Alex is the CEO of Deep Sky, where she leads the deployment of breakthrough carbon removal technologies across a growing portfolio of commercial sites. She oversees all aspects of engineering, procurement, construction, and operations, working end-to-end — from facility design and cost optimization to full-scale execution. Under her leadership, Deep Sky’s teams collaborate across financing, sales, power, and storage to accelerate the company’s climate impact. Previously, Alex was COO at Bird, advancing micromobility across North America. She has also held roles at BlackRock in financial markets, at Accenture as an energy consultant, and in public service at the Treasury Board and the Embassy of Canada.

Dr. Alexander C. Gagnon is CEO and Co-Founder of Banyu Carbon. Banyu Carbon is developing a low-energy carbon capture process that uses light as its major source of energy. The easy-to measure stream of CO2 that we produce can be geologically stored to provide permanent high-quality carbon removal credits or the CO2 can be used as a feedstock for green chemical like synthetic fuels. Banyu Carbon has secured a first set of customers through a Frontier Pre-Purchase agreement. Alex is also an Associate Professor of Chemical Oceanography at the University of Washington. He received a Ph.D. in Chemistry from Caltech and he completed a postdoc at the Department of Energy’s Lawrence Berkely National Lab. He is an NSF CAREER awardee, Kavli Felow, and an Activate Fellow.

Hara Wang is a climate field builder and system thinker. She is the co-founder and Chief Programs Officer of Cascade Climate, a nonprofit organization accelerating progress in super pollutant mitigation and durable carbon removal by orchestrating field-catalytizing initiatives that span policy, commercial and scientific spheres.

Before co-founding Cascade Climate, she was a Principal at RMI, a multinational nonprofit "think-do-scale tank" and led their carbon markets initiative and the Third Derivative climate tech accelerator program. Hara began her career in the private sector, spending a number of years as a cleantech venture capital investor and as a management consultant at McKinsey & Company. Her climate journey also included a stint conducting market research of China's then-burgeoning solar manufacturing sector, designing harvesting tools for cocoa farmers in the Ivory Coast, and building off-grid electrification pilots in rural Namibia.

She has degrees in chemical engineering and atmosphere/energy engineering, and was born and raised in China before moving to the United States at 17.

Quentin brings more than a decade of finance and operations experience to Deep Sky. Previously, he led Operations at Lithos Carbon and CDR.fyi. Quentin led teams in five countries with luxury giant LVMH, scaled up Instacart in Canada from 0 to 60% coverage in the country, and grew a tech-driven labor marketplace through two rounds of funding. He currently sits on the board of AFEN, the French Carbon Removal industry association.

Ms. Funayama, R&D Team Manager at Faeger Co., Ltd., is a Waseda and Oxford graduate with experience at an ODA trading company, the Embassy of Japan in Nigeria, and a Japanese NGO.

She has also worked with startups in sustainability, and since joining Faeger in 2023, she has led R&D initiatives in agricultural decarbonization.

Ambika Rustagi is an Associate at Idemitsu Americas Holdings, the venture capital arm of Idemitsu Group located in Silicon Valley. In her role, she supports Idemitsu’s decarbonization strategy by focusing on the development and implementation of CDR initiatives in the North American and Japanese markets. Prior to joining Idemitsu, Ambika supported CDR suppliers' commercialization in her roles in business development at Puro Earth and go-to-market partnerships at Patch Technologies.

Keita Akazawa is a General Manager of Corporate Sustainability Div. for Mitsui O.S.K. Lines, Ltd. (MOL) since April 2025. He is responsible for the Environment & Sustainability Strategy. 
 

He joined MOL in 2003 and established his career in several business sectors, such as containership and fuel procurement and the General Affairs Department. In 2021 he was transferred to the Environment & Sustainability Strategy Div. Over 3 years, he acted as the General Manager of the Sustainability Management Team and the Deputy General Manager of the division.

Alexander Mäkelä is the Chief Policy Officer at Carbon Gap, leading European and global carbon removal policy advocacy. He previously shaped carbon management and industrial decarbonization strategies at McKinsey & Company’s Sustainability Practice. Alexander is also a co-founder of the Nordic Carbon Removal Association, working to accelerate policy and market readiness for CDR solutions in the Nordics.

