Every week, Edward Smith invites carbon market enthusiasts for a call to discuss the biggest news stories of that week. For this episode of This Week in Carbon, moderator Edward Smith welcomed Rene Velasquez and Elizabeth Aldrich.Together, they unpack a critical moment for the voluntary carbon market—where trust is low, demand is uncertain, and integrity is under pressure. Lizzie Aldrich shares her frontline experience as one of the few people actually deploying large-scale capital into forest carbon, offering sharp insight into what’s working, what’s stalling, and what needs to change.The episode covers:

Why corporate buyers are pulling back—and what it means for project developers
The real-world challenges of Article 6 implementation, from authorization bottlenecks to host country risk
The growing importance of trust, safe harbor protections, and clarity for market actors
The gap between ambition and financing on the ground
Why data is powerful—but relationships are still at the heart of integrity

This is a grounded, field-informed conversation that cuts through the noise and focuses on what really matters for scaling high-integrity climate action.Welcome to the Carbon Exposure Project.Articles: https://www.ecosystemmarketplace.com/... https://www.ieta.org/resources/papers...

Alison L. Gascoigne

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