Our podcast series continues! 

Raise Green’s second podcast episode is an extended double with Sue Biniaz, lead climate lawyer in the US State Department for more than 25 years. She played a central role in all major climate negotiations during that time, including the Paris Agreement. 

Sue joins co-founders Franz Hochstrasser and Matt Moroney. “Raise Green” is a 7 episode podcast series exploring the climate crises through the minds of local leaders and global experts. **Listen to the approximately 20 minute Episode #2 [here on Spotify](https://open.spotify.com/episode/0upJYLQV6bNmfDj5K5hlSY?si=Ilb7oCUJRCetowpVgwfYDA). Episode #3 is a continuation of the interview, and can be found [here on Spotify](https://open.spotify.com/episode/09HHWEaUl8EZ8k88N9PLwu).**

We begin with the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC), which Sue helped develop at the Rio Earth Summit in 1992. The UNFCCC sets the framework for how nations have approached climate issues for the past 28 years and counting. The negotiation to arrive at the UNFCCC involved many of the same issues that continue to arise in international climate discussions today, with this conversation focusing on differentiation and bindingness. 

Bindingness: Are policy commitments legally binding?
Differentiation: Should all countries have the same commitments? 

For example, the Kyoto Protocol (1997) defined legally-binding caps on greenhouse gas emissions for developed countries, but the US didn’t ratify, so it only ever accounted for a third of global emissions. Part of the reason was that countries were differentiated into two different Annexes of the Convention, classifications that have been contested ever since. That was until the Paris Agreement outlined a framework that lets each country set its own target, and their chief binding commitment was to continually report on progress and update the targets every five years. 

Frameworks before that had attempted to recognize more nuances with countries’ categorization. To name a few, there are oil-producing countries, tiny island nations, and countries going through dramatic economic transitions (e.g. countries affected by the collapse of the USSR). 

This highlights the complexities of climate policy negotiation, a subject which Sue Biniaz is all too familiar with. She shared four tips for negotiation which we’ve summarized below:

1) Preparation. There are multiple ways to represent your own position, and knowing other parties’ positions can help you effectively present to them. Consider different ways to reflect the same substance.
2) Ask a lot of questions. Related to Tip #1, clarifying other parties’ positions can help you address the same substance with different wording. 
3) Be clear and concise. Long rambling proposals can lose people’s attention. Short, simple lists can go a long way. 
4) Explain why the proposal is in the other party’s interest, rather than simply dictating your position.

Sue is still active in the negotiations as a Senior Fellow at the UN Foundation and has been teaching courses on international climate negotiations at various law schools. Franz took the opportunity to inquire about the current state of the Paris Agreement:

A new US administration could easily re-join the Paris Agreement, but it would have to design an emissions target within 30 days, as each country decides its own NDC (Nationally Determined Contribution)This would create a delicate balance for the new administration: substantial commitments to regain credibility, versus domestic backlash in response to ambitious policies. Franz points out that the COVID-19 pandemic has added even another layer to that dynamic. It has delayed the next UN Climate Conference (COP26) by a year, which will be the first global stocktake for countries’ NDCs. Sue highlights that this may be a blessing in disguise, since many countries weren’t on-track to reach their NDCs this year, and it also gives the US a chance to regain its footing with a new president.

COVID-19 has understandably shifted countries’ focus for the time being, but countries can still work towards their NDCs by “building back better,” ensuring that stimulus packages aren’t going back to business as usual.

Despite what it may seem, Sue reminds us that only a fraction of the world is trying to devalue the science around climate change. We all have a duty to continue pursuing a fact-based approach to problem solving, insisting on even our own accuracy.

With that, there’s reason for optimism, as countries like China are still pushing towards ambitious targets for climate policy. Domestic momentum on climate action is also picking up: companies, cities, and other non-state actors are continuing to improve their ambition, invest in green and scale down brown. 

