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THE CLIMATE TRUST
PRESIDENT

The Climate Trust is seeking a national leader to secure the organization’s position at the forefront of the rapidly evolving carbon market and climate policy community.

About the Climate Trust

In 1997 The Climate Trust was founded as a nonprofit organization to acquire carbon offsets on behalf of power plants regulated by the Oregon Carbon Dioxide Standard, the first legislation in the nation to curb carbon emissions. New fossil-fueled power plants in Oregon are required to offset part of their carbon emissions. One of the ways they can do so is by providing funding to The Climate Trust on a fee-per-ton basis. The Climate Trust is the only organization qualified to administer the Oregon Standard and, while they have other options, all power plants have elected to comply with the law by engaging The Climate Trust.

The Climate Trust’s mission is to promote climate change solutions by developing high quality carbon offset projects and advancing sound climate policy. The Climate Trust fulfills its mission by providing carbon offsets for compliance purposes, by providing customized large-scale offset programs such as the Colorado Carbon Fund, and by using its practical experience to inform climate policy.

The core experience and expertise of The Climate Trust is developing offset projects, which requires solicitation, evaluation, and selection of projects, as well as contract negotiation. Such experience has resulted in The Climate Trust’s development of one of the most rigorous tests for additionality, which is considered the most important criterion in determining the quality of an offset, and development of quantification protocols. Climate Trust also manages offset contracts, oversees verification of emission reductions, and maintains an offset registry.

With $8.7 million invested in a diverse portfolio of projects, The Climate Trust anticipates receiving 2.4 million metric tons of carbon offsets. The offset portfolio includes the following project types: building efficiency, industrial efficiency, transportation efficiency, renewable energy, fuel switching, cogeneration, biodigesters, forest sequestration, and material substitution.

The Climate Trust is recognized for offset quality, as evidenced by its being named one of only two U.S. organizations in the top tier of global offset providers in a 2006 Clean Air Cool Planet report and being ranked second in Carbon Concierge’s 2008 ranking of North American carbon offset providers. In addition, the Voluntary Carbon Standard, one of the leading international standards for the voluntary carbon market, adopted The Climate Trust’s approach to additionality. The Climate Trust is equally committed to ensuring environmental integrity in emerging climate policy. In 2007 it spearheaded the Offset Quality Initiative a collaboration of six leading national nonprofits that provide information and recommendations about offsets to policymakers.

The Climate Trust is based in Portland, Oregon, and has 14 full-time staff positions. The organization has a 2009 operating budget of $2.3 million, with $8.3 million in additional capital to invest in carbon offset projects, as well as a healthy reserve fund.

For more information on The Climate Trust, please visit their website at www.climatetrust.org.

Charting a New Course

When the Climate Trust was founded in 1997, it was the first and largest institutional buyer of carbon offsets in the United States. Carbon markets have evolved considerably since that time. There are additional funding drivers and a number of organizations specializing in different aspects of the offset commoditization chain, including project development, verification, protocol development, and registration, as well as in policy analysis.

However, the Climate Trust remains an important and unique actor in both the market and policy arenas, in part because of its pioneering status in the compliance offset market and in part because of the high quality products it has supplied into the retail and wholesale voluntary offset market. The Climate Trust has a growing number of programs and services, but its core strength is providing high quality carbon offsets for compliance and voluntary markets.

Two factors set The Climate Trust apart. First, it is a mission-driven nonprofit that focuses on public interest instead of profits. This allows The Climate Trust to fund projects that might otherwise be overlooked by the private sector and to focus on innovative projects. Its nonprofit status also lends it more legitimacy in the development of climate policy.

The second factor that sets the Climate Trust apart is its unique dual mission: It both participates in the market as an applied laboratory and helps shape climate policy as a thought leader. This dual mission provides special insight for both offset market and policy development. The Climate Trust acts as a laboratory, learning what works and what doesn’t work in the development of offset projects. It then applies those valuable market lessons in the advancement of sound climate policy. Such informed policy will be crucial to ensuring the efficacy and integrity of the offset markets and the environment in the future.

As the likelihood increases that a federal cap-and-trade system will be implemented, there is a need and an opportunity for nonprofits to contribute significantly to the development and implementation of offset-related climate policy and regulations. The Climate Trust has experience in nearly every aspect of the nascent offset market and has contributed in many climate policy arenas. The organization is well positioned to serve functions that only a nonprofit can serve.

As the market and policy arenas are evolving, so, too, is the Climate Trust. The crucial challenge the organization faces is developing new revenue streams to replace the funding generated by the Oregon Carbon Dioxide Standard, which would likely sunset with the passage of a state or federal cap-and-trade system.

A Board strategic retreat in fall 2008 identified a range of opportunities based on leveraging its pioneering experience, extensive expertise, and public interest perspective to secure a national leadership position in the emerging low-carbon economy.

