Spotlight on Carbon Markets: What carbon market reforms mean for businesses and investors

Stuart Stone is editor of BusinessGreen Intelligence. He has led the platform's output since it launched in March 2023 by writing case studies, interviews and trend reports designed to help sustainable business leaders in their work. He has also provided news and analysis for the site since joining BusinessGreen in January 2023.

Stuart is particularly interested in green start-ups, culture and behaviour change, nature, the role of clean tech and circular innovation in day-to-day living, and the uphill battle to make sport more sustainable.

Prior to joining BusinessGreen, Stuart spent almost four years covering the hospitality and drinks sector at “pub trade bible” The Morning Advertiser, where he was a head category judge at the Great British Pub Awards on multiple occasions.

He also enjoyed a brief spell covering innovation and technology in the water and energy sectors at Utility Week, has freelanced for British GQ and Telegraph Sport, and written matchday blogs for UEFA’s Champions League, Europa League and international fixtures. Before training as a journalist Stuart spent four years working in commercial media at Men’s Fitness and The Telegraph Media Group’s branded content team.

Stuart studied journalism at City University, a BA in modern history and politics at Royal Holloway, University of London, and is certified Carbon Literate by The Carbon Literacy Project.

Ben is the European Climate Strategy Lead at Patch, the platform scaling unified climate action. Ben works as a climate solutions engineer, helping companies navigate the complexities of the VCM and matching their climate targets up with Patch's diverse project network, with a particular focus on developing catalytic long-term offtake agreements. Prior to Patch, Ben worked for ECOM Trading's coffee division in Nicaragua followed by the Natural Capital team at Mirova, an affiliate of Natixis Investment Managers, where he spent 4 years sourcing, managing and monitoring early stage carbon projects.

Lorna Ritchie is Director of Public Affairs at the Integrity Council for the Voluntary Carbon Market (ICVCM). Over the last ten years, Lorna has worked as a policy advisor on climate change for the UK government.

Lorna led the UK Presidency's Adaptation Negotiations at COP26 and, prior to that, led the UK's carbon markets negotiations including on CORSIA and Article 6 of the Paris Agreement.

Lydia is the Director of Policy and Partnerships at VCMI. She leads the team working on engagement and collaboration with companies, governments, civil society and other initiatives involved in carbon markets to develop high integrity standards for voluntary carbon markets. 

Lydia has worked on climate finance and carbon markets across private, public, non-profit, and philanthropic organisations. Prior to joining VCMI, she advised on programmes and tools designed to raise the bar on corporate climate action at the Children’s Investment Fund Foundation (CIFF). In the UK Government, Lydia was Head of Voluntary Carbon Markets, managed c.£250 million climate finance investments, and represented the UK in international negotiations on climate and trade. Ahead of COP26, Lydia led UK Presidency’s efforts to establish VCMI as an independent multi-stakeholder initiative.

In private and non-profit sectors, Lydia has advised multinational corporations on environmental reporting and sustainable supply chains. She has degrees from Imperial College London and the University of Oxford.