In this episode of the Carbon Exposure Project, we sit down with Scobie Mackay, Co-Founder & CEO of Imperative, to unpack what it will take to make nature a genuinely investable asset class.

Scobie brings a rare perspective — combining 15+ years in structured finance at Macquarie and Standard Chartered with hands-on experience developing infrastructure-grade nature-based carbon removal projects across the Global South.

We explore why capital has struggled to flow into nature at scale, why delivery and reputational risk remain misunderstood, and why the risk of climate inaction is still not being priced into financial decision-making — despite trillions of dollars at stake.

This is a conversation about projects, execution, and capital discipline, not theory.

🔍 What we cover

Why the risk of climate and biodiversity inaction remains off balance sheet
Treating nature-based carbon projects like infrastructure, not offsets
Professionalising project development to attract institutional capital
Delivery risk, permanence, and why “day-one diligence” isn’t enough
Building large-scale native ecosystem and mangrove restoration projects
Long-term offtakes, insurance, and managing commodity price risk
Why biodiversity outcomes are already commanding a market premium

⏱️ Chapters

00:00 Introduction

02:30 From finance to climate

05:20 Climate and biodiversity as a test of collective intelligence

06:40 Discovering carbon markets

08:40 Why institutional capital struggles with carbon projects

11:15 Treating nature projects like infrastructure

14:45 Imperative’s focus: nature-based removals

17:00 Flight to quality and removals

20:10 Execution risk and project controls

24:00 In-house execution and long-term operations

27:40 Risk in carbon markets

32:10 Pricing the risk of climate inaction

40:00 Insurance, offtakes, and delivery guarantees

46:50 Biodiversity premiums and market signals

53:00 Making nature investable

Why Climate Inaction Is the Biggest Financial Risk - Scobie Mackay (Co-founder & CEO, Imperative)

Carbon Exposure

Why Climate Inaction Is the Biggest Financial Risk - Scobie Mackay (Co-founder & CEO, Imperative)