Podcast, Interview
Diego Saez Gil - How Pachama Uses Tech to Solve Climate Change
- Y Combinator intends to continue releasing "carbon request for startup" documents, with the first iteration released approximately one year prior.
- Diego Saez-Gil predicts hundreds of billions of dollars will flow to climate solutions over the next few decades, noting capital flow has grown 50% year over year since the Paris Agreement and is expected to continue as regulations increase.
- The Corsia framework, starting in 2021, is anticipated to drive a demand of 160 million tons of carbon offsets per year, specifically compelling all airlines to offset emissions from that year forward.
- Future market evolution is expected to include diverse actors such as governments, regulated industries, voluntary companies, and consumers, with an expectation that regulations will impose offset obligations on big polluters, energy, transportation, and industrial sectors.
- The platform plans to expand data models to cover the entire planet using NASA's JEDI LiDAR data scheduled for release in November.
- Strategic initiatives include onboarding projects beyond the current scope to visualize impact (e.g., protecting specific counts of soccer fields of forest) and creating a content strategy to increase market clarity and awareness regarding carbon offsets.
- New protocols are planned to weigh biodiversity data alongside carbon credits, moving beyond current requirements where biodiversity is merely tested.
- The company aims to facilitate funding for reforestation and forest conservation, with plans to eventually handle other nature-based solutions such as blue carbon and regenerative agriculture.
- Future endeavors will focus on agroforestry and permaculture to help these practices generate additional income through carbon credits while supporting a growing population.
- Long-term goals include partnering with existing registries to improve their protocols and transitioning the market from paper trail systems to fully digital, traceable assets.
- The vision involves Pachama becoming a platform for deeply understanding all global ecosystems, potentially serving as an operating manual with data down to the genetic composition of every organism.
- Opportunities for "AI plus X" solutions are planned for publication, covering optimization of shipments, travel, nuclear safety, smart cities, electric grids, and efficient agriculture.
- Major tech companies like Google, Microsoft, and Apple are expected to maintain areas of focus on climate change where software engineers can contribute.
- Consumers are anticipated to drive carbon footprint responsibility through spending decisions, supported by the expectation that more regulations will emerge.
- Founders are advised to spend about a year in a research phase talking to experts before starting ventures, as future projects may take a longer approach to the research phase.