and of course varying costs. In this article we define CDR, provide an overview of emerging technologies, and examine the reasons for investment today as part of an urgent and comprehensive strategy to avert climate breakdown.
Broad Definition
Carbon dioxide removal (CDR) encompasses any technology, practice or process which removes carbon dioxide from the atmosphere and durably stores it. A medium to high level of durability is considered to be over 100 years. CDR as a term is reserved specifically for deliberate human activities to remove carbon dioxide and is not inclusive of natural processes which remove carbon without intervention.
There are now an increasing number of emerging technologies focused on CDR…
Examples of Technological Carbon Dioxide Removals (T-CDR)
- Bioenergy with Carbon Capture and Storage (BECCS) – This is the capture and permanent storage of CO2 through the use of biofuels (fuels derived from a biogenic source). Naturally, biomass captures carbon as it grows which offsets the emissions of its combustion. The removal potential, however, lies in pairing it with carbon capture and storage to permanently divert the carbon dioxide from the carbon cycle post combustion.
- Biochar/biooil – Often a form of the above, these products are the result of separating carbon from biomass and storing it. Biochar is a substance like charcoal created through a process called pyrolysis, which involves heating up biomass to very high temperatures in low-oxygen conditions. It is typically applied to soils for storage and thought to improve the quality of the soil. Biooil is similar in that it is created through pyrolysis but results in a liquid, which typically will be pumped into geological storage.
- Direct Air Capture (DAC) – One of the most expensive and energy-intensive processes, these technologies capture CO2 from the atmosphere by mechanical means for storage in geological formations or for use in other applications. The technology can be implemented at any given location, not at the source of emissions as with carbon capture.
- Carbon storing materials – There is growth in new innovative processes which create materials to act as sinks to store carbon e.g. concrete or plastics. These are particularly appealing where the sink is a useful product in itself and provides a durable storage solution. However, it is important to complete full carbon lifecycle analysis and confirm net removals are achieved.
- Mineralisation – This is the accelerated capture and storage of CO2 in the form of carbonate minerals such as calcite or magnesite. It uses natural processes but accelerates them by extracting and refining rocks and minerals to increase exposure to the atmosphere. Whilst the chemical pathway is clear and well understood, the timing and rate of sequestration is site and weather dependent. Projects have been working to improve the accuracy of carbon accounting, and crediting mechanisms are only recently emerging.
- Ocean fertilisation – This involves accelerating, by technical means, the natural processes of CO2 uptake by both the water and organisms in oceans. This is done by adding nutrients to the upper ocean waters. The science for these technologies is still being developed, and few projects are in commercial operation today, but the potential is huge and it is an exciting space.
Examples of nature-based carbon removals
- Soil carbon – This encompasses agricultural or land management practices which protect and bolster natural carbon stocks in the soil.
- Afforestation, reforestation and Improved Forest Management (IFM) – Within these mechanisms tree growth is supported, encouraged and protected, and carbon remains naturally in the biomass.
- Blue carbon – This is CO2 capture and storage by biomass specifically in marine or coastal ecosystems such as mangroves and seagrass beds.
Nature versus technology?
Nature-based solutions to carbon removal leverage known natural processes and are currently low-cost comparative to technological removals. They restore natural habitats and usually provide numerous social and environmental co-benefits. However, permanence and precise carbon measurement will always be challenging as natural ecosystems are often vulnerable to loss or degradation, bringing the risk of carbon sinks being lost.
Technological carbon removals have the potential to provide permanence and for the carbon to be more easily measured and quantified (in some technologies). However, they are currently more expensive and considered to have as-yet unproven viability at scale. As emerging technologies, they are also yet to have the standardised methodologies and mechanics for accounting and verification of other solutions. Perhaps the most significant concern however relates to the perception that their investment will come at the expense of preserving and restoring natural systems.
But that shouldn’t be the case. In fact, we will need both, at scale, on the journey to net zero. Rather than pit one solution against another, realising the potential of both is the best chance we have of achieving our goals.
Why invest in technological removals today?
