“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.” – Michel Schuurman
In the latest episode of the Forest Invest podcast, Michel Schuurman, shares insights from two decades of experience working with companies, financiers, and public–private platforms. He unpacks the current slowdown in corporate demand for avoided deforestation credits, and makes a strong case for why REDD+ remains the only globally accepted, scalable and cost-effective tool we have to keep tropical forests standing.
𝗧𝗵𝗲 𝗲𝗽𝗶𝘀𝗼𝗱𝗲 𝗲𝘅𝗽𝗹𝗼𝗿𝗲𝘀:
🎙️ Media-driven reputational risk and the shift toward “safer” removals
🎙️ The mismatch between small-scale REDD+ projects and institutional capital requirements
🎙️The role of jurisdictional nesting, and its limitations
🎙️What high-integrity project design looks like in practice: FPIC, community-rooted benefit-sharing, shorter MRV cycles, and national alignment
🎙️The real barriers: risk appetite, reputational fear, and policy uncertainty under Article 6
His message is clear: don’t wait for perfect frameworks, keep REDD+ in the portfolio, or we lose forests faster than new finance shows up.