The Net Zero Life

#41 Regenerating Nature Through Capital with Manuel Pinuela of Cultivo

Today on the podcast I’m speaking with Manuel Pinuela, co-founder and CEO of Cultivo. a company focused on unlocking capital to regenerate nature. Unlocking capital is investment dollars spent on restoring land to its “original” state or at the very least improving its biodiversity through ecosystem growth. Regenerative capital is investment dollars that are put towards improving degraded land and creating improved outcomes for nature. In the episode, we discuss Manuel's lengthy journey to Cultivo, his understanding of land degradation and what can be done about it, and some of the ecosystems he hopes to one day restore. You can keep up with Manuel on LinkedIn [https://www.linkedin.com/in/manuel-pinuela/] and Twitter [https://twitter.com/ManuelPinuela], and you can follow Cultivo's newest at their aptly named website, cultivo.land [https://cultivo.land/]. Keep up with the show by following The Net Zero Life onTwitter [https://twitter.com/thenetzerolife]andInstagram [https://www.instagram.com/thenetzerolife/](@thenetzerolife). You can also get in touch atwww.thenetzerolife.com [http://www.thenetzerolife.com]or via email atnathan@thenetzerolife.com [nathan@thenetzerolife.com].

#40 Sustainable Food and Refrigeration with Manik Suri, Founder and CEO of Therma

Today on the podcast we hear from Manik Suri, Founder and CEO of Therma, a technology startup whose mission is to help protect our food, health and planet. Manik had storied careers as an investment banker working on Wall Street, then as a Harvard trained lawyer working on Capital hill and yet he pivoted from New York and DC to join the ranks of Silicon Valley founders in order to fight climate change. Manik founded Therma in 2019, to eliminate food waste, improve energy efficiency and reduce refrigerant emissions, three critical aspects of a net zero future. If these concepts sound foreign and unrelated to your daily life, fear not we get into them in detail, during the show. On the flipside, companies you’ve likely heard of companies that work with Therma to reduce their emissions. Namely, McDonalds, Starbucks, NOW Foods, 7-Eleven and Marriott Hotels. Manik’s pivot from a trajectory destined for the met gala to the chewing on glass life as an entrepreneur is one example of many where individuals are making career altering decisions to help move the world closer to net zero emissions. Manik pulls back the curtain on  the “why” behind his move and at the same time this episode puts a spotlight on an emission area that is significantly less well known, “cold chain emissions.” You can keep up with Manik on LinkedIn [https://www.linkedin.com/in/maniksuri/] and Twitter [https://twitter.com/ManikVSuri], and you can follow Therma's newest Research and Impact [https://www.hellotherma.com/research-and-impact] at their website. Keep up with the show by following The Net Zero Life onTwitter [https://twitter.com/thenetzerolife]andInstagram [https://www.instagram.com/thenetzerolife/](@thenetzerolife). You can also get in touch atwww.thenetzerolife.com [http://www.thenetzerolife.com]or via email atnathan@thenetzerolife.com [nathan@thenetzerolife.com].

#39 Reporting on the Climate Space with Akshat Rathi of Bloomberg Green

Climate change is a relatively new science. The impacts of that scientific research can have massive impacts on how governments, companies, and even individuals can think about their role in preventing climate change. Yet distilling that knowledge requires a pair of skills few people have: first, the ability to comprehend the science and second, the skills to distill it to an understandable level for a non-expert. Our guest today, Dr. Akshat Rathi, Senior Report for Climate at Bloomberg News, has made it his mission to do just that. Through his weekly newsletter and podcasts, Akshat covers physical and human solutions to the challenge of a global net zero transition. He is careful to cover the companies and people who are making a real impact. During the episode we discuss Akshat’s unique pivot from a PHD in Organic Chemistry  to journalism, his keys to writing accurate and accessible climate coverage, and how he measures the impact of his work on his readers and listeners. You can keep up with Akshat on LinkedIn [https://www.linkedin.com/in/akshatrathi/] and Twitter [https://twitter.com/AkshatRathi], and you can find his work in his newsletter [https://www.linkedin.com/newsletters/net-zero-6640600928812617729/] and podcast [https://t.co/GSEKKUmr5z]. Keep up with the show by following The Net Zero Life onTwitter [https://twitter.com/thenetzerolife]andInstagram [https://www.instagram.com/thenetzerolife/](@thenetzerolife). You can also get in touch atwww.thenetzerolife.com [http://www.thenetzerolife.com]or via email atnathan@thenetzerolife.com [nathan@thenetzerolife.com].

