How the Nori Marketplace Pilot Program Works: Reversing Climate Change (Bonus!) Episode #70

You’ve got to crawl before you walk. The Nori team aims to have their carbon removal marketplace up and running this year, and to that end, they are currently running a pilot program with a handful of farmers and ranchers in the US. So, what does the process look like? What is their progress on the software product to date? What milestones has the team reached—and what are their next steps?

Michael Leggett serves as the Director of Product, while Ryan Anderson joined the team as a consultant in January and is now the Supply Development Lead. Prior to Nori, Michael led design teams at Google and Facebook, and Ryan served as a Strategy Lead and Ecological Economist at the Delta Institute, a nonprofit dedicated to solving complex environmental challenges in the Midwest. Today, Michael and Ryan join Ross, Christophe, and Paul to share Nori’s progress to date.

They walk us through the pilot program, discussing how the team is leveraging COMET-Farm modeling to measure the additionality of carbon stored. Michael describes Nori’s milestones in terms of software product development, and Ryan explores the value of a self-service portal for participating farmer-suppliers. Listen in for insight around the unique aspects of the Nori forward contract auction and learn how the team is incorporating feedback from suppliers, verifiers, and an expert peer-review committee as they work toward a 2019 launch of the marketplace!


Key Takeaways

[2:17] The intent of the Nori pilot program

Test product + methodology with US farmers, ranchers
Incorporate participant feedback in real time
Use COMET-Farm modeling to quantify carbon removal
[8:58] How Nori thinks about additionality

Measure carbon stored by NEW practices
Relative to established dynamic baseline
[11:38] Nori’s milestones in terms of its software product

Minimal version for suppliers, verifiers and buyers
Product available to farmers to enter data themselves
Forward contract auction simulation (buy + sell CRCs)
[18:29] The benefits of a self-service portal for suppliers

Empower farmers to make business decisions
Generate estimates of what stand to gain (simple + free)
[24:34] How the forward contract auction works in Nori

Parties agree on amount + price for future transaction
De-risk acquisition and sale of commodity
Nori combines with single-price Dutch auction
Gives participants optionality
[35:58] The role of the peer review committee in the pilot

Critical for transparency, integrity + objectivity
Weigh in on methodology (e.g.: additionality, permanence)
[39:21] Michael’s insight on the verification process

Work to create value by solving real problems
Partner w/ traditional market verifiers to write guidelines

#carbonremoval #podcast #regenerativeagriculture