Tom Mills is a strategy and policy leader with over 15 years of experience building organisations and scaling carbon removal insetting and offsetting across agricultural value chains. His career has focused on enhancing supply chain resilience and sustainability in soft commodities and mineral value chains. He has lived and worked extensively across the Global South, including in India, Afghanistan, Pakistan, Myanmar, Kenya, Sierra Leone, and the DRC.

Currently a Carbon Removal Fellow at Stripe, Tom leads the Global South CDR–Agriculture Working Group, coordinating 30+ organisations to advance durable carbon removal. He is the lead author of Unlocking the Future of Climate Smart Agriculture and co-author of Durable Carbon Dioxide Removal in India.

Tom founded Two Oceans Strategy, a climate and supply chain consultancy, which he scaled globally before selling the license to its software platform to a major investor. He also co-founded the Carbon Removal India Alliance, the first CDR industry association in the Global South. Earlier, he held senior roles at Adam Smith International, a leading economic development consultancy, co-leading their natural resource governance practice and directly UK government flagship projects.

He began his career in African natural resource ventures after receiving a Gap Year Commission with the British Army, where he became one of the youngest officers to complete commando training in the UK and France. Tom holds an MBA in International Mineral Management, a master’s from Oxford, and a first-class degree from Newcastle. He has advised organisations including Carbon Gap, remove, Carbon Unbound, and Rwanda Aid, and has moderated international climate finance forums, including at the London Stock Exchange.

Mr. Wang is one of senior experts in the field of climate change and low-carbon development in China. He had been engaged in formulation and implementation of climate change policies, in particular carbon emission trading system, for a long time when working in governmental sector. Since 2017, Mr. Wang has been working as a long-term Key Expert in EU-China ETS cooperation, deeply tracking and studying the development of carbon trading systems in China and EU and beyond.

Simon Göß is an energy engineer and expert on carbon and energy markets. As managing director at carboneer he leads international consultancy projects and supported 100+ companies on strategic and operational CBAM compliance. carboneer is a Berlin-based consulting company with expertise and solutions in the areas of CBAM, CO2 markets, decarbonisation & climate neutrality.

Samuel Alterescu leads the development of solutions related to Carbon Dioxide Removals and carbon credits in SMBC Group. These solutions span from co-development of solutions with ecosystem companies, support to companies in developing their solutions, as well as a range of traditional and innovative financial solutions.

Samuel joined SMBC in 2023 after 10 years in consulting. His background is climate finance and partnerships to advance decarbonization and social impact.

Ms. Odera graduated from King’s College London with a Master’s degree in Environment, Politics, and Globalization. Prior to joining Mizuho Securities, she worked at FTSE Russell, a British index company based in London and Paris, where she was involved in ESG scores and Sustainable Investment (SI) indexes. Ms. Odera is currently responsible for identifying sustainability-related start-ups and supporting their growth and financing.

Mr. Ishizaki, Founder and CEO of Faeger Co., Ltd., is a Waseda Law graduate with consulting experience at PwC Advisory and YCP Solidiance.

Since founding Faeger in 2022, he has led initiatives in decarbonization and sustainable agriculture, focusing on Japan, Asia, and Africa.

Tank Chen is the Head of Content & Community at CDR.fyi and Ecosystem Fellow at the Carbon Business Council, where he tracks investment trends, corporate engagement, and market development across the carbon dioxide removal sector. He also leads CDRjobs.earth, the industry’s dedicated talent platform, providing insights into compensation, hiring, and workforce trends. Drawing on experience in corporate sustainability, policy engagement, and education, Tank works to make the CDR market more transparent, data-driven, and accessible for businesses, policymakers, and the public.

