Raised in the Caribbean, Andre Fernandez, CEO of Invert, witnessed firsthand the devastation wreaked by hurricanes and how climate change exacerbated them. His concern inspired him to found Invert to tap into nature-based climate capital solutions.

Environmental Finance: Why are natural climate solutions so important to the voluntary carbon market?

André Fernandez: Put simply, half of the planet's GDP is dependent on nature, which means preserving and restoring natural ecosystems is crucial to our long-term survival. Unfortunately, despite a surge in companies committing to net zero, only a fraction are on track to meet those targets by 2050. That's where high-integrity carbon credits can make an impact, enabling companies to boost their decarbonisation efforts while delivering critical social and environmental benefits.

Each year, 4 to 6 billion tonnes of carbon dioxide are released due to land use changes, while nature sequesters between 2 to 3 billion tonnes of carbon dioxide annually. So, by channelling finance and capital from developed countries into lower-cost decarbonisation solutions, such as conserving or restoring forests in the global South, we can make a significant impact on climate change.

EF: What are some of the most impactful projects that your team has worked on?

AF: We have a portfolio of Improved Forest Management (IFM) projects in Mexico, which collectively protect nearly 100,000 hectares of land, having already removed 1 million tonnes of carbon and issuing 1 million credits for buyers. Not only does this help decarbonise, it also contributes to the community directly.

For example, carbon funds are being used to hire and train fire brigades who can respond when a fire begins and hopefully stop the fire from growing into a major incident. The ejidos – Mexico's unique communal farms – are also setting aside 25% of their carbon revenues to fund ongoing monitoring and cover the costs of fire protection programs.

In Brazil, our Jatobá project protects over 94,000 hectares from planned deforestation and forest degradation. The project creates benefits for climate, community, and biodiversity through forest conservation and social development, as well as preserving the home of several species classified as Vulnerable and Critically Endangered. At the same time, we have deployed satellites to deliver internet access to remote areas and surveillance boats to enable forest monitoring. These projects underline how we can have an enormous environmental impact while creating employment opportunities and improving infrastructure.

EF: Academic rigour is central to your mission; what role does it play in these projects?

AF: Education plays a pivotal role in helping clients understand and engage with the voluntary carbon market. Our in-house technical team has more than 80 years collective experience with the academic credentials to back it up, not least in developing several methodologies regarding IFM and biochar utilisation.

EF: What are the key challenges faced by governments and corporations when it comes to decarbonisation?

AF: The cost of only decarbonising within value chains remains prohibitive. That means there is a need for decarbonisation via carbon credits and investments beyond the value chain; however, the lack of global consistency and stability is off-putting. Unstable regulatory environments hinder investment, making it difficult for companies and governments to commit to long-term decarbonisation efforts. Stability in the regulatory landscape is essential to increase investment and achieve meaningful progress.

As a result, there is a valuable opportunity to shape frameworks that bridge these regulatory gaps, particularly when it comes to ESG integration, carbon accounting, and policy harmonisation to attract large-scale financial institutions to invest in natural assets

EF: Which trends will shape the future carbon market?

AF: The main trend we are seeing is a bifurcation in the market as companies increasingly switch to high-quality, high-integrity credits. Currently, most of the supply consists of lower-quality credits; however, as new methodologies are approved and credits are issued through higher-quality standards, the market will bifurcate between high-quality credits that command a premium and lower-quality supply.

The problem, then, is that this shift in demand will potentially outstrip supply. As a result, companies will want to lock in longer-term off-take agreements to ensure access to high-quality credits and minimise price risk. At the same time, we are seeing lots of new technologies for monitoring, measurement, and verification come to market, helping to reduce costs and increase quality.

It is also important to remember that half of our global income is dependent on nature, so, in an ideal world, half of investment should go into conservation or restoration. However, there is a large gap in the market: companies like ours are early-stage investors of catalytic capital in the $1-10 million range, while larger investors typically look at $50 million upwards, which leaves a vast mushy middle ground that is underserved from investment

With the Carbon Offsetting and Reduction Scheme for International Aviation (CORSIA) and Article 6.2 of the Paris Agreement coming into effect, not to mention COP30, now is the time for every business and investor to engage with the carbon credit market and find a way to scale early-stage solutions more rapidly.

For more information, see: https://invert.world/