This is the role Raise Green plays: empowering local communities to improve their infrastructure and tackle climate change. Many of the challenges are persistent, but Sue reminds us of our ability to make a difference. Whether in negotiations or neighborhoods, working together creatively is the way to get it done.

You can find the “Raise Green” Podcast on [Spotify](https://open.spotify.com/episode/3SoCbMDNAj0GT4FSc7RqXt?si=1UQ0JK6_R_aLGgtVCj97jg), [Apple](https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/raise-green/id1529894700), and [Soundcloud](https://soundcloud.com/user-353076924) streaming services. Be sure to check us out!

Have any questions you want us to ask, or a guest you would like to be featured on the podcast? Email us at [info@raisegreen.com](mailto:info@raisegreen.com). To get the most up-to-date information on Raise Green content, please sign up for our email [list](http://eepurl.com/dFst3T) and follow any of our social accounts ([Instagram](https://www.instagram.com/raisegreeninc/), [Twitter](https://twitter.com/RaiseGreenInc), [Facebook](https://www.facebook.com/RaiseGreenInc/), [LinkedIn](https://www.linkedin.com/company/raisegreen/)). 


Raise Green Podcast Episode #2: What is Climate Policy? 

We’re live! 

Do you wonder if sustainability is achievable or even enough, do we need renewal, or regeneration, do we need circularity? How do we make that happen? 

We recently launched the official “Raise Green” podcast, hosted by Co-Founders Franz Hochstrasser and Matt Moroney - exploring the climate crisis through the minds of local leaders and global experts. Our podcast revolves around short, accessible conversations that share new ways of working together via personal stories about creating a healthy, just, and sustainable future. [Listen to the approximately 20 minute Episode #1 here on Spotify:](https://open.spotify.com/episode/3SoCbMDNAj0GT4FSc7RqXt?si=1UQ0JK6_R_aLGgtVCj97jg )

Episode #1 features Eva Gladek, Founder and CEO of a sustainability focused consulting and venture-building company called Metabolic in Amsterdam, Netherlands. They literally build ventures to remake the economy. One of her first projects with Metabolic was De Ceuvel, a cafe and city playground for innovation, experimentation and creativity that makes sustainability tangible, accessible and fun. 

This award-winning, sustainable planned workplace for creative and social enterprises on a remediated former shipyard in Amsterdam demonstrates the potential economic opportunities can be built with a bit of creativity and perseverance. 

**Building on these ideas, Metabolic has built circularity plans for cities, provinces, and private enterprises in agriculture, banking, building, chemicals, and textiles. Check out their recent work in the U.S. cities of Charlotte and Boulder.**

**Between this September day in 2020, and 2030 what will you build?
**

Eva and her band of changemakers at Metabolic are dedicated to creating a beneficial and  equitable society through systems transformation, circular economy, and sustainable design. She is consistently listed among the top influencers in sustainability in The Netherlands, a country recognized as leading the transition to a circular economy. We talk to Eva about:

1) How the circular economy is different from sustainability in general?

2) Is everything a resource?

3) How popular is the topic of circular economy in Europe, and why has it not caught on in the United States? 

4) How might a country like the Netherlands continue to improve on the topic of circular economy? 

The show goes on next week as we welcome the next of our several guests soon to be featured on the “Raise Green” podcast. Episode #2 is with the inimitable and legendary Sue Biniaz, a former lead climate lawyer for the U.S. State Department where she played a central role in the negotiation of nearly every major climate agreement to date, including the Paris Agreement. 

You can find the “Raise Green” Podcast  on [Spotify](https://open.spotify.com/episode/3SoCbMDNAj0GT4FSc7RqXt?si=1UQ0JK6_R_aLGgtVCj97jg), [Apple](https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/raise-green/id1529894700), and [Soundcloud](https://soundcloud.com/user-353076924/evagladek) streaming services. Be sure to check us out!

