Miles Austin

EVERYONE SAYS CLIMATE TECH HAS A FUNDING GAP. WE SEE IT DIFFERENTLY. The real bottleneck isn’t capital; global liquidity is abundant. It’s financial infrastructure: the rails that turn climate projects into investable, liquid, and tradable assets. That’s why at Contrarian Ventures, we developed the Climate Liquidity Stack: our mental model for how trust, financing, and secondary markets unlock capital across asset classes. Here’s what we found: ⚡ Utility-scale renewables are bankable, but secondary markets are still clunky, and assets aren’t as easily tradable as other financial products. 🔍Missing: smarter PPA tools, developer CRMs, workflow automation to cut soft costs. ⚡ Mid-scale infrastructure is stuck in “deal-by-deal hell.” 🔍Missing: platforms that standardize, aggregate, and securitize portfolios so institutions can invest. ⚡ Distributed assets (solar, heat pumps, EV chargers) are booming in adoption but remain uninvestable at scale. 🔍Missing: registries, standardized MRV, aggregation, and rails to bundle millions of small assets into liquid products. ⚡ FOAK technologies (hydrogen, DAC, storage) have no rails at all. 🔍Missing: venture project finance, MRV standards, and risk-sharing tools to make first deployments bankable. 🚀 Are you building the financial architecture to make green energy a true asset class? We want to hear from you. We believe now is the moment to build. Green assets are scaling. Institutional capital is searching for yield. The systems to connect the two are still missing. That’s the white space, and the opportunity. 👉 Swipe through the carousel for our key insights. 📄 Full deep dive is linked in the comments, written by our Principal Robina von Stein. Tell us what you think and where you agree or disagree. 📬 Subscribe to our Substack for more sharp takes, deep dives, and founder-first insights - straight from the Contrarian team.

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🌿 Blue carbon ecosystems — like mangroves, salt marshes and seagrasses — are among the planet’s most powerful natural climate solutions. Yet the countries that need them most often struggle to access the finance to protect them. A new piece by Context Newsroom highlights this growing challenge. Despite holding immense value — potentially worth up to $190 billion a year if traded on carbon markets according to The World Bank — blue carbon ecosystems remain underfunded and under threat from aquaculture, land conversion, infrastructure expansion, deforestation, and pollution. 💡 The World Economic Forum launched the Blue Carbon Action Partnership (BCAP) to help close this gap — working to unlock investment in nature-based solutions by supporting national strategies, surfacing investable projects, and improving integrity in emerging blue carbon markets. 🇵🇭🇮🇩 In 2023, the Philippines and Indonesia, home to some of the world's richest blue carbon ecosystems joined BCAP and have since drafted national plans to safeguard these vital coastal assets. But major obstacles remain — from high transaction costs and unresolved questions around land and carbon ownership. Addressing these challenges is essential to fully realize blue carbon’s potential — for nature, for people, and for climate. 📘 Read the full story: https://lnkd.in/eq-fKk-i Alfredo Giron Nava, Emily Kelly, James Tops, Erin Skoczylas, Defne Sallı Philippines National Blue Carbon Action Partnership, Indonesia National Blue Carbon Action Partnership, Mariejo Ramos, Sophie Jones

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Climate metrics are well established. But when it comes to #nature, the sheer volume of potential indicators (often in the thousands) can slow action. That’s starting to shift. Initiatives like Taskforce on Nature-related Financial Disclosures (TNFD) and the Nature Positive Initiative are working toward alignment. But many sustainability leaders still face a critical question: How do you choose metrics that are credible, comparable, and decision-ready? This blog breaks down the most used “state of nature” metrics — like the Biodiversity Intactness Index and STAR — and explains when to rely on global models and when local insight is essential. Explore how clear nature metrics support confident, #TNFD-aligned decision-making. Pick up the link in the comments 👇

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Carbon Credits Explained: Compliance vs Voluntary Carbon markets are shaping the future of climate action—but not all carbon credits are created equal. Here’s the breakdown: ⚖️ Compliance Markets (aka “cap-and-trade”): These are government-mandated systems. Companies must stay within set emission limits. If they go over, they must buy credits from others who emitted less. It’s about meeting regulations—doing the bare minimum to comply with the law. 💡 Voluntary Carbon Markets (VCM): Here, businesses (and even individuals) go beyond compliance. They buy credits to reduce, protect, or remove carbon voluntarily—driven by sustainability goals, brand responsibility, and environmental awareness. 💲 The Price Gap: Compliance: $1–$105 per ton (driven by allowance prices) Voluntary: $0.5–$130 per ton (driven by project type & quality) 🌱 Impact Difference: Compliance → Ensures minimum legal obligations. Voluntary → Can deliver high environmental uplift, funding forest protection, renewable energy, and community projects worldwide. 🚀 Why It Matters: Compliance markets keep businesses accountable. Voluntary markets unlock innovation, ambition, and true climate leadership. 👉 The takeaway? Companies serious about climate action shouldn’t just “play by the rules.” They should choose to go beyond compliance—because the planet doesn’t reward the bare minimum. Which one do you think drives real climate impact—compliance or voluntary? Natalia CortesNeeraj BhallaSamantha Y.Fernando R D L.David Bundi #CarbonMarkets #ClimateAction #Sustainability #NetZero Image Credit: Karbon Hero

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💨 Unmasking Scope 4: The Missing Link in Climate Accounting 🌍 Most discussions on emissions stop at Scope 1, 2, and 3. Yet one of the most impactful dimensions of carbon reduction often remains outside the frame — Scope 4, or avoided emissions. Though not officially recognized by the GHG Protocol, Scope 4 is becoming a crucial concept in the transition to net zero. It focuses on the emissions prevented through smarter choices, innovations, and design: ✅ Switching from diesel to electric vehicles ✅ Using renewable energy and efficient materials ✅ Providing services that help clients reduce emissions ✅ Creating products that enable low-carbon lifestyles Traditional accounting only measures what is emitted. Scope 4 measures what is avoided — the positive ripple effect of sustainable actions that reduce emissions beyond a company’s direct footprint. Recognizing avoided emissions helps to: 🌱 Drive innovation and low-carbon solutions 🌍 Encourage investment in sustainable technologies ⚡ Highlight long-term systems change 🏗️ Promote responsible design and production choices Scope 4 reframes the conversation — from counting emissions to valuing avoided impact. The next era of sustainability demands this broader, forward-looking perspective. Nugroho Adi SasongkoFahad Al-ShubailyKevin RochfordFabio A.M.B. Catino #Scope4 #CarbonAccounting #Sustainability #NetZero #ESG #ClimateAction #GreenEconomy #Innovation Image credit: agendi

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🗺️ What if every NDC came with a blueprint to deliver it? Launched today at Climate Week NYC, Sweden – The Climate Matchmaker for Global Action does exactly that. Built on ClimateView’s Transition Element Framework (TEF), the report matches global climate challenges with proven solutions and enabling conditions - sector by sector. As NDC3.0 takes shape after the first Global Stocktake, this report shows how to turn targets into actionable, investable transitions backed by real projects with solutions that already exist. “The time is now. The race is on. Together, let’s bridge the implementation gaps.” Download it here: https://lnkd.in/dnnx3VJE #ClimateWeekNYC #NDCs #COP30 #ClimateAction #Sweden

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