#38 Rating Carbon Markets with Ted Christie Miller, Head of Carbon removal at BeZero Carbon

As part of the flow of capital in investments such as stocks and bonds, investment vehicles are rated by trusted services to help investors make informed decisions. This creates more opportunities for innovators and entrepreneurs by encouraging more capital flowing across global financial markets. The same must happen to carbon markets to build a net zero future, and today I’m speaking with Ted Christie Miller, Head of Carbon removal at BeZero Carbon, about the role of Global Carbon Ratings and how they facilitate greater trust and transparency in carbon markets. To close any remaining gap between emission reductions and a net zero future, we need to build a massive carbon market. According to the IPCC, we need to be sequestering as much as 10 BILLION tons of CO2 across the globe by 2050 to reach net zero. And the key ingredient to expand these voluntary and regulatory carbon markets from millions to billions of tons is trust. Companies, governments, and even individuals need to trust that their carbon credit, offset, or removal purchases are accomplishing the thing they claim to do: namely, removing carbon dioxide from the atmosphere. Our guest today, Ted Christie Miller, is an expert in carbon removal and carbon markets. He is currently the Head of Carbon Removal at BeZero Carbon where he leads research, ratings and partnerships team for engineered carbon removal for the BeZero Carbon Markets platform. The Be Zero Markets Platform grades carbon offset and removal projects on their likeliness to reduce emissions. This streamlines companies and governments decisions as they look to reduce their carbon output outside their operations. You can keep up with Ted on LinkedIn [https://www.linkedin.com/in/ted-christie-miller-040280b3/] and Twitter [https://twitter.com/tedcmiller], and you can check out BeZero Carbon on Twitter [https://twitter.com/bezerocarbon] for updates on their work. Keep up with the show by following The Net Zero Life onTwitter [https://twitter.com/thenetzerolife]andInstagram [https://www.instagram.com/thenetzerolife/](@thenetzerolife). You can also get in touch atwww.thenetzerolife.com [http://www.thenetzerolife.com]or via email atnathan@thenetzerolife.com [nathan@thenetzerolife.com]. Other show notes: Ted's Suggested Readings * Net Zero: How We Stop Causing Climate Change by Dieter Helm [https://bookshop.org/p/books/net-zero-how-we-stop-causing-climate-change-dieter-helm/16227996] * Climate Change and the Nation State: The Case for Nationalism in a Warming World by Anatol Lieven [https://bookshop.org/p/books/climate-change-and-the-nation-state-the-case-for-nationalism-in-a-warming-world-anatol-lieven/13108508] * Business Green [https://www.businessgreen.com/] * Carbon Brief [https://www.carbonbrief.org/] * NoahPinion (Noah Smith on Substack) [https://noahpinion.substack.com/] Ted's Suggested People/Companies to Check Out * Richard Howard [https://twitter.com/rdhoward] * Na’im Merchant [https://twitter.com/naimmerchant?lang=en] * Joss Garman [https://europeanclimate.org/member/garman-joss/] * Open Air [https://openaircollective.cc/] * Planetary Tech [https://www.planetarytech.com/science/] * Captura [https://capturacorp.com/]

#37 Energy Innovation Towards Net Zero with Bryan Trudel Co-founder of Avatar Innovations

In the 2022 Inflation Reduction Act, President Biden asked energy companies to pump more oil, drill more wells and overall increase fossil fuel production at the behest of the American public. Energy companies have built the existing infrastructure, provided critical resources, including meeting energy demand, and they want to protect what they built. At times that has come at a cost to the climate, the speed at which we will achieve net zero emissions, and public trust.  Nonetheless it’s important to identify good partners, and today’s guest, Bryan Trudel is one of those partners. Bryan is the CFO and Co-founder of Avatar Innovations, [https://www.avatarinnovations.energy/] a venture studio focused on energy innovation towards net zero. Reality has moved the goalposts for energy companies, and now they have to focus on a net zero future—both to save the planet and to make a profit. In service of this vision, Avatar incubates new energy companies that include net zero in their strategic business plan. On today's episode, we discuss how and why he got to this point, as well as how his work is helping change the minds of other players in the energy space in the episode. You can keep up with Bryan on LinkedIn [https://www.linkedin.com/in/bryan-trudel-3176061/] and follow Avatar on Instagram [https://www.instagram.com/avatar_innovations/] for updates on their work. Keep up with the show by following The Net Zero Life onTwitter [https://twitter.com/thenetzerolife]andInstagram [https://www.instagram.com/thenetzerolife/](@thenetzerolife). You can also get in touch atwww.thenetzerolife.com [http://www.thenetzerolife.com]or via email atnathan@thenetzerolife.com [nathan@thenetzerolife.com]. Other show notes: Bryan's Suggested Readings * How Innovation Works: And Why It Flourishes in Freedom by Matt Ridley [https://bookshop.org/p/books/how-innovation-works-and-why-it-flourishes-in-freedom-matt-ridley/13195935] * How to Avoid a Climate Disaster: The Solutions We Have and the Breakthroughs We Need by Bill Gates [https://bookshop.org/p/books/how-to-avoid-a-climate-disaster-the-solutions-we-have-and-the-breakthroughs-we-need-bill-gates/13276281] * The Hard Thing about Hard Things: Building a Business When There Are No Easy Answers by Ben Horowitz [https://bookshop.org/p/books/the-hard-thing-about-hard-things-building-a-business-when-there-are-no-easy-answers-ben-horowitz/6432758] * Arc Energy Ideas Podcast [https://open.spotify.com/show/2ojVqYF8HKRLHLxMb06RlK?si=sd7IRD0XT22wVWjYlc0z5Q&nd=1]