Untangling Climate Finance FEATURED EPISODE: Why Climate Capital Isn’t Flowing – and How to Fix It with Sean Penrith of Gordian Knot Strategies
Aug 3, 2026
Sean Penrith, CEO of Gordian Knot Strategies, a climate finance adviser mobilizing capital for nature-based solutions. He traces his shift from entrepreneurship to climate finance. He explains why capital stalls: a nature-negative economy, missing standards, unclear risk/return, and unpaid ecosystem services. He highlights forests, mangroves, regenerative ag, consumer banking choices, and the role of carbon markets in channeling funds to the Global South.
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From Atlantic Sail To Sustainable Glass
- Sean started as an entrepreneur after sailing to Argentina, then co-founded a sustainable glass company and served as its CEO for 14 years.
- He later moved to Portland, launched an impact fund, and founded Gordian Knot Strategies to translate between capital and climate projects.
GKS Goal And The Funding Disparity
- Gordian Knot Strategies aims to mobilize $1B per year by 2030 and has mobilized $1.67B to date, leaving room to scale.
- Sean frames the core obstacle as finance flows favoring extractive activities over nature-positive solutions.
Nature Negative Economy Starves Climate Finance
- Climate capital stalls because a nature-negative economy channels ~$5 trillion/year into extractive activities while only ~$35 billion goes to nature-positive efforts.
- Ecosystem services are treated as public goods with no clear price, so investors lack standard risk/return frameworks.
