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In this episode, Shauna Matkovich speaks with Michel Schuurman, Director of Business Development at TreeVive and Chair of the REDD+ Business Initiative, about the slowdown in corporate demand for avoided deforestation credits and why REDD+ remains the most scalable, cost-effective way to protect tropical forests.
Drawing on two decades in sustainability and climate finance, Michel explains how reputational risks and investment barriers are stalling progress, and why jurisdictional nesting alone won’t move fast enough. He outlines what high-integrity REDD+ looks like — community-driven design, FPIC, shorter MRV cycles, and national alignment — and calls for continued private-sector engagement.
His message: don’t wait for perfection — keep REDD+ in the portfolio, or we lose forests faster than finance flows.
Ask someone as a citizen if they would protect forests, and they’ll say yes. Ask them as a corporate communications officer if they’d invest in a REDD+ project, and they’ll say maybe — or no. That’s the gap we need to close.
0:23 Guest introduction – Michel Schuurman, TreeVive & REDD+ Business Initiative
1:26 Michel’s professional journey and path into forest carbon finance
5:15 Major shifts in forest carbon and avoided-deforestation markets
6:25 Role of the private sector vs governments and NGOs in forest protection
8:52 Why carbon remains the key measurable value metric
10:54 Challenges with valuing intact forests and improving REDD+ mechanisms
13:17 Overview of REDD+ Business Initiative report and its aims
17:01 Addressing media criticism and project integrity in REDD+
19:26 What’s improving in methodologies and MRV tools
19:27 Three biggest financing gaps in forest protection
21:17 Corporate reputational risk and reluctance to engage
22:39 Policy and Article 6 uncertainty as a major barrier
24:33 Market slowdown and optimism for renewed momentum
26:15 What defines a high-integrity REDD+ project design
27:12 Community engagement, FPIC and benefit-sharing models
29:34 Technical integrity: baselines, MRV cycles, permanence and leakage
31:53 Investor profiles suited to REDD+ projects
33:00 Why institutional capital hesitates and the funding-size gap
35:49 Why capital isn’t flowing despite low ticket sizes
37:06 State of impact and philanthropic investment in REDD+
38:13 Jurisdictional vs private-project approaches and time lags
40:22 How developers can de-risk and protect their projects
41:02 Emerging insurance and policy-risk products
41:40 Blended-finance tools to mobilize private capital
44:13 Final call to action – keep forest protection in portfolios
45:26 Role of media and balanced reporting
48:00 Closing remarks and where to find the REDD+ Business Initiative report
Founding Director and Host: Shauna Matkovich - The ForestLink
Producer and Editor: Magdalena Laas - Unscripted Creatives
Nature by MaxKoMusic/Soundcloud
Sopwell Woodlands and Scohaboy Bog SAC, Cloughjordan, Co Tipperary, IRELAND by wild_rumpus/Soundcloud
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