Carbon Direct seeks to improve the quality and integrity of carbon management and broader decarbonization projects to advance climate mitigation. To achieve this, it draws on deep expertise across the biophysical, engineering, and social sciences. 

A core pillar of Carbon Direct's work is integrating climate and environmental justice principles to guide best-in-class practices. As the carbon market matures, Carbon Direct is expanding its focus to include broader social dimensions through our Community Impacts team. 

In this Q&A, Nili Gilbert, Vice Chairwoman of Carbon Direct, sits down with Dr. Grant Gutierrez. Grant leads Carbon Direct's Community Impacts team and the firm's Social Impacts and Just Transition Strategy work, drawing on climate and environmental justice frameworks to promote equitable climate solutions. 

Why expanding Community Impacts supports equitable climate action

Nili:  This is an exciting time for our company to make a big impact on delivering socially just climate projects. Why is Carbon Direct's expanded focus on Community Impacts important for the field right now? 

Grant: I agree! Now more than ever we have a major opportunity to do things right. My father always used to say, "It's better to do things right the first time - it saves you a lot of hassle in the long run." He was often talking about yardwork projects, but the sentiment applies here, too. 

Carbon Direct began its work in the social dimensions of climate projects under the frameworks of Climate and Environmental Justice. There was an urgency, and a strong commitment, to do things right from the start. Climate and environmental justice leaders have grappled with complex questions: How did climate change emerge? Which nations, actors, and companies bear responsibility? And how can we move forward in a way that uplifts frontline communities? 

There is a real opportunity for climate projects to build a better and more just future. I think that's the whole point of the climate movement.

As Carbon Direct expands, we recognize that climate and environmental justice frameworks are one very crucial tool, but not the only tool. Environmental justice practitioners and scholars remind us that not all environmental problems are environmental justice problems. Questions of justice center around: Who might be impacted? How? And to what degree are these impacts compounded by existing challenges those communities face? 

Our expanded Community Impacts approach allows us to broaden the horizon and consider the varied social dimensions of projects. For example, we look at complicated issues like farmer health and compensation for projects in northern Canada, or how social differences in Sierra Leone shape community participation in reforestation projects. These are complex issues that sometimes align with environmental justice concerns and sometimes run parallel. Our Community Impacts approach helps us unpack these nuances more clearly. 

Supporting communities amid political turbulence 

Nili: That's helpful framing. But here at home in the US, the federal government is currently dismantling environmental justice and climate work through major agency layoffs, removal of critical scientific research and information, and cuts to funding and support. How do you see Carbon Direct fitting into the broader environmental justice ecosystem in these turbulent times?  

Grant: The last few months have been incredibly difficult and disheartening, to say the least. These cuts and impacts to environmental justice and climate work will be felt most by the communities and organizations working to solve some of the most entrenched problems that bleed over from the 20th century into today's climate solutions. 

There is a lot of justified skepticism from frontline communities and environmental justice organizations about engaging with project developers. Communities often have competing priorities that aren't easily reconciled with development timelines or technical goals. 

At Carbon Direct, we work with a broad set of clients, mostly corporations, governments, and foundations, and not community or major environmental justice organizations. But we can be ambassadors of environmental justice principles within those institutions, while always recognizing that the knowledge and real wisdom-workers of this movement are frontline communities themselves. I'm constantly learning from community leaders who navigate the realities of where climate projects meet everyday life. 

We also have a real opportunity to provide technical assistance and support to these communities as they navigate potential carbon management and decarbonization projects in their backyards. For example, the prior administration’s White House Environmental Justice Advisory Council called on the Department of Energy and other government bodies to provide financial resources to help frontline communities understand the technical and regulatory dimensions of these projects. This is a major gap, and one Carbon Direct can help fill by partnering with policy, academic, and community organizations, and by contributing our technical and scientific insight to frontline communities where project developers might be considering siting new projects. 

Most importantly, I see our role as bridge builders: working creatively with our partners who have made strong commitments to a just transition to net zero, amplifying the work of equity-focused groups, and discovering new ways to be thoughtful actors. 

Bringing a community-first lens to climate solutions

Nili: Before Carbon Direct, you spent time working with community organizations on EJ issues and climate change. Can you share how your background shapes your approach to community impacts? 

