RANDY SPOCK
SUSTAINABLE FINANCE
RANDY SPOCK
TITLE: CARBON CREDITS AND REMOVALS LEAD
COMPANY: GOOGLE INDUSTRY: TECHNOLOGY LOCATION: CALIFORNIA, US
Randy joined Google in 2023 after previous roles at Patch, Wayfair, Indigo and BCG. He now leads carbon removal at one of the largest supporters of early-stage carbon removal technologies.
standards. With carbon stored in more than 4.5 million hectares, it says it runs Europe’ s largest soil carbon programme and supports 2,300 farmers.
Watershed’ s marketplace offers climate projects vetted against six key considerations: additionalist, verification, permanence, leakage, catalytic nature and co-benefits. It supports the creation of diverse portfolios with centralised purchase records.
Standards and verification Voluntary carbon market standards( VCMS) set rules, requirements and methodologies that govern the development, certification and issuance of carbon credits in the voluntary carbon market. These help to ensure credits represent real, measurable, additional and permanent greenhouse gas reductions or removals.
There are a wide range of standards and credit issuers available with different focusses, such as naturebased or technology-based.
The ICROA Code of Best Practice sets an overarching code for organisations providing carbon management and compensation services instead of issuing credits. It defines minimum requirements for GHG footprinting and advisory services, transacting and retiring carbon credits, ensuring credits are trustworthy and annual third-party compliance audits.
Verra’ s Verified Carbon Standard( VCS) is one of the most widely used standards, providing detailed methodologies for diverse project categories including renewable energy, forestry and waste management. It requires independent third-party audits for all projects. VCS sets the
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