Technical Advisory Board (TAB)
The purpose of the TAB is to offer scientific and technical insights to Equitable Earth, and to guarantee the accuracy and robustness of its tools and methodologies.
Andrea Abrahams
Key information
Nationality:
South Africa
Country of Residence:
United Kingdom
Bio
As an independent advisor, Andrea Abrahams supports corporate net zero strategies and the role of carbon credits in driving faster, lower-cost decarbonisation, with clients including IETA (the International Emissions Trading Association) and the South Africa carbon market. She is a leading voice in carbon market policy and regulation, regularly convening markets, chairing carbon fund investment committees, and advocating for best practice across the low-carbon space. Previously, Andrea was BP’s Director of Energy Transition, developing and driving their net zero ambition through decarbonisation strategies, climate risk assessment, ESG reporting, and cross-business governance. As head of BP Target Neutral, Andrea led a world-class voluntary carbon market programme, delivering industry-first carbon credit initiatives for the London Olympics & Paralympics and FIFA Brazil World Cup.
Ed Mitchard (PhD)
Key information
Nationality:
United Kingdom
Country of Residence:
United Kingdom
Bio
Ed Mitchard has spent 20 years using satellite data to map the changing carbon stocks of the world's forests and peatlands. As a professor at Edinburgh University, he published over 120 scientific papers, raised $10 million in research funding, and measured more than 15,000 trees across 13 countries. He has advised governments on how to monitor their forests, been deeply involved in the evolution of carbon standards, including Verra’s VCS, Plan Vivo, and ART TREES, and supported carbon project developers around the world. In 2017, he co-founded Space Intelligence with Dr Murray Collins to bring high-accuracy satellite-derived maps to nature-based carbon projects, convinced that carbon finance was essential to halt forest destruction and start restoration but that the best satellite datasets and methods weren’t yet being used. Space Intelligence has now grown to 40 employees, providing high-quality maps to carbon projects around the world.
Luiza Maia de Castro
Key information
Nationality:
Brazil
Country of Residence:
Brazil
Bio
Luiza Maia de Castro is an environmental economist and project manager with over 15 years of experience at the interface of climate, conservation, and development across Latin America and Africa. She has managed internationally funded programs with GIZ, KfW, and the World Bank. She brings hands-on experience in voluntary carbon markets, including the design and implementation of socio-environmental safeguards for the Earthshot Prize Winner, Re.Green. She has worked alongside Indigenous Peoples and traditional communities across the region and is currently a PhD candidate in Energy and Environmental Planning at COPPE/UFRJ.
Nan Pond (PhD)
Key information
Nationality:
USA
Country of Residence:
USA
Bio
Dr Nan C. Pond has over a decade of experience at the intersection of ecology, data science, and carbon markets, bringing technical rigour and integrity to the evaluation of nature-based carbon projects. She leads due diligence, quality assurance, and ongoing monitoring for Rubicon Carbon’s portfolio of nature-based projects. Previously, Nan spent over nine years at NCX, helping build precision forestry and carbon accounting systems, including forest carbon methodologies and remote-sensing monitoring approaches now used across the carbon market. She holds a PhD in Forest Biometrics from Michigan Technological University and has served on numerous VCM working groups and committees, and received the Society of American Foresters’ (SAF) Young Forester Leadership Award in 2020.
Olly Griffin
Key information
Nationality:
United Kingdom
Country of Residence:
Portugal
Bio
Olly Griffin is a biodiversity, forest conservation, and climate finance specialist with two decades of experience across REDD+, nature-based solutions, and conservation project development. He has lived and worked across Central Africa, East Africa and Madagascar, and Southeast Asia, combining field-based conservation experience with technical expertise in REDD+ standards, biodiversity monitoring, safeguards, remote sensing, and conservation finance. He previously led Wildlife Conservation Society’s East Africa regional Nature-based Solutions portfolio, advising governments and partners on REDD+ project pipelines, jurisdictional alignment, Article 6 pathways, and private finance mobilisation. His work has included securing investment and forward carbon credit agreements for REDD+ projects, leading technical delivery for forest carbon projects in Cambodia, and developing biodiversity monitoring systems across globally significant conservation landscapes. He now works as an independent consultant for REDD+, biodiversity credits, conservation finance, and remote-sensing and biodiversity products.