Margaret Morales

Austin

Director, Carbon at Trellis

Climate, #drawdown, forests. Cheerful problem solver. VP of MarComms @TF_Global

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Articles

2 ways to strengthen SBTi's new net zero draft

1 month ago | trellis.net | Richard Martin |Margaret Morales

The new draft of the Science Based Targets initiative (SBTi) corporate net zero standard acknowledges the critical role of companies in mobilizing climate finance and proposes a larger role for market-based climate action tools, such as carbon credits, to accelerate progress. But the proposed updates fall short of what’s needed to meet the scale and timeline of the climate emergency. Carbon credits appear in two sections of the draft.
Carbon credit buyers need options — including avoidance and reductions | Trellis

2 months ago | trellis.net | Margaret Morales

Carbon removal has become the darling of the carbon credit world. Nature-based carbon removals increased by some 50 percent between 2023 and 2024, as buyers shifted their strategies to prioritize removals, and high-durability removal retirements more than doubled in that period, according to estimates from Carbon Direct.
How Google and an Indian start-up struck the largest biochar carbon removal deal ever

Jan 17, 2025 | businessgreen.com | Margaret Morales

The project will set up at least six industrial biochar reactors, each with the capacity to lock away about 30 tons of CO2 per day Google announced yesterday that it will purchase 100,000 tons of carbon removal from a biochar project in Gujarat, India. The deal, seven months in the making, is the largest biochar offtake to date... To continue reading this article...
Google's biochar project in India is the largest such deal to date

Jan 16, 2025 | trellis.net | Margaret Morales

Google announced today that it will purchase 100,000 tons of carbon removal from a biochar project in Gujarat, India. The deal, seven months in the making, is the largest biochar offtake to date. Biochar is a carbon-rich material made from heating organic matter in the absence of oxygen. It can trap carbon for centuries. And the resulting charcoal-like material makes a high-quality soil amendment, boosting nutrient content and water retention.
What to know about carbon pricing in 2025

Jan 14, 2025 | trellis.net | Margaret Morales

Nearly one-quarter of global carbon emissions are covered by pricing instruments today, and that number is set to expand in the coming years. These policies, which include 39 carbon taxes and 36 emissions trading systems (ETS), require polluters to limit or pay for their climate pollution. The goal is to drive rapid decarbonization.
REI, Allbirds and 20 other companies start climate transition funds

Dec 17, 2024 | trellis.net | Margaret Morales

In January, Recreation Equipment, Inc. (REI), Allbirds, Kleen Kanteen and some 20 other consumer brands will set up “climate transition budgets,” funding them via an internal fee of $15 per ton on their ongoing carbon emissions. They’ll spend the funds on decarbonizing their supply chains and reducing global emissions. Climate transition budgets are part of a new climate action certification, The Climate Label, also launching in the new year.
Good news: a common definition for net zero is emerging

Dec 17, 2024 | climateandcapitalmedia.com | Margaret Morales

Five standards now require companies to set and report on near-term targets. With several dozen net zero guidance documents published in the last five years, many sustainability leaders feel like they must decipher multiple codes for “net zero” in order to determine which framework is the right fit for their business. A recent analysis from Net Zero Tracker provides welcome news: Net zero standards are increasingly converging on fundamental definitions.
Carbon neutral is a path, not a destination

Nov 7, 2024 | climateandcapitalmedia.com | Margaret Morales

Despite doubts and setbacks, it serves a second look. Corporate carbon pricing is like a toll road — every time you pollute, you pay. Companies that set a target to become carbon neutral commit to purchase and retire one credit for every ton of unabated emissions, setting a de facto price on their climate pollution. As the price of credits goes up, so does the pressure to decarbonize. And the toll funds global progress toward net zero via carbon projects. That’s the theory anyway.
The voluntary carbon market is oversupplied — but high-quality removals remain scarce, report finds | Trellis

Nov 7, 2024 | trellis.net | Margaret Morales

Today, Carbon Direct, which helps companies measure, reduce, and remove carbon emissions, is releasing its third annual report on the state of the voluntary carbon market. The report underscores three underappreciated trends: Carbon projects have issued twice as many credits as have been retired over the last four years, resulting in a heavily oversupplied market. But this belies the scarcity of credits from high-quality carbon removal projects.
Carbon neutral is a path, not a destination

Oct 18, 2024 | trellis.net | Margaret Morales

Corporate carbon pricing is like a toll road — every time you pollute, you pay. Companies that set a target to become carbon neutral commit to purchase and retire one credit for every ton of unabated emissions, setting a de facto price on their climate pollution. As the price of credits goes up, so does the pressure to decarbonize. And the toll funds global progress toward net zero via carbon projects. That’s the theory anyway.