Have any questions you want us to ask, or a guest you would like to be featured on the podcast? Email us at [info@raisegreen.com](mailto:null). To get the most up-to-date information on Raise Green content, please sign up for our [email list](http://eepurl.com/dFst3T) and follow any of our social accounts ([Instagram](https://www.instagram.com/raisegreeninc/), [Twitter](https://twitter.com/RaiseGreenInc), [Facebook](https://www.facebook.com/RaiseGreenInc/), [LinkedIn](https://www.linkedin.com/company/raisegreen/)). 


Raise Green Podcast Episode #1: What is the Circular Economy? 

# Raise Green Comments on the SEC’s Proposed Changes to Crowdinvesting Rules

Whether it’s an ominous orange sky in the middle of the day, climate fires ravaging communities, increased likelihood of contagion, asthma and morbidity from air pollution, or the destructive derechos, hurricanes, floods and other disastrous weather-events hitting neighborhoods across the country, *we’re experiencing climate change everyday*. These are sobering reminders that **time is of the essence** to make the shift to a clean energy economy. That’s why we need everyone involved in creating and financing the sustainable infrastructure needed for a climate-safe and resilient future.

Raise Green is a category-defining [marketplace](https://marketplace.raisegreen.com/offers/offersList) dedicated to bringing verifiable impact investment opportunities to everyone, and empowering communities to create and finance climate action projects. That unique blend of assistance and access is currently missing in the clean energy finance world, and it relies on specific rules regulated by the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). Earlier this year the SEC proposed some big changes to their rule aimed at “[Facilitating Capital Formation and Expanding Investment Opportunities by Improving Access to Capital in Private Markets](https://www.sec.gov/comments/s7-05-20/s70520.htm)".

The SEC’s rulemaking process invited comments on this proposed rule, and Raise Green took the opportunity to provide detailed comments in a joint letter with New Haven Community Solar (NHCS): https://www.sec.gov/comments/s7-05-20/s70520-7261538-217666.pdf. 
Raise Green and NHCS are both founded, designed and mission-driven with a core intention of amplifying marginalized voices and empowering everyone to be part of creating a more healthy, just and sustainable world. This rule-making offers a tremendous opportunity to expand inclusive finance through crowdfunding. 

We throw that word around a lot, ‘crowdfunding’, but it took several years for crowdfunding platforms like ours to become available to everyday investors like you, and even longer for ‘crowdfunding’ to become a common noun known to the general public. Crowdfunding is a catch-all for a few different types of crowdfunding, but most of it is donation-based crowdfunding like Kickstarter where you donate, and may or may not get something back. 

Equity crowdfunding (or what we refer to as ‘crowdinvesting’) is the actual sale of private securities (stock or debt that is not available on a public exchange like the NYSE or NASDAQ). When an Originator sells securities, their company is bound by law to use the funds for what they said, and to pay investors back (plus profit!) as promised, if their project is successful. Now more than 500k Americans have made a crowdinvestment since 2016 (Crowdfund Capital Advisors, 2020). 

Even though crowdinvesting became legal after the JOBS Act passed in 2012, it wasn’t fully allowed in the U.S. until the SEC finalized regulations in 2016. With Reg CF, Reg A and other exempt offerings, private equity investing is now more accessible and transparent for accredited and non-accredited investors. But recent analysis from the SEC has found significant barriers to widespread adoption. Now the SEC has kicked off the process of revising exempt security offering rules, and Raise Green is pleased to help make comments that can help make more wealth building opportunities for impact investors at the community-scale and accelerate the clear energy transition. 

# Our 3 favorite proposed changes to Regulation Crowdfunding, and how they can benefit investors, Originators, and the fight against climate change: 

**1: Increase of the maximum raise (i.e. offering amount) per company to $5 Million or more **

Currently, there is an investment limit of $1.07 million per company per year for crowdfunding raises. Increasing this limit would allow for an overall increase in capital raised, while simultaneously allowing for crowd investors to invest in and benefit from ownership of larger climate action projects (e.g. lower cost estimates and higher value creation efficiency). This would mean that Raise Green could inclusively finance projects that are several megawatts in capacity, which can be more profitable and have a greater impact than smaller projects due to economies of scale.