Paolo is the Co-Founder and CEO of ClimeFi, the leading specialist in durable CDR assets, offering market insights and best-in-class risk assessment across a range of removal technologies. Prior to founding ClimeFi, Paolo was Head of Net Zero at Algolia, a leading SaaS company based in San Francisco (USA), and initiated their net-zero efforts. He is passionately committed to the advancement of negative emission technologies, and his role is centred on optimising the procurement process for permanent carbon removal solutions, catering primarily to large-scale organisations globally. He believes that accelerating the advent of negative emission technologies is critical to reconciling companies’ economic growth with their environmental commitments.

Jonathan is a serial cleantech entrepreneur with extensive experience commercializing hard-tech, developing large-scale projects, and partnering with industrials to solve tough energy and environmental problems. As co-founder and CEO of Axine Water, he led commercialization of a disruptive technology and hardware-as-a-service model for the pharmaceutical and other industrial markets.

Jonathan is also co-founder and director of Evok Innovations, where he helped launch one of Canada’s largest and most successful cleantech venture funds. As founder and CEO of Nexterra Systems, he created a global supplier of bioenergy heat and power systems for industrial and institutional customers. Prior to Nexterra, he held leadership positions with a NASDAQ-listed cleantech company, and the Delphi Group. He began his career in oil and gas with Amoco Canada (now BP).
 
Jonathan chairs the BC Cleantech CEO Alliance. He is a past member of the BC Premier’s Technology Council and was previously a director of Vancity Capital Corp. In 2009, he was recognized as Technology Industry Person of the Year by the BC Technology Industry Association. In 2020, he was recognized as Industry Icon by the BC Cleantech Industry.

Shrey holds a double major in M.Sc. Chemistry and B.E. Mechanical Engineering from BITS Pilani. He was part of the founding team at Seekho (Sequoia Surge-backed) and later served as Chief of Staff at SuperShare (Lightspeed, Accel-backed), At Alt Carbon, he splits his time between Bangalore — home to our tech and R&D labs — and Darjeeling, where large-scale operations run and our foundational datasets are generated.

Natalie Khtikian is a commercialization and sales leader with experience spanning software, advertising, and hard-tech. She is cofounder and chief commercial officer at CO280, a developer of large-scale carbon dioxide removal (CDR) projects. In partnership with pulp and paper companies, CO280 develops, finances, owns, and operates carbon removal projects that deliver a new standard of permanent, verifiable, and affordable CDR credits to customers in the carbon market.
 
Prior to joining CO280, Natalie was Climeworks' first employee in North America, working with companies to understand the place of permanent CDR in their ESG strategies.
 
Before pivoting to climate tech, Natalie was part of two teams that were acquired by Google, Wildfire Interactive and Waze. There, she worked with Fortune 50 clients and opened new markets and verticals. Natalie also was VP of Sales for Yondr, a hardware team focused on removing cellphone distraction from shows, events, and spaces.
 
Natalie holds a BA from UC Berkeley in Literature with a minor in Ballet, a Post Degree Diploma in Fisheries and Aquaculture from Vancouver Island University, and a MSc in Geography from the University of Victoria. Her research  was focused on marine microbiology and oyster genetics.

Mr. Yamada is General Manager of Business Development at TOWING Co., Ltd, where he leads project development in high-performance biochar, with a focus on creating impactful decarbonization solutions. Prior to Towing, his career began at Toyota Motor Corporation as a certification engineer.

Kei Ikegami is the Founder and CEO of Planet Savers, Japan’s first Direct Air Capture (DAC) startup, dedicated to combating climate change. He began his career at JICA, where he managed energy infrastructure development projects in the Middle East, before moving to SoftBank Robotics to lead global business development. A proven entrepreneur, Kei also founded and successfully exited a mission-driven education startup, demonstrating his ability to scale impactful ventures. This diverse experience in energy, global technology, and entrepreneurship uniquely positions him to lead this critical new industry. Kei holds an MBA from the University of Cambridge.

Max Zeller is Founder & Partner at Carbon Removal Partners (CRP). He holds a Bachelor’s degree in Mechanical Engineering and a Master’s degree in Industrial Engineering from ETH Zurich. He obtained the latter after conducting profound research on credit quality in the Voluntary Carbon Market.

Max founded Carbon Removal Partners (CRP) with the aim of channeling catalytic capital into the emerging Carbon Management industry. His past professional experiences include Urban Connect, Airbus and Climeworks.