Grant: In the decade before joining Carbon Direct, I focused on equitable climate solutions through climate adaptation and watershed restoration, both in the US and the Global South. 

I'm an anthropologist by training. I worked with social movements in Chile on hydropower development and watershed conservation, and with US community organizations on superfund site remediation and floodplain relocation and restoration. I also worked in public policy and equitable community development in state and local government in Washington, helping to implement landmark environmental justice legislation and community-led climate adaptation planning.

Three throughlines from my background inform my approach: 

• Justice is context-specific: Ideas of justice are culturally and politically grounded. What I mean by that is that what is "good" and what is "just" will look different in the rural Pacific Northwest than in Nairobi or the Brazilian Amazon. And the environmental justice movement emerges from a particular political history in the US focused on environmental pollution, responding to very particular forms of environmental racism that reflect the politics and legacies of marginalization in the US. 

• Deep listening is critical: It's important to always apply deep listening to ensure we are literally taking in and responding to what we hear, and also more figuratively, in our inquiry and how we ask questions, design projects, and shape authentic insights. 

• Focus on outcomes: We must always keep a focus on impact. Processes like equitable community engagement, stakeholder mapping, and benefits-sharing plans are important tools that help drive toward real-world, meaningful outcomes. 

When I think about Community Impacts, I see both the risks and opportunities that any given community might face. A project can be a catalyst for better health outcomes, local jobs, or cultural and ecological restoration, but only with intentional design, care, and accountability. My background helps me bring that lens to the table; one that is grounded in community knowledge, attuned to context, and focused on what makes a difference in people's daily lives.

Opportunities for organizations to lead through community impact 

Nili: I think a lot about the intersection between opportunity and action. As we close, what major opportunities do you see for clients interested in engaging with our Community Impacts team as they explore climate projects? 

Grant: Scaling carbon management rapidly is crucial to meet Paris Climate Agreement goals and stay safe within planetary boundaries. That alone presents a major opportunity for innovation; not just in technology, but in building a more equitable climate economy. 

That innovation also applies within the context of Community Impacts. Across different industries and approaches to climate change, there are guides and best practices for community engagement, community benefits planning, and project design and implementation. But carbon management technologies are unique and we have the chance to draw on these insights to build new, better tools that are specifically grounded in the science, technology, and regulatory landscape we're working in. 

For example, how can we adapt frameworks like Free, Prior, and Informed Consent, and ground them in the particularities of disparate sociocultural contexts, even in project instances without the presence of Indigenous Peoples? How can we think through the public good of these projects and activities, and different models and methods for how we incorporate community benefits analyses and planning into the full business case? 

At Carbon Direct, our Community Impacts work spans: 

• Just Transition Strategy: Drawing on best practices in environmental justice research methods. We focus on areas like community engagement and community benefits plans, cumulative impact analyses, environmental justice reviews, and other work. For example, we have done deep analysis on the environmental justice dimensions of carbon removal projects in the US. 

• Social Impacts Advisory: Supporting clients to understand the border social contexts of project development. For example, we draw on social science best practices to help companies like technology companies or data center developers to consider social impacts and other environmental burdens or co-benefits into data center siting or expansion. 

There are major opportunities to build a new kind of economy: one where social impact is not a secondary consideration, but one of the primary drivers of how projects are planned, financed, and evaluated. 

Our team is here to help clients move beyond compliance and into leadership. Whether that's through more robust stakeholder engagement processes, community benefit planning, or embedding equity into Monitoring, Reporting, and Verification (MRV), we support clients in technically sound and socially positive work.

We know that trust is the currency of successful climate projects. And trust is earned, not given. The companies and developers who understand this, and who are willing to do the work, will not only reduce risk but also unlock long-term value and public support. That's the intent of Community Impacts. And that's the work we're excited to keep building, in collaboration with communities, clients, and partners around the world.

Advancing equitable, enduring climate action

As the carbon management field continues to evolve, climate solutions must work for people, not just on paper, but in practice. The shift from Climate & Environmental Justice to Community Impacts reflects our commitment to bringing sharper focus, deeper tools, and broader context to the social dimensions of climate projects. 

We're excited to partner with clients, communities, and collaborators to advance climate action that is not only effective, but equitable, grounded, and enduring.

Interested in partnering with our Community Impacts team? Contact us today.