While we can invest in nature-based solutions today at comparatively low cost, and we should do this, investment in T-CDR is also essential today to enable these mechanisms to develop, scale and reach their potential in the coming decades as our climate deadlines near and we will need them most.
Due to the cumulative warming potential of CO2 in the atmosphere, the implementation of carbon removal technology is essential as soon as possible. Delaying removals will lessen the chances of these technologies effectively limiting global warming.
What does this mean for your organisational climate strategy?
It is widely accepted (by international target and claim standards such as the Science Based Target initiative, and the Oxford Offsetting Principles) that to achieve net zero, companies will eventually be required to eliminate residual emissions with carbon removals. Removals will also be particularly material for hard-to-abate sectors who are likely to be most exposed to rising costs of carbon and the pressures to decarbonise.
Consequently, the demand for removals is set to increase along with cost and competition over supply. Making investments into key projects and technologies could therefore pay dividends (or carbon credits) in future, and having a diverse portfolio of removals can limit risk and increase advantage.
Very few corporates are making investments in the space of T-CDR yet, which also provides the opportunity of the first-mover advantage in this space. Plus attending to legacy emissions becomes a possibility and could be the next frontier of climate leadership for organisations.
Ultimately, there is no time to lose in advancing all elements of our climate strategies and this includes CDR. If viewed as complimentary to science-aligned reductions and nature-based restoration, investing today can ensure we will have the broadest range of technically and financially viable solutions to tackle the climate crisis.
[1]https://www.ipcc.ch/report/ar6/wg3/downloads/outreach/IPCC_AR6_WGIII_Factsheet_CDR.pdf
Tackling the burning issue of cleaner cooking
According to the World Health Organization (WHO) 2.4 billion people worldwide still cook using traditional open fires and inefficient cookstoves.…
According to the World Health Organization (WHO) 2.4 billion people worldwide still cook using traditional open fires and inefficient cookstoves. This leaves them vulnerable to indoor air pollution and at risk of noncommunicable respiratory diseases. It is estimated that household pollution was responsible for 3.2 million premature deaths per year in 2020[1].
Women are most likely to be affected by the health impacts at home, but also more likely to be responsible for the burdensome task of collecting wood fuel to feed these stoves. Consequently, there is less time to focus on other revenue generating activities, which ultimately means less time for their own personal development.
Vertree and its implementation partner on the ground in India, have a vision to tackle these issues and ensure that women in rural communities are the ones who benefit most.
A cleaner cookstove initiative in Odisha
Odisha is a remote rural village in one of India’s least developed states where the community has limited access to alternative cooking methods.
Each family in the project area consumes on average 3.9kg of wood each day cooking meals, making tea, preparing animal feed and processing crops. This wood is burned inside the homes in inefficient open fires.
The project aims to distribute 500,000 high-efficiency cookstoves which will benefit over 2 million individuals in the locality. The stoves are around 3 times more efficient than traditional wood burning stoves and they are portable so they can be used outside, freeing the home from dangerous indoor pollutants.
The “Greenway” stoves are a well-known and popular brand in India but too expensive for these residents were it not for the substantial subsidy that the project and carbon market finance facilitate.
Ensuring the integrity of a cleaner cookstove
The project is focused on the rural community of Odisha which is selected on the basis of need. Local communities here have less access to alternative and more efficient methods of cooking, ensuring that this project is delivering positive impact.
One-to-one advice and support is provided to ensure the effective use of the stove, with the stoves delivered direct to each village and individual users.
The project samples users to measure how much firewood is saved in order to understand the impacts been made as accurately as possible.
The proportion of fuel wood which would be classified as renewable (i.e biomass that naturally replenishes itself) is deducted from any emissions avoidance calculation and the stove efficiency over time is accounted for and tracked.
The hope is that the project can achieve it’s target of 500,000 cookstoves and continue to deliver positive benefits for the community of Odisha in the years to come.
[1] World Health Organization, Household air pollution (who.int)
If you are interested in supporting this project or finding out more, please contact sales@vertree.earth
© Photography by Enric Català Contreras