After working in ship building company and financial institute, joined Mitsui O.S.K.Lines, Ltd. in 2005 and spent most of the carrier with traditional shipping sector including tanker and RORO vessel business. Become head of CDR in April 2024, and currently in charge of CDR procurement, project investment related with CDR, and carbon credit trading. 

Patrick Buergi is a sustainability entrepreneur and expert with 22 of experience in carbon markets, climate policy, corporate sustainability and impact investing. He is a co-founder of both the myclimate Foundation in 2002 and South Pole in 2006. 

In mid 2022, Patrick relocated to Tokyo to lead the establishment of South Pole’s presence in Japan. In addition, Patrick also acts as a Senior Innovation Advisor within South Pole working across a portfolio of innovation and R&D initiatives, including Net Zero strategies, carbon removals (CDR), regenerative agriculture, plastic stewardship and digital growth opportunities, for example.

In 1999 Joined Sumitomo Corporation, where worked for a long time in new business development and corporate services in the logistics field. After working in London as GM of Logistics Department from 2013 to 21019, moved to the Corporate Planning & Coordination Department where was involved in formulating the Group's sustainability policy and the previous medium-term management plan. In addition, planned the launch of a company-wide organization and was involved in the establishment of the Energy Innovation Initiative (EII), with the aim of building a decarbonized and recycling-oriented energy society in response to climate change, which is positioned as an important social issue. Since January 2023, has served as the team leader of the newly established CCUS team (now CCUS & Subsurface Energy Business Unit), and is currently working on CCUS business development in Americas and Global CDR field.

Chris is a Climate and Energy Tech investor at Global Brain. Since 2019, he has worked in Carbon Capture and Utilization (CCU) and Carbon Dioxide Removal (CDR) at Mitsubishi Corporation, leading investments, global deployment of concrete mineralization/DACCS projects, and co-founding NextGen a CDR buyers' club leading procurement of more than 200,000 t of CDR carbon credits. He has shaped Japan’s DAC strategy with METI, advised global initiatives like Carbon Unbound, and spoken at COP, Climate Week NY, and more. Previously in the mineral resources sector, working at an aluminium smelter in Mozambique. With global experience across Japan, Europe, Africa, and the US, he brings deep expertise in CDR and a strong commitment to climate and industrial innovation. Father of two daughters, a hip hop and Haribo enthusiast.

Mary Yap is co-founder and CEO at Lithos Carbon, a company transforming farmland into permanent carbon removal centers. Mary studied geology and planetary sciences at Yale University, where she conducted award-winning scientific and urban research on the climate crisis. Mary started her journey in entrepreneurship at the age of 18 and spent 6+ years building early-stage startups before devoting her life to climate solutions. She's created products used by millions of customers and scaled them internationally. Outside of Lithos, Mary is an avid nature enthusiast and photographer, with work featured in National Geographic. Lithos Carbon is backed by world-class investors including Bain Capital Ventures, Union Square Ventures, and Greylock Partners, and supplies permanent carbon removal to companies including Stripe, Google, Microsoft, McKinsey, and the Frontier Climate fund. Based on cutting-edge research, the team's mission is to permanently capture CO2 at the gigaton scale.

Jason Hochman is the Founder and Managing Partner of a new climate tech investment platform focused on preserving and scaling breakthrough carbon removal innovation, beginning with efforts to consolidate and advance direct air capture technologies. 
 

He is the former Executive Director and Co-Founder of the Direct Air Capture Coalition, which he built from inception into a globally recognized coalition of more than 110 companies, organizations, and institutions. Under his leadership, DACC organized two Global Direct Air Capture Conferences with partners including Columbia University, Breakthrough Energy, and RMI, engaged senior policymakers across the U.S. government, United Nations, and European Commission, and developed shared resources to support the growth of the DAC sector. 
 

Earlier in his career, Jason worked on clean energy and energy efficiency policy at Con Edison, and supported climate and sustainability initiatives at the U.S. Department of Defense, Acclimatise, and Demos. 
 

