Sustainable development, climate mitigation, and biochar

Brando Crespi has devoted decades to sustainable development as co-founder and Executive Chair at Pro Natura International and Global Biochar. His holistic approach to sustainable development could be called regenerative––instead of telling poor and exploited people what they should do, it's about recognizing and cultivating local leadership, helping them form a community vision for their future, providing the assistance necessary to achieve that vision, and then getting out of the way. Along the way, Crespi and his colleagues came across biochar, a substance made from burning bio waste (like sawdust and crop husks) and that has been used in the Amazon for millennia. As a soil amendment, biochar can bring dead soil back to life, improve crop yields, and decrease water use. It can also be used in industrial products and plastics. And its production can provide an energy source in communities looking to develop clean energy and regenerative agriculture.