Allison Handunge

Allison Handunge holds a pivotal role at Carbon Solutions, dedicating her career to mitigating the impacts of climate change through the evaluation and development of forest carbon projects. She collaborates with a diverse team of forest scientists, technologists, and carbon market experts to use remote sensing and artificial intelligence for assessing forest carbon projects. Handunge plays a crucial role in developing Pachama’s Project Evaluation Criteria 2.1, ensuring that projects not only offer carbon reduction but also provide additional environmental benefits. Her work involves rigorous evaluations, with less than 30% of projects approved by major carbon registries like Verra and The Gold Standard meeting Pachama’s strict criteria. Handunge also leads the development of Pachama Originals projects in Brazil, Mexico, and the United States, aiming to restore 100 million hectares of deforested and degraded land. Additionally, she manages partnerships with companies like Delta Land Services for large-scale restoration and drives funding from prominent climate leaders such as Salesforce and Shopify, supported by major investors like Amazon Climate Pledge Fund and Breakthrough Energy Ventures.