Tag: amazon

Rob de Laet – Water is key to cool the planet within 20 years

5th August 2025 koenvanseijen Landscape Design 2.0, Regenerative Agriculture, Water Cycles 0 Comments

A conversation with Rob de Laet, project lead of Cooling the Climate and co-author of the book Cooling the Climate: How to Revive the Biosphere and Cool the Earth Within 20 Years. The science is pretty clear and getting clearer by the day: water cools the planet. The more living, healthy vegetation we have on this planet, predominately perennials and thus trees, agroforestry systems and healthy forests, the cooler the climate is and the less extreme weather events occur. Living plants literally make the Earth sweat and remove heat from the biosphere.

Humans have systematically devegetated the planet as Judith D. Schwartz likes to say, and the ongoing climate weirding suggests we may have gone too far. Now we’re seeing real calculations: how many square kilometres do we need to regenerate to lower the global temperature by just one degree?
If this is all becoming increasingly evident, why isn’t it common knowledge yet, especially in the headquarters of banks, insurance companies, sovereign wealth funds, and governments?
This is the story of a successful entrepreneur getting drawn into water cycle restoration, planetary cooling and all the good stuff that comes with it. We share notes on why this movement, maybe the defining story of our time, hasn’t broken through yet and what we can do about it.

Philip Kauders – From Goldman Sachs to investing hundreds of millions in agroforestry in Brazil

13th May 2025 koenvanseijen Ecosystem Services Payments, Regenerative Agriculture 3 Comments

A conversation with Philip Kauders, founder of Courageous Land, working on large-scale reforestation and conservation through agroforestry and meeting the growing demand for climate-positive food, ingredients, high-value hardwoods, and carbon credits.

We can invest hundreds of millions into regenerative agroforestry, maybe even billions. No, we don’t need new regulations or new technology (drones that prune, for example— sure, they’ll help, and they’ll come, but they’re not essential). According to Philip the puzzle pieces for making large scale multi strata agroforestry systems are there. The place: Brazil. The land: the former rainforest which is currently bare or maybe grazed a bit, so underperforming financially and ecologically ecosystems. The knowledge is there because of 10000 years of agroforestry experience- the Amazon is a managed agroforestry system-, the financial system is ready because agroforestry is a thing in Brazil. Companies are sourcing products from these systems, bankers are investing, and large-scale projects are already on the ground.

The missing link? The game changer which might make real scale possible? Carbon credits. I know what you thinking about the voluntary markets and the scandals, but regen agroforestry systems are amazing carbon sinks. And many companies—especially tech giants with high margins—have made massive climate commitments and continue to buy high-quality carbon credits. That demand makes many of these projects investable, bankable and scalable.
Of course, it’s not all rainbows and unicorns—there are plenty of challenges ahead. But the main point is: we know what to do, and we know how to do it. So… what are we waiting for?

Marcelo Salazar and Zé Porto – A forest super shake to preserve and regenerate the Amazon, the world’s largest agroforestry system

14th January 2025 koenvanseijen Diet Change, Nutrient Dense Food, Regenerative Agriculture, Short Food Webs 0 Comments

A conversation with Marcelo Salazar & Zé Porto, co-founders of Mazô Maná, about how we preserve what is left of the Amazon rainforest, regenerate the forest and, most importantly, truly partner with the Indigenous peoples of the forest who have been stewarding this ecosystem for generations. Yes, the Amazon is a vast, managed agroforestry system. Marcelo e Zé, after decades of working with NGOs deep in the Amazon and building careers with corporate tech giants like Google, decided to create a superfood shake made purely from nutrient-dense ingredients—up to 14— directly sourced from the forest, avoiding monoculture. Indigenous peoples partly own the company.

Why did they choose this model, and why are regenerative brands essential for elevating awareness and consciousness around deforestation? A healthy Amazon is crucial not only for the planet but also for local climates, as recent floods in São Paulo demonstrate. So, how can we encourage health-focused consumers in cities like São Paulo and Rio to buy superfoods from their “backyard”, rather than relying on imported products from overseas marketed by fancy foreign brands who are mostly good at marketing?

200th EPISODE Emma Chow in conversation with Koen van Seijen – Regenerating ourselves before working on regenerative agriculture and food

3rd January 2023 koenvanseijen Beyond Food, Investor Stories, Ownership, Regenerative Agriculture 0 Comments

The 200th of this podcast sees Koen van Seijen in conversation with Emma Chow, former head of food at the Ellen MacArthur Foundation.

Emma Chow, former head of food at the Ellen MacArthur Foundation, she’s back on the podcast to talk about her journey, her burnout, coming back from the Amazon to London and re-engaging with the food space. In a second part of the interview, though, Emma and Koen switch mics with Emma becoming the host and asking Koen about his lessons learned over the past 200 episodes.