#160 Climate Philanthropy, Reducing Carbon Removal Cost, Anti-GHG, & More w/ Adam Fraser (Terraset)

🌎 Welcome back to the CleanTechies PodLetter, Philanthropy edition?

Today, we are talking to Adam Fraser from Terraset

In this episode, we discuss:

* The state of philanthropic capital in climate and the need for more

* The in’s and out’s of carbon removal projects

* Adam’s journey from journalism to being “anti-GHG”

And a lot, lot more.

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The Guest: Adam Fraser

* Adam is the CEO of Terraset where he leads the organization in collecting donations and investing those into important carbon removal projects

* He started off with a career as a Journalist for ~6 years before moving into communications and leadership roles in the Sports world

* Before joining Terraset, he led global development and a program to use sports to end various inequalities under the patronage of Nelson Mandela

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The 501c3: Terraset

Climate scientists agree: it's not enough just to reduce emissions. We also need to remove large amounts of carbon dioxide already in the atmosphere. Carbon removal solutions exist, but they're not growing fast enough, and there aren’t enough of them. We need to rapidly accelerate the deployment of permanent, high-quality carbon removal. To do that, we need policy change, corporate buyers, venture capital, philanthropic support - we need it all. They secure funding via tax-deductible donations from people, foundations, family offices, and donor advised funds, and use it to make strategic purchases of high-quality carbon removal. They use research from leading climate organisations like Frontier and CarbonPlan and evaluate potential recipients against strict criteria to ensure donations drive real impact on the planet.

Donors include Grantham Foundation, Conscience Bay Research, Tim Ferriss, Segment co-founder Calvin French-Owen, and multiple other funds and people who want to shape the future of the carbon removal market.

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📝 Show Notes:

Topics

* 04:48 The State of Philanthropic Capital and Climate

* 06:52 Challenges in Philanthropic Investment in Climate

* 11:05 Being Anti-GHG and the Importance of Carbon Removal

* 13:45 Different Carbon Removal Technologies

* 16:32 Transition from Journalism to Philanthropy

* 22:45 Efficiency and Scalability of Philanthropic Capital

* 34:08 The CDR Landscape and Evaluation

* 40:41 Donor Profiles and Funding Sources

* 47:03 Genesis of Terraset and the "anti-GHG" Approach

* 50:00 Optimism and Urgency for the Future

Links

* Adam Fraser | Terraset

* Connect with Somil | Connect with Silas

* Check out our sponsor, NextWave Partners, for all your Climate, Renewables, and Sustainability recruitment needs.

* This podcast is NOT investment advice. Do your homework and due diligence before investing in anything discussed on this podcast.

Asks 👋

* Have a specific guest or topic you’d like us to discuss? Leave a comment and let us know.

Here’s the thing: Somil and I both have day jobs, so if you’re in the helping mood, we both have an ask for you today.

Somil: I’m currently seeking to connect with founders in the built environment space for a project I’m working on. If you’re in that space, schedule a chat here!

Silas: As many of you know, my day job is solving people’s hiring headaches in climate - do you have a hiring headache? Well, let me be your Advil. (booking here)

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🙏🏽 Thanks for tuning in, and see you all next episode!

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