Capital with Conscience #1: Roxanne Tan, South Pole

Capital with Conscience is a series that aims to provide in-depth conversations with leaders at the forefront of sustainable finance. Through these discussions, we explore the evolving landscape of impact investing, climate finance, and the policies shaping the transition to a low-carbon economy.

In our latest conversation, we spoke with Roxanne Tan, Senior Managing Consultant at South Pole, who shared valuable insights into the shifting dynamics of carbon markets and what to expect in 2025.

South Pole is the world's leading carbon asset developer and climate consultancy, supported by over 700 experts across 28 offices worldwide, including a strong regional presence in Africa, Asia and South America. Since 2006, South Pole has been a trusted partner and advisor to governments, public sector organisations, and leading businesses on their decarbonisation journeys. 

Personal Journey

Roxanne provided an in-depth overview of her journey in the climate space, starting in the public sector before transitioning to the private sector. She talked about how the environment space has evolved from focusing on issues such as air pollution and carbon emissions in silos to becoming the interconnected, fast-growing sector it is today.

Her work at South Pole now centres around carbon credits development, with a strong focus on policy and regulatory issues such as Nationally Determined Contributions (NDCs), carbon market and Article 6 policy frameworks, and the development of Article 6 carbon projects.

Addressing Misconceptions in Sustainable Finance

One of the biggest misconceptions about sustainable finance is that carbon markets are purely transactional, where one seeks to maximise profits from the trading of carbon credits. The reality is more nuanced—while carbon credit projects need to be commercially viable and the carbon credits must meet environmental integrity requirements, its raison d'être lies in channeling the carbon finance to realising emission reduction (or removal) activities that also create positive local impact and on a more systemic broader level, promoting sustainable socioeconomic development. Rather than being a convenient tool for corporations to offset emissions at the lowest possible cost, they should be understood as part of a broader strategy to drive decarbonization and economic transformation.

How Carbon Projects Create Real-World Impact

A key takeaway from our discussion was that carbon (credit) projects do more than just generate offsets—they serve as vehicles for broader environmental and social benefits. Roxanne explained how well-designed and implemented carbon projects can empower communities, restore ecosystems and enhance biodiversity, and reduce reliance on fossil fuels.

However, she stressed that these benefits are closely tied to the project activity and its implementation arrangements. Strong policy regulations, clear carbon market and Article 6 guidelines, and robust project planning and structuring are essential to ensuring that carbon finance reaches the communities and ecosystems it is meant to support. In particular, additionality—ensuring that projects create real, new benefits rather than merely shifting existing activities—is critical to their success.

At the same time, carbon markets still face implementation challenges. Many stakeholders remain uncertain about how financing mechanisms work, and project developers must navigate gaps in regulation and financing. Closing the financing gap is a priority, as funding shortfalls often make mitigation efforts unviable. This is where structured agreements, long-term collaboration, and policy clarity play a role in ensuring that climate finance flows effectively.

Market Trends and 2025 Outlook

2024 ended on a comparative high note with the full operationalization of Article 6.2 and approval of the Article 6.4 mechanism (also known as the Paris Agreement Crediting Mechanism), leading many to anticipate a convergence of voluntary and compliance markets. However, 2025 has started with a plethora of challenges, including the US withdrawing from the Paris Agreement, major banks pulling out of the Net Zero Banking Alliance, and increasing uncertainty in corporate climate commitments.

Despite these developments, Roxanne noted that the fundamental challenges for carbon markets remain unchanged—in particular, market consensus on and definition of environmental integrity and quality of carbon credits, and the uncertainty around the role of carbon credits in national carbon pricing schemes and its interaction with global Article 6 compliance markets. While COP30 may be too soon for major breakthroughs, the focus must remain on sustaining momentum and ensuring that meaningful climate action continues.

Looking ahead, the Asia Pacific and European regions will continue to lead climate action, regardless of global shifts in policy. The key imperative is for businesses, investors, and policymakers to maintain engagement, refine implementation strategies, and scale up climate finance.

For those new to carbon markets, Roxanne’s advice is to approach the space with openness and a willingness to engage with its complexity. While the sector is evolving rapidly, it remains one of the most impactful tools for driving mitigation and sustainable development.