Carbon markets tend to trigger strong reactions. For some, they’re a vital bridge - a way to fund climate action at scale while the harder work of reducing emissions catches up. For others, they feel like a distraction, or worse, a way of outsourcing responsibility. So rather than arguing for or against them, we wanted to ask a different question: What would it take for carbon markets to actually work - with credibility and scale? In our latest Impact Equation roundtable, we brought together three people working on different parts of the system: Alastair is focused on data and transparency, Shannon is building projects on the ground, and Erika is making the sector investable for serious capital.

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What if the way we think about money is fundamentally wrong? In our latest episode of The Impact Equation, Rafi and Adam sit down with Hans Stegeman, Chief Economist at Triodos Bank - one of the few banks where sustainability isn’t a bolt-on, but the organising principle. Hans’s central critique is this: we haven’t just chosen economic growth - we’ve hard-wired it into everything. Our markets, financial returns, debt system, pensions, and public budgets all depend on the assumption that the economy must keep expanding. The problem is that this version of growth is material by design, and material growth always comes with ecological and social costs. His argument isn’t that progress is bad - it’s that we’ve confused progress with GDP. No amount of “green” investing can fix a system that structurally requires ever-greater extraction, consumption, and future growth just to stay standing. So what does he want to change? Hans calls for an economy, and a financial system, that is less dependent on growth, and that fundamentally success ought to be measured in wellbeing, resilience, and social outcomes, not just economic output. In this episode, Hans challenges us to question our assumptions and what we’ve accepted as “just how the world works”.

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In this episode, GSG Impact CEO Elizabeth Boggs Davidsen joins the show to share her journey from being mentored by Madeleine Albright to leading global efforts in impact investing. Drawing on her formative years working in conflict zones like Sudan and Afghanistan, Elizabeth explains how those experiences shaped her belief that traditional aid isn't enough and that we need new models to drive change. She dives into her work pioneering a $1 billion "blended finance" fund in Latin America and her time in the Biden administration, before looking ahead to the 2026 launch of the "Impact Economy Index"—a new tool designed to spark a "race to the top" for countries prioritizing people and the planet. It’s a fascinating look at how capital can be a force for good, wrapped in some great advice for anyone starting a career in social justice.

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