**2: Removal of the investment limit for accredited investors and increased transparency of investment limits for non-accredited investors**

This will not only allow for a greater influx of capital towards projects from accredited investors, but also help bypass the issues currently accompanying the calculation of investment limits for non-accredited investors. Such limits are driven from self-attestation of net worth, a process that is inherently difficult for most of the general public to calculate. By removing the accredited investor limit Raise Green projects can take larger investments from family offices, donor-advised funds, and other accredited and institutional investors which means more and larger projects can get funded more quickly, while still allowing for blended capital and access to non-accredited investors to be in the same deals.

**3: Allowing companies and crowdfunding platforms to market and advertise an investment opportunity prior to officially listing it (taking “indications of interest”) **

Under the current Reg CF exemption, issuers (i.e. companies that host investment opportunities on marketplaces like Raise Green’s) are unable to communicate with their investor base until they have gone through the process of preparing an offering. Allowing issuers to effectively “test the waters” and gauge interest may lead to an explosion of interest among both issuers and investors alike. Increasing transparency in the fundraising and project development process is likely to improve access and efficiency in our work to build a new asset class of green crowdfunded private equity.

Raise Green views many of the changes in the proposed rule as important ways to help accelerate inclusive climate finance and move towards a democratized clean energy future. We have more than 60 Originators in the pipeline to create climate action projects - if these Originators and others are able to operate under these new rule changes, we anticipate an explosion of interest among the impact investing community and an increase in the number and variety of prospective Originators. It’s an exciting time for Raise Green, and we welcome you all to join the movement to finance and create the climate-safe and resilient future that we all want and need. To see the entire letter in extended detail, check out this [link] (https://www.sec.gov/comments/s7-05-20/s70520-7261538-217666.pdf).

As always, feel free to engage us in conversation and send any questions or comments you might have to info@raisegreen.com.

To get the most up-to-date information on Raise Green content, please sign up for our email list and follow any of our social accounts ([Instagram](https://www.instagram.com/raisegreeninc/), [Twitter](https://twitter.com/RaiseGreenInc), [Facebook](https://www.facebook.com/RaiseGreenInc/), [LinkedIn](https://www.linkedin.com/company/raisegreen)). 


![Img](//a.storyblok.com/f/77953/267x150/2252db00c5/updated-copy-__-raisegreen-pitch-deck-200407-1.svg)

*This is not a Research Report, should not be construed as investment advice, and does not constitute a solicitation to sell or an offer to buy securities relating to any products referenced herein Past performance is not indicative of future results. This blog represents a business discussion only and the views of individuals at Raise Green. Investing in Crowdfunded investments is risky and speculative. Please see FAQs on this Site for more information.*

Changing the Rules in a Changing Climate: Raise Green Comments on the SEC’s Proposed Changes to Crowdinvesting Rules

Changing the Rules in a Changing Climate


## New Raise Green Tech Platform Automates Process For Starting and Financing a Solar Business 

*Amid record unemployment, Raise Green’s Originator Engine empowers anyone, regardless of experience or income, to create and lead their own solar energy project and invite investors*

**Somerville, MA** - [Raise Green](https://www.raisegreen.com/) — the impact investment marketplace for green infrastructure and clean energy projects — today announced the launch of its [Originator Engine](https://oe.raisegreen.com/), a first-of-its-kind SaaS solution developed in partnership with IBM to help drive entrepreneurship and community resilience by empowering nearly anyone to start their own solar energy business. The new, easy-to-use platform automates the process of creating a solar energy project, templatizing and aggregating what would be hundreds of pages of documentation. Last month, Raise Green launched as the first crowdfunding platform for investment in clean energy projects nationwide with its [first offering](https://marketplace.raisegreen.com/offers/PreviewOffers/NjY3MjA=) of 50+ projects in the pipeline. The [Greentown Labs](https://greentownlabs.com/)-based company is the first to offer equity crowdfunding focused on investments for climate solutions nationