Ep 24: Diego Saez Gil, Co-Founder & CEO of Pachama

Today’s guest is Diego Saez Gil, co-founder & CEO of Pachama.

Diego Saez-Gil is Co-founder & CEO of Pachama, a company focused on restoring the forests to solve climate change. Prior to Pachama, Diego co-founded Bluesmart (acquired by TravelPro) and WeHostels (acquired by StudentUniverse). Diego was awarded MIT 35 Under 35 and was selected High Impact Entrepreneur by Endeavor. Pachama is working to help restore the forests to solve climate change. They are developing technologies to bring trust, transparency, and efficiency to the Forest Carbon Market. They are combining machine learning with satellite and drone data to accelerate the verification of carbon in forests and increase the flow of capital from those offsetting their carbon emissions to those protecting and restoring the forests. They are backed by some of the best investors in Silicon Valley including Chris Sacca, Paul Graham, Y Combinator, among others.

In this episode we discuss:

Overview of Pachama
Background on carbon offsets and how they work
Overview of reforestation and why it is important
Background on why reforestation has been difficult to certify land for historically, and how Pachama can help
Progress of the company to date, long vision, and what is coming next
What success looks like, and how it ties into broader climate fight
What else can be high leverage on climate change, besides reforestation
Role of policy, specific to Pachama and with broader lense in climate fight
Role of venture capital in climate fight, and what types of climate solutions are the right fit for VC
Advice to people trying to figure out how to help

Links for topics discussed in this episode:

Diego Saez Gil Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/dsaezgil/
Diego Saez Gil twitter: https://twitter.com/dsaezgil
Pachama website: https://www.pachama.com/
Project Drawdown: https://www.drawdown.org/
Why Forests? Why Now?: The Science, Economics, and Politics of Tropical Forests and Climate Change: https://www.amazon.com/dp/1933286857/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_api_i_.krdDbWWR127E

I hope you enjoy the show!

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