Darjeeling just hosted the first ever Carbon Removal (CDR) conference in the Global South. Here’s a thread with the key highlights from @FuturesSummit 🧵 ⬇️
Hosted over 3 days in New Delhi & Darjeeling, the Futures Summit was a unique gathering of policymakers, think tankers, politicians, bankers, VCs, and Indian startups in conversation with international clients, experts & leading registries to discuss Indian CDR potential.
@Jairam_Ramesh’s opening address really lay down the importance of mobilising climate finance to South Asia for undertaking climate adaption. A tour de horizon taking us through the past, present and alternative futures we can imagine for climate finance for India.
5 incredible panels covered: ➡️Client Perspectives: Why Companies are Buying CDRs ➡️Policy Perspectives: How to create regulatory support for Indian startups doing carbon removal ➡️Venture Capital Perspectives: How to develop the next Carbon Unicorn in India
➡️ Banker’s Perspectives: What are the lessons from scaling up Indian Solar and EV that are applicable for creating large CDR projects in South Asia ➡️ Technology Pathways: Leading CDR startups showcased India’s burgeoning leadership in ERW, Biochar and DAC
3 great in-depth primers: ➡️ Team @Isometric_HQ provided a global perspective on regulations driving CDR remand ➡️ Dr. @krishnagupta358 IAS, discussed upcoming Indian Carbon Markets ➡️ Dr. Shirish Sankhe discussed his seminal 2022 @McKinsey report on lndian Decarbonisation
The highlight of the day— @AltCarbonIndia’s announcement with NextGen— a JV between @southpoleglobal & Mitsubishi Group. We became the first ever ERW project and the first Global South developer to contract with NextGen.
This announcement is supposed to open up the South Asian market for many more project developers, we hope. It’s also given our family’s tea estates, and the region of Darjeeling a new beginning. From at-risk of Climate Change to becoming the frontier of climate action.
Day 2 of the Summit had 75 delegates flying to Darjeeling. The proof of the pudding is in the eating. Since the pudding couldn’t come to Delhi, we brought our clients, investors, academics, think tankers, fellow start up founders and bankers to our project sites.
Hosted at Second Chance House at Selim Hill Tea Garden, where we’re based out of— we started off the evening with a unique panel discussing equity, debt & grant based financing for climate tech companies in India. @OmnivoreFund @hiranandanigrp @actgrants
In the midst of a light drizzle, and a shrouding blanket of mist, holding fire in hand, we set out to worship the moon. A symphony of the moon and the soil— Darjeeling’s greatest legend unveiled itself to our visitors. Under the Full Moon we plucked 2 leaves & a bud.
From Tradition, we moved to Technology. It was a pleasure to host one of our early investors, @awaisahmedna from @PixxelSpace. We discussed Awais’ personal story, the evolution of Pixxel, how science fiction informs his thinking, and the upcoming frontiers of deep-tech.
The evening was made more special by the presence of the incredibly culinary team from Calcutta’s Sienna Cafe. Famous for their blending Bengali flavours & local ingredients, with international cuisines, Sienna prepared a sustainable culinary journey for us. A true delight!
Day 3 of the Summit was all about in-depth workshops. If Delhi was CDR 101, this was really getting into the weeds. We were joined by interested students from local universities & the Tea Board of India for workshops We were clearing the fog confusion around CDR. Literally.
Topics included: ➡️Direct Air Capture— with India’s only company doing DAC ➡️Low Carbon Concrete ➡️Enhanced Weathering— with IISc Professors ➡️Project Financing, Carbon Ratings & Registry Audits ➡️Biochar— how to scale in India
Why was this important? We had students, venture capitalists, policymakers and bankers in a room. Taking notes. Trying to understand how the science works. More importantly— how this could make money. We were finding our champions across sectors. We found loads of them!
Only one thing remained. The sunset hike— through Section 1 of Selim Hill, named ‘Gitanjali.’ An ode to Tagore who used to visit the estate. To have others discover the living organism that is a tea estate is a unique pleasure of being a planter! “The Davos in Darjeeling.”
And that’s a wrap. We will see you at Futures Summit 2.0. Go Gigaton Gone. In the meantime, a huge shoutout to an incredible team that brought it all together!
To read more about the Summit, you can check out our detailed Substack here: https://altcarbon.substack.com...
For those asking what is Alt Carbon, check out this other thread we created
@SparshAgarwall @FuturesSummit @curioushrey Congratulations and proud of you as an @AshokaUniv alum!
@PramathSinha @FuturesSummit @curioushrey @AshokaUniv Thank you for the constant support and guidance sir!
@SparshAgarwall @FuturesSummit @curioushrey Awesome stuff! Must have been quite an experience