He holds an M.S. in Global Energy and Environmental Policy from New York University and a B.A. in History and Public Policy from Brown University.

Gao brings over 15 years of experience in carbon markets and project development. He joined Climate Bridge in 2007, beginning his carbon career in project documentation before leading the project origination department, where he successfully executed over 200 carbon transactions.

Appointed CEO in 2018, he spearheaded the joint venture with Shell from its inception in 2020 and which has now become fully owned by Climate Bridge. Under his leadership, the firm has expanded into a leading provider of carbon project development and neutrality solutions across global markets.

He holds an MBA from Cheung Kong Graduate School of Business and a Master’s from Tongji University.

Jiro is the Strategist for ACT Commodities in Japan. After a stint in ACT’s hub for APAC in Singapore, he opened the Tokyo office in May 2024.

In this role, he is responsible to engage with a variety of stakeholders and develop decarbonization strategies for corporates through renewable energy and carbon markets including transition to a sustainable path.  He has worked with governments and multilateral organizations in the development of mitigation projects, and he is currently using this experience to create international climate-related projects, involving different types of technologies, such as CDR.

Jiro has more than 15 years of experience in the areas of climate change and sustainability, working for both, the public and private sector.  He holds a bachelor’s degree in business management and has a master’s degree in development from Hiroshima University. He also obtained a certification in climate and renewable energy finance from the Frankfurt School of Finance & Management.

Marta Krupinska is Co-Founder and CEO of Cur8, a serial entrepreneur and seasoned executive with 15 years of leadership experience in socially impactful ventures. Marta co-founded two exited fintech startups, Azimo and FreeUp, and was the Head of Google for Startups UK and co-lead of Google’s Black Founders Fund. Alongside building CUR8, Marta serves as Chair of Youth Business International, a global charity founded by King Charles that supports young entrepreneurs worldwide, and as a Non-Executive Director at ACUA Ocean, a marine cleantech startup.

Kyunghwa (Kay) Jeon is the Founder and Director of BeFLAT Services and a recognized expert in carbon finance. Since 2018, she has led the development and investment of international carbon offset projects, working closely with financial institutions and compliance entities across South Korea to advance the effective use of carbon finance. Prior to establishing BeFLAT, she served as Climate Finance Expert at Korea Investment and Securities, where she founded the Carbon Solution Department, pioneered voluntary carbon project investments in Korea, and acted as a market maker under the Korea Emissions Trading Scheme. Earlier in her career, she led overseas offset project development at Ecoeye, successfully developing and converting more than 20 CDM projects into Korean Offset Credits. 
 

She holds a Master of Science in Carbon Finance from the University of Edinburgh and brings a strong professional background in both finance and accounting. With her combined expertise, she is committed to mobilizing capital into high-impact climate projects and advancing market-based solutions for the net-zero transition.

As Director, Energy and Industrial Innovation, Ian leads Verra’s innovation strategy related to the industrial and energy sectors. His focus lies in accelerating emission reduction opportunities related to Carbon Capture Utilization and Storage (CCUS), methane management, and accelerating the clean energy transition. 
 

Ian previously worked at the Alberta Energy Regulator. There, he helped develop a number of methane emission reduction regulations, helped develop an online reporting platform, served on numerous committees for emission reductions and quantification of emission sources. Prior to this, Ian was a Director at Cap-Op Energy, a sustainability consulting company specializing in emission reductions in the energy industry. He led offset development and quantification projects related to carbon capture and storage, enhanced oil recovery, biofuel development, renewable energy, and methane destruction. 
 

Ian is based in Calgary, Canada, and completed mechanical engineering at the University of Calgary and a Master of Science degree in Management and Engineering of Environment and Energy from Ecole Des Mines de Nantes in France

Steve Oldham is CEO of Captura, an ocean-based carbon removal company founded at Caltech. Captura combines cutting-edge technology with the ocean’s natural ability to absorb CO2, enabling large-scale, low-cost carbon removal. Prior to Captura, Steve was CEO of Carbon Engineering, where he helped establish Direct Air Capture as a credible and scalable climate solution. Steve also spent more than two decades at Canadian space and robotics company MDA, directing corporate strategy and business development, and overseeing major space and technology programs.

