Carbon Conversations

Laura Besley is a senior sustainability leader with more than 16 years of experience shaping and delivering sustainability strategies across sectors, including manufacturing, finance, telecommunications, real estate, and food and beverage. She has led high-impact programs spanning climate reporting, modern slavery, and community engagement, supported by deep technical expertise in frameworks such as NGERS, DJSI, ISSB/ASSB, GRI, and UNPRI. Known for her pragmatic and values-driven approach, Laura has built a reputation for helping organisations navigate complex sustainability challenges while achieving measurable, meaningful outcomes.

Simon comes from a project development background and is a respected technical expert with 15+ years of experience in developing and implementing CDR standards and methodologies. He has led and participated in teams to develop Verra's VM0044 Biochar methodology, both Isometric and Puro's Enhanced Rock Weathering methodologies and now new standards for both BECCS and DACCS, commissioned by the UK government.  Simon is now Director of CDR for Sylvera, where he leads their team delivering data, assessments and insights to key stakeholders in the voluntary carbon market. 

Dr. David Hughes serves as the Dorothy Foehr Huck and J. Lloyd Huck Chair in Global Food Security at Penn State University, where he also holds professorships in entomology and biology. As the founder of PlantVillage, a Penn State initiative, Dr. Hughes leads efforts to enhance global food security by integrating artificial intelligence, mobile technology, and community networks. PlantVillage empowers smallholder farmers across Africa, Asia, and the Americas to combat pests and adapt to climate change by leveraging AI-driven tools and youth-led ground networks.Building upon this mission, Dr. Hughes established PlantVillage+, a private enterprise partially owned by Penn State. This venture aims to alleviate poverty and address climate change by offering paid services to farmers, corporations, and governments, while continuing to support public AI research. Notably, PlantVillage+ allocates 30% of its profits to workers and farmers, 10% to its charitable arm—the Village Youth Fund—and 5% to assist governments in accessing advanced technologies and AI solutions.Dr. Hughes also directs the USAID Feed the Future Innovation Lab for Current and Emerging Threats to Crops, focusing on developing scalable solutions for agricultural challenges. His pioneering research on parasite-host interactions, including the renowned "zombie ant" studies, has garnered international acclaim and media attention.For those interested in exploring themes related to science, innovation, and socio-economic systems, Dr. Hughes recommends the following readings:Letters to a Young Scientist by Edward O. Wilson: https://www.amazon.com/Letters-Young-Scientist-Edward-Wilson/dp/0871403773The Big Con by Mariana Mazzucato:  https://marianamazzucato.com/books/the-big-con/Vulture Capitalism by Grace Blakeley:  https://www.simonandschuster.com/books/Vulture-Capitalism/Grace-Blakeley/9781982180867

Paul Gambill is a pioneering entrepreneur in the carbon removal space, best known as the co-founder and former CEO of Nori, where he raised over $18 million to build one of the first carbon removal marketplaces. Under his leadership, Nori facilitated the removal of over 260,000 tonnes of CO₂ and established partnerships with major players like Bayer Crop Science.Today, Paul leads CarbonRemoval.com, a platform dedicated to reimagining carbon markets for true atmospheric impact. Through his writing on Inevitable & Obvious, he challenges prevailing market structures and advocates for scalable, resilient solutions to the climate crisis. With a systems-level perspective and hands-on experience, Paul continues to shape the future of carbon removal.

Mats Larsson is the founder of Global Energy Transformation Institute. He has over 30 years’ experience as a business and management consultant, developing business strategies for companies in many different industries. He has worked with the large-scale transformation to electromobility and sustainability since 2004, leading a sequence of projects. This work has resulted in five internationally published books, starting with Global Energy Transformation, published in 2009, then The Business of Global Energy Transformation 2012, Circular Business Models 2018, Redrawing the Map of the Future 2019, and The Blind Guardians of Ignorance 2020.In Global Energy Transformation 2009 Mats launched the idea that the large-scale change to electromobility and a sustainable society will require large-scale transformation programmes. He has since then elaborated on this idea and developed strategies for various aspects of the transformations, such as the expansion of vehicle fleets and charging infrastructure, power generation and distribution, the development of training programmes for the groups of professionals that need to become involved in the change, and development of the companies and business models that will be needed. Over the years, he has supported hundreds of companies in a large number of industries with business development and growth strategies.Mats lives in southern Sweden with his wife.Book links:https://www.amazon.co.uk/Severe-Economic-Consequences-Electric-Vehicles-ebook/dp/B0CTX6KRBN/ref=tmm_kin_swatch_0?https://www.amazon.co.uk/Building-Future-Really-Works-Electromobility-What-ebook/dp/B0CFN41YBK/ref=sr_1_1?https://www.amazon.co.uk/Building-Future-Really-Works-Electromobility-What-ebook/dp/B0CFN41YBK/ref=sr_1_1?