What the Retirement Data Isn't Telling You: SBTI 2.0 & the Real State of the VCM — Benjamin Massie

In this episode of This Week in Carbon, host Edward Smith sits down with Benjamin Massie, Senior Vice President of Environmental Products at Anew Climate, the largest developer of environmental instruments in North America. Ben's team is responsible for marketing and selling carbon credits and removals across Anew's entire portfolio, spanning global voluntary projects, compliance credits, renewable natural gas, and a growing international footprint including a newly announced Singapore office.Ben has been in carbon markets since 2010, moving from compliance markets into the voluntary side, and brings a rare combination of project developer, marketer, and market analyst perspectives to this conversation.With SBTI releasing its new Corporate Net Zero Standard and the voluntary market at an inflection point, this episode gets into the mechanics of what's actually happening beneath the surface.Key topics covered:- Why retirement data alone is misleading — and the hidden wave of forward contracting and credit banking that doesn't show up in the numbers- The two fundamental problems Anew identified when the market stagnated: use-case frameworks for offsets, and credit quality — and what they can and can't control- How Anew is driving the dynamic baseline evolution for US improved forest management (IFM) credits, and what that means for landowners and pricing- The flight to quality in practice: bespoke projects designed around buyer requirements, commanding the highest prices Anew has ever seen- Rating agencies: from novelty to gatekeeper — why some RFPs now require a minimum rating just to be considered, and why standardisation across agencies matters- SBTI v2.0 and the Ongoing Emissions Responsibility (OER) programme: what engaged, advanced, and leadership levels actually require, what the $20 and $80/ton budget commitments mean, and why this is one of the clearest demand signals the VCM has ever had- Why the market's perceived oversupply disappears fast once you filter by project type, geography, and quality criteria- Insetting and in-value chain reductions as an emerging commercial frontier — and why supply chain alignment makes the internal business case far easier- US federal headwinds: how the absence of policy is dampening near-term demand — and why the most committed buyers like Microsoft and JP Morgan are doubling down regardlessA grounded, commercially honest conversation about where the voluntary carbon market actually stands — and why the companies watching from the sidelines may be running out of time.🎧 Listen now on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, YouTube, and more.