Synopsis
In the fight against climate change, the world cannot wait for some hoped-for perfect solution in the future. The crisis is upon us, and we need action now.
We need as many different strategies, tools, and ideas as possible; and we need them working right away. We need an all-of-the-above solution.
One such solution is the Voluntary Carbon Market (VCM).
The VCM is not the solution to climate change. But it is a solution.
In Carbon Done Correctly, Richard H. Lawrence, Jr. introduces the VCM through the lens of unsung heroes around the globe who are on the front lines of the fight against climate change.
The story begins in Honduras, where Proyecto Mirador builds fuel-efficient cookstoves in rural communities. Richard tells how a medical mission in the wake of Hurricane Mitch in 1998 spawned a multi-decade venture to build better, cleaner stoves which improve the lives of people in Honduras while reducing carbon emissions into our atmosphere. Always at the center of the story are the remarkable people who made it all possible.
But Proyecto Mirador needed funding to continue its work. Enter the VCM. Richard describes the process of Gold Standard Certification, by which an organization becomes eligible to sell carbon credits, and the subsequent establishing of Cool Effect, a crowdfunding marketplace for carbon-reducing projects around the world.
As Richard shows, for the VCM to succeed and reach its true global potential, transparency and quality must be at the heart of carbon-reducing projects: these projects must reach the Top of the Pyramid.
In Carbon Done Correctly, you will be inspired by the stories of the work that people are doing to combat climate change, and you will see how the VCM provides an essential tool in helping them, and other people in the future, continue and improve that work for the benefit of our planet.
Details
30 January 2024
9781804090619Reviews
Richard Lawrence is a true climate hero. For someone with more than a full-time job in finance, he spends a completely unreasonable amount of time, money, passion and creativity fighting for climate solutions. Here he focuses on the vital role Voluntary Carbon Markets need to play; on the dedicated people who drive it forward; and on the need to blend integrity with practical market success.Jeremy Grantham, Co-founder and Chairman, The Grantham Foundation for the Protection of the Environment
From its opening chapters to its insightful conclusions, Carbon Done Correctly shows how high-quality carbon projects [in the Global South] and the Voluntary Carbon Market can—and must—be a vital part of the world’s solution to climate change.Bola Olusanya, Vice President and Chief Investment Officer, The Nature Conservancy
The global climate crisis urgently demands billions of dollars to fund decarbonization projects around the world. The Voluntary Carbon Market, if done right, can do just that—and people like Richard and Dee Lawrence have dedicated themselves to make the market achieve its full potential. Carbon Done Correctly is a book all should read.Bill Winters, CEO, Standard Chartered
To address climate change, we need all the tools at our disposal. The Voluntary Carbon Market is a much misunderstood and powerful tool that we cannot afford to neglect. Too little has been written of note on these issues, and nothing with the level of detail and example you will find here.Ricardo Bayon, Co-author of Voluntary Carbon Markets: An International Business Guide to What They Are and How They Work; Adjunct Professor of Environmental Studies, Brown University
