347 | Lessons from the Amazon to Help with Climate Change with Brando Crespi

Brando Crespi is the Founder and Executive Chair of Global Biochar Inc, a company focused on the deployment of biochar and green charcoal as the most effective way to mitigate our climate crisis while also addressing food security, deforestation, biodiversity loss, and global health issues.

He also focuses on philanthropic and advisory work. As the co-founder in 1985, and still executive vice-chair of the Brazilian-born NGO Pro Natura International (PNI), for more than three decades, Crespi has helped design, fund, and implement developmental projects, many using biochar and climate smart agriculture (CSA), in the Americas, Africa, and Asia.

Over the last decades, PNI has deployed 1.6 billion euros in 63 countries and has helped lift over 7 million people out of what was often abject poverty.

This episode is sponsored by the coaching company of the host, Paul Zelizer. Consider a Strategy Session if you can use support growing your impact business.

Resources mentioned in this episode include:

Using Biochar to Help Solve the Climate Crisis: Interview Transcript with Brando Crespi

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You can read the ffull transcript of this episode here



Key Topics on Biochar as a Solution for the Climate Crisis with Brando Crespi

Overview of Biochar

  • Biochar Origins and Importance

    • Amerindian observations of charcoal-enhanced soil fertility

    • Charcoal as habitat for beneficial bacteria, fungi, and organisms

    • Soil becoming up to 900% more fertile

  • Amerindian Innovation

    • Use of ground charcoal and household waste to terraform the Amazon

    • Creation of fertile soils supporting large cities

Modern Applications of Biochar

  • Success Stories in Agriculture

    • Significant yield improvements in Northern Senegal

    • Transforming sterile sand into productive land near the Sahara

    • Water savings and secured food production in harsh environments

  • Environmental Impact

    • Biochar’s benefits on sandy soils versus limitations on clay soils

    • Creating carbon sinks via pyrolysis to decarbonize the atmosphere

Social and Economic Impact

  • Empowerment and Poverty Alleviation

    • Lifting 7 million people out of poverty through sustainable practices

    • Combination of bottom-up empowerment with top-down support

    • Addressing the crisis of hope in developing regions through local engagement

Youth Concerns and Climate Change

  • Balancing Financial Stability with Social Impact

    • Emails from young listeners worried about making a positive impact

  • Advice for Meaningful Work

    • Crespi's encouragement to find like-minded collaborators

    • Importance of community initiatives like guerrilla gardening

  • Industry Accountability and Misinformation

    • Comparisons to tactics used by the tobacco industry

    • Legal pressures and the significance of carbon taxes

Brando Crespi’s Business Strategy

  • Financial Strategy and Innovations

    • Soil science and biochar's role in generating carbon credits

    • Development of proprietary "bio carbon" for use in the carbon black market

    • Production goals and industry interest in the plastics sector

  • Broad Impact and Production Plans

    • Providing biochar for regenerative farming and agriculture

Hopeful Outlook on Climate Solutions

  • Promoting Climate Awareness

    • Emphasis on existing solutions and the need for political will

    • Collective effort in evolving conscious climate practices

Community Engagement and Education

  • Local Engagement Strategies

    • Identifying natural leaders in communities and fostering peer education

    • School initiatives in Nigeria and community-driven visionary planning

  • Contrasts with Traditional Development Models

    • Success in avoiding underutilized infrastructure

  • Appreciation of Indigenous Wisdom

    • Insights from indigenous cultures on sustainability and interconnectedness

    • Adoption of native wisdom and ecological practices like rewilding

Podcast and Guest Introduction

  • Brando Crespi’s Background

    • His work in climate crisis mitigation and the founding of Pro Natura International

    • Impact of Brando Crespi's initiatives across 63 countries

  • Experience in Amazon and Biochar Discovery

    • Brando Crespi’s reflections on Amazon’s ecological challenges and significance

    • Influence of environmentalist James Lovelock on biochar’s potential

Community Involvement and Contact Information

  • Engaging with the Podcast Community

    • Encouragement to subscribe, review, and suggest future guests

    • Providing Crespi’s LinkedIn and Global Biocarbons website as resources

  • Highlight of Local Climate Tech Community

    • New Mexico Startup Forum and local initiatives like “Batteries and Beer”

Conclusion and Next Steps

  • Pending Conversation Topics

    • Future discussions on detailed biochar applications

    • Brando Crespi’s upcoming plans and projects in the biochar industry

Paul Zelizer