Offsite insights: What keeps green energy and carbon credit providers up at night

This is the second installment in our series presenting key takeaways from Terra Tuscany, organized by Terras in partnership with illuminem and sponsored by TES. If you missed the first article, you can find it here. Stay tuned as we continue to explore these topics in the coming weeks.

Note to our community: After curating the agenda and speakers for the successful inaugural edition of Terra Tuscany, illuminem has stepped back from involvement in the 2025 edition due to commercial decisions made by the event's organizing company.

Green energy and carbon credit providers are under pressure. The climate crisis demands urgent action, yet these sectors are bogged down by regulatory hurdles, public opposition, and mistrust. One hears a fair bit about the need for decarbonisation, but the reality on the ground is much more complex, with delays and roadblocks around every corner.

We are failing to connect the dots between climate change and nature

Here’s the first problem: nature and climate are often treated as two separate issues, despite being intrinsically linked. Biodiversity is one of the best carbon sinks we have, but current policies do not reflect this. Biodiversity credits and carbon credits get boxed into different categories, as if they operate in isolation from one another.

Take urban reforestation projects, like pocket forests, which not only absorb carbon but also cool cities and boost biodiversity. Sounds like a win-win, right? Yet these projects face endless bureaucratic hurdles. One leading eco-entrepreneur shared that even in progressive Los Angeles, it took 18 months to secure permission for just one pocket forest. This regulatory inertia is slowing down the real-world solutions that could make a difference. It is time policymakers stop thinking in silos and start connecting biodiversity to the wider climate agenda.

Beyond bureaucratic delays, renewable energy projects also face significant public opposition, particularly wind farms that face concerns about aesthetics, noise pollution, and land use, which overshadow the broader climate risks these projects seek to mitigate. For example, when a new renewable energy project is proposed, locals might complain that windmills could spoil their view, completely ignoring that those very landscapes are at an increasing risk of wildfires and floods due to climate change.

The irony is hard to miss. More concerning than the public disconnect from the energy transition is the fact that while it takes up to eight years to get a wind project approved, oil and gas projects are greenlit in less than a year. This imbalance is not just frustrating – it is catastrophic for decarbonisation efforts. Renewable energy providers are left battling public perception and a regulatory process that’s clearly working against them.

Big goals followed by slow action

When it comes to the public sector, governments are quick to announce ambitious climate goals but slow to support the projects that could help achieve them. The permitting process for both afforestation and reforestation is unnecessarily complex. The Los Angeles pocket forest took over a year just to get the green light. Governments may be good at setting targets, but their sluggish bureaucratic processes are standing in the way of progress. Wind energy projects in Europe also face significant economic challenges. For instance, turbine makers are grappling with profitability issues as subsidies decline, interest rates rise, and supply chain constraints lead to financial strain. 

In Europe and the US especially, efforts to scale up carbon capture projects through nature are being stalled by regulations that prioritise paperwork over urgency. The disconnect between ambition and execution couldn’t be clearer.

Environmental entrepreneurs seen as profiteers, or naives 

Carbon credits were supposed to be the cornerstone of global decarbonisation, but today, they are struggling with a major credibility crisis. Greenwashing accusations, coupled with low-quality credits, have left both companies and governments wary. Are carbon credits really helping to cut emissions, or are they just another way to tick the sustainability box without making a meaningful impact?

The market’s opacity doesn’t help. Local communities responsible for maintaining carbon sinks often see little of the revenue generated from carbon credits, in part because too many “middle-men” are involved. Without transparency and more robust oversight, the credibility of the carbon credit market will continue to erode. And the market will not recover unless it can prove that it is contributing to real, long-term reductions in carbon.

The media’s portrayal of green energy and carbon credit sectors doesn’t do much to build trust either. Carbon credit providers are often cast as profiteers, while renewable energy companies are depicted as luxury brands, available only to the elite. Particularly European and American providers are often criticised for catering to wealthier markets without bringing up the wider societal context. These narratives oversimplify the situation, making it difficult for the public to understand what is actually going on.

Yes, greenwashing is a problem, but the media’s obsession with it only adds to the confusion. It is time for more balanced coverage, where serious efforts in the fight against climate change are recognised, rather than buried under sensational headlines. One of the major gaps in reporting is the lack of independent investigative journalism in this space. Trust can be rebuilt only through transparency.

This climate of mistrust has also led to paralysis within the corporate world. Companies that might otherwise invest in sustainability are hesitating, unsure whether they are backing real solutions or just falling into the greenwashing trap. This mistrust is particularly damaging at a time when corporate action on climate change is more urgent than ever.

The solution is simple: businesses need clearer, more reliable information, with stronger regulatory oversight. Until companies can trust that their investments are genuinely making a difference and their reputation is not under threat, many will continue to hold back.

Ergo, we need clearer climate information

Thankfully, there are professionals dedicated to helping companies navigate these complexities. ESG professionals are vital in ensuring that corporate actions align with both regulatory requirements and meaningful sustainability goals. They act as the bridge between ambition and reality, helping companies avoid the pitfalls of greenwashing while making real progress.

Platforms, like illuminem, play a role in curating reliable, in-depth sustainability content that cuts through the noise. In an age where misinformation is rife, having access to credible and non-partisan information is key to making informed decisions about climate strategies. Our platform leverages a pool of independent experts to measure, verify, and report on sustainability efforts, ensuring that data is transparent and credible. 

At the end of the day, none of these issues will be resolved without stronger government action. Ambitious goals are great, but they mean little without a clear path to achieving them. Take the European Union’s Renewable Energy Directive: it sets out bold targets but has been mired in slow implementation. This kind of bureaucratic delay isn’t just an inconvenience - it’s an obstacle to decarbonisation.

Governments need to streamline processes, accelerate project approvals, and reform carbon credit markets to ensure transparency and accountability. The private sector cannot go at it alone. Governments must lead the way, not just with targets but with effective, actionable frameworks that allow real progress to be made.

The challenges facing green energy and carbon credit providers are complex and deeply interconnected, but not insurmountable. By connecting natural preservation with climate action, addressing public and regulatory delays, and restoring trust in carbon markets, we can move forward. Governments must step up and create the frameworks necessary for businesses and individuals to invest confidently in preserving nature and decarbonisation. The future of both the planet and the economy depends on it.