The Business Case for Community-Powered MRV

This conversation explores the business case for investing in community-powered monitoring, not simply as a participation or benefit-sharing strategy, but as a way to strengthen the systems that carbon finance depend on. High-quality, locally generated field data reduces uncertainty, improves confidence in carbon and biodiversity outcomes, and provides more consistent information over the life of a project. At the same time, building long-term monitoring capacity within communities strengthens local stewardship, governance, and project durability. We'll ground this in two Indigenous-led carbon projects in the Peruvian Amazon, developed under the Kowen Antami Consortium, and hear directly from the people building them: the project developer, the Indigenous leaders implementing the work on the ground, an investor, and a ratings/verification perspective. Together we'll examine what this model means for developers, investors, buyers, and communities, what it takes to make it work at scale, and the practical considerations for building community-powered MRV into carbon projects, from partnership and monitoring design to training, data quality, and long-term implementation. ​Speakers include: ​Tom Bewick, Project Director, Ground Truth for Nature (community MRV) ​Andres Huby, Head of Environmental Products, Latin America at Mercuria Energy Trading S.A. & Head of Latam, Silvania ​Fermin Chimatani, President, ANECAP (leader of Peru's Indigenous communal reserves) ​Erick Valerio, President, AMARCY (Indigenous implementer) ​Gregg Treinish, Executive Chairman, Ground Truth for Nature – Moderator