The Carbon Exposure Project is back to wrap up Season 3 of the Carbon Exposure Project after the summer break!

This week, we sit down in Singapore with John Sharp, co-founder of Hatcher — an investor, technologist, and builder who has helped raise hundreds of millions for nature-based climate projects.

John brings a rare investor’s lens to the voluntary carbon markets: what really happened after the Guardian exposé, why investor confidence evaporated, and how capital is now pivoting toward infrastructure-grade climate solutions.

From the rise and fall of Carbon Nation to bold bets on green steel, carbontech, and even a space-based sunshield, this episode explores where the next generation of climate investments will come from — and what makes them truly bankable.

💡 In this episode:

💸 The Carbon Nation story — raising $250M for nature-based solutions before the 2023 crash

📉 How sentiment collapsed after the Guardian article — and what that meant for investors

🏗️ The shift toward infrastructure-grade assets: green steel, cement, and carbontech

🌍 What makes a project “bankable” in climate finance

🚀 John’s next frontier: Earth Guard, a satellite project designed to stabilize Earth’s temperature

Chapters: 

00:00 – Introduction: From Music to Markets

05:30 – Building Hatcher: Automating Venture Capital

07:00 – Entering Carbon: Launching Carbon Nation

09:30 – Market Shock: The Guardian Article & Carbon Crisis

15:00 – Lessons from the Field: Soil, Cookstoves & Mangroves

23:40 – Pivoting Strategy: From Carbon to Green Infrastructure

34:50 – The Bigger Picture: How Large Is the Carbon Market Really?

38:00 – Policy & the Politics of Carbon Pricing

45:00 – Investing in Climate Tech: Hardware, Deep Tech & Patience

55:30 – Beyond Earth: The Earth Guard Project