Tim Christophersen

In my experience, having strong core values is key - not only for individuals, but also for companies. They can help companies to steer through rough patches, keeping company culture intact and staff engaged in tough times. However, it is not enough to write down the values and share them with staff. They have to be living, breathing part of the company culture, with all leaders acting as role models. For example at Salesforce our five core values are Trust, Customer Success, Innovation, Equality and Sustainability. Executive pay is in part linked to achieving certain diversity and sustainability goals. What the world is missing at the moment in my view is a comprehensive sustainability assessment framework for corporate leadership.

There are now more and more useful 'how to' guides for sound reforestation and restoration projects. At the strategic level, the NBS Global Standard by IUCN is useful to ensure the right scale for project planning. At the landscape level for large landscapes (60k+ hectares), I can highly recommend the '4Returns Framework' by Commonland, and for more tactical, project level guidance there are useful frameworks like the 'Standards of practice to guide ecosystem restoration: A contribution to the United Nations Decade on Ecosystem Restoration 2021–2030' by the Society for Ecological Restoration'. For carbon projects in particular, I like the new approach of the Ecosystem Restoration Standard, ERS.org.

I recommend investing both in nature-based carbon credits (because of the multiple benefits for people and nature) and in technology, because of the need to scale approaches and bring down costs. The core carbon principles of the ICVCM are a good guide, and when it comes to purchasing carbon credits, rating agencies like Sylvera, BeZero, Calyx Global can help to find high quality. Let's remember that while emission reductions across the entire value chain must be the top priority, it is no longer enough. Companies should also invest in climate & nature action beyond their value chain, in parallel to reducing emissions. The VCM can generate much needed knowledge and experience for bringing climate action to planetary scale.

I recommend a holistic strategy that invests both in deep emission reductions, and at the same time also invests in climate action through the voluntary carbon market. Reduce & invest should be the motto for all large companies! When it comes to VCM investing, rating agencies like Sylvera are very useful. Investing in nature-based solutions can deliver powerful benefits beyond carbon, e.g. for biodiversity, livelihoods, resilience, and other ecosystem services. There are now several bespoke funds that can cater to any carbon investment needs, large or small. The VCM has seen substantive improvements over the past months in integrity of demand, quality of supply, and transparency of transactions - though much more work to do. Please engage!

There have been huge advances in technology for monitoring of biodiversity. With automated bio-acoustic monitoring, we can now detect species across an entire landscape in a cost-effective way. In combination with eDNA analysis of water and soil samples, this can give quick baseline information of key species on a project site. Salesforce has launched a Nature Tech Alliance (with ERM, NatureMetrics and Planet Labs) to support companies that are entering the biodiversity space and need baselines for their nature strategies. We also invest in companies like Sylvera that use AI to analyze forest projects. Bringing down costs and increasing quality of monitoring biodiversity will see further advances in coming months and years.