Flora Ji leads Shell’s global Nature Based Solutions (NBS) business. She and the team focus on the development of high-quality natural carbon sinks with environmental and social co-benefits, as well as nature-based market and customer solutions that can contribute to climate change migation.

Shell’s NBS business invests in activities that protect, sustainably manage, and restore natural ecosystems, including forest, agriculture, wetland, grassland, and coastal ecosystems. The business takes on long-term commitments in NBS projects, working closely with local communities, governments, NGOs, and other experts to ensure that the projects invested in make a demonstrable difference.

Flora joined Shell in 2006, and has worked across Downstream and Upstream in operational, commercial, and business management roles in China, the Netherlands, Kazakhstan, and Singapore.  She holds an MBA from IMD, Switzerland.

Götz Martin has been with GAR since 2015, leading the company’s sustainability initiatives on the ground. His team focuses on areas such as 1) Forest and Peat conservation, rehabilitation and management, 2) Community Engagement with a focus on participative action and economic empowerment, 3) Responsible Sourcing with a focus on supplier engagement and supply chain transformation.

He has 12 years of experience in forest/land use and sustainability-related topics and has spent 11 years in South East Asia. As a leading subject matter expert in his field, Götz sits on various committees: High Carbon Stock Approach (HCSA) Executive Committee, High Conservation Value Resource Network (HCVRN) Management Committee, RSPO Peatland Working Group, and the RSPO Biodiversity and High Conservation Value (BHCV) Working Group.

In his previous role at McKinsey & Company, Götz was one of the key authors of the McKinsey Global Greenhouse Gas Abatement Cost Curve, as well as the Indonesian Greenhouse Gas Abatement Cost Curve – the first document published by an Indonesian Government agency (DNPI) which recognized the role of peatlands as a source of carbon emissions. He was also the lead author of the East Kalimantan and Central Kalimantan Low Carbon Economic Growth Strategy.

Götz has a PhD and Master Degree in Forestry Science, and a Bachelor Degree in Environmental Management, all from the Albert-Ludwig University of Freiburg, Germany.

“Growing up in a small village in Germany, nature in general and forests, in particular, have always been my favourite place to be. Realising soon during studies on what a downhill trajectory Earth was on, I pursued a career in sustainability. Governments and leading private sectors can turn the wheel and transform the way we all live, while still allowing emerging countries to pursue a growth path to lift millions of their people from poverty.”

Ying Ying has over 15 years of experience in the energy sector. Her focus in Standard Chartered covers key emission reduction solutions including CCS and carbon removal technologies. She also plays an active role in carbon market development. Prior to her time in the bank, Ying Ying worked with Mitsubishi Corporation on LNG value chain investment. She was also a core team member of NextGen CDR Facility.

Ying Ying completed a course in Climate Change Management & Finance at Imperial College in 2021, and she holds an MSc in Metals and Energy Finance as well as a B.Eng in Civil Engineering. Ying Ying draws track record from MENA, ASEAN and Greater China with local experience in Singapore, London and Beijing.

Yukari TAKAMURA is Professor at the Institute for Future Initiatives, the University of Tokyo.  Specializing international and environmental laws, she published as author and co-author many books and articles on relevant issues. 
She serves as member of governmental advisory bodies, among others, Procurement Price Calculation Committee for Feed-in Tariff Scheme for Renewable Energy, Science Council of Japan, and Central Environmental Council.  She also serves as member of Advisory Group on Climate Change and Sustainable Development of ADB.

Yasuhisa Okamoto (Yasu) is Managing Director for Drax Asia Japan, leading the organisation's business development team and Tokyo field office in Japan.

Yasu established Sumitomo Corporation's biomass business in 2002 and led its growth in wood pellets in Japan. While at Sumitomo, Yasu played an active role in establishing the company’s upstream integration into wood pellet manufacturing in South America and Canada. Following Sumitomo’s investment in Pacific Bioenergy, Yasu went on to support their sales team as SVP of Sales and Logistics, focusing on the long-term sustainability and traceability of wood pellets.