• Voluntary Carbon Market. Even if cap-and-trade legislation is enacted, it is likely that organizations that do not fall under the cap would want to reduce their carbon footprints and that some capped organizations would want to achieve additional reductions. This would drive a need for the types of services The Climate Trust can provide: voluntary program administrators, providers of offsets and non-offset emission reductions, and protocol developers for innovative offset project types.

• Compliance Carbon Market. All cap-and-trade legislation to date utilize offsets. Once passed, this legislation would create growth in demand for compliance-grade carbon offsets and would also mean that implementation agencies would require help administering offset programs. This would drive a need for the types of services The Climate Trust can provide: qualified providers of offsets and non-offset emission reductions, protocol developers, offset administrators, and offset quality auditors.

• Climate Policy and Market Development. Once cap-and-trade legislation is passed, there would be a need to inform and guide implementation by agencies. Many opportunities will exist to share lessons learned as offset market participants and provide technical assistance such as development of protocols and guidelines for offset accreditation, verification, and validation. Also, there would be a need for a more sophisticated market infrastructure to ensure offsets reach their potential as an environmental financial commodity by working with the private sector and regulators to fill gaps such as development of standardized loans and insurance products.

About the Position

The incoming President will lead an organization uniquely positioned to play a critical role in the future of the nation’s shift to a low-carbon economy. The President will succeed founding Executive Director Mike Burnett, who has led the organization since 1999. The President will be expected to bring a new vision and voice to successfully position the Climate Trust as a national leader in the carbon offset market, as well as in the implementation of greenhouse gas reduction projects funded with auction proceeds and other, non-offset sources of funds. Over the past several months, the Board and staff have engaged in a strategic planning process to re-envision the organization’s strategic position in the compliance and voluntary offset markets and climate policy community.

The President must be willing and able to lead an organization which is in the process of redefining itself from a regional position of engagement to a national position of influence and impact. In this role, the President will be called on to provide a strategic vision to advance all aspects of the organization’s capabilities and initiatives in order to sustain and enhance the influence of Climate Trust as an organization known for integrity, for innovation, and above all for crafting and building practical solutions in the maturing carbon offset marketplace. The President will lead an organization uniquely positioned to play a critical role in the future of the nation’s shift to carbon-constrained economy. The President must be an energetic and entrepreneurial leader, and possess sophisticated political, management, and fundraising capabilities. In order to advance the work of the organization, the President will need to continue to build an organization that supports staff excellence and sound stewardship of its resources. The President must bring genuine excitement and commitment to the Climate Trust’s mission and be able to direct, motivate, and inspire a professional staff.

Beyond providing internal organizational leadership, the President will be expected to serve as a leader, expanding the reach and influence of the organization with critical public, private, and philanthropic leaders. Because so much of what the President will do involves building and maintaining trust with individual donors, elected and appointed decision makers, and corporate leaders, the President must have the presence, judgment, and communications skills to operate as a peer at the most senior levels. Moreover, the President will need to continue to usher forward creative and effective approaches to fundraising and revenue development.

The broad objectives and goals for the President are as follows:

• To lead the organization in addressing a range of organizational, policy, and program issues, including setting priorities, providing financial and staff leadership, and designing and implementing an organizational structure that supports growth.

• To expand the reach and public recognition of the organization as a national leader in the carbon offset market, as well as in the implementation of greenhouse gas reduction projects funded with auction proceeds and other, non-offset sources of funds.

• To continue to expand the financial base of the organization, pursuing philanthropic funding sources and other creative sources of revenue and in efforts to build a sustainable future for the organization.

The President will be based in Portland, Oregon, and serve as be a member of, and report to, the Board of Directors.

Professional Qualifications and Personal Attributes

The President should ideally possess the following professional qualifications and personal attributes:

• Passionate concern about global warming and a commitment to climate change mitigation – ideally a person who brings a demonstrated understanding of the technical and policy aspects of carbon offsets.

• Demonstrated leadership and business acumen, a proven record leading organizational growth and effectiveness, and comfort in dealing with the budgeting process and management of staff and financial resources, and ideally engaging and fully utilizing a Board.

• Demonstrated ability to increase fundraising with individuals of high net worth, private and family foundations and corporations, and a willingness to try new ideas in fundraising.

• Leadership stature and experience working with state, national, and international public policy leaders, private sector, nonprofit advocates, and other key stakeholders.

• Personal creativity and strategic vision, coupled with an ability to listen to others and learn from their best ideas – a sense of inquisitiveness and intellectual curiosity.

• Articulate, high energy, intellectually inquisitive, and possessing impeccable integrity.

Compensation

Compensation for the President includes a competitive base salary and an excellent package of employee and health benefits.

Interested candidates should send their résumé to:

Daniel Sherman
President
Explore Company
Email: resumes@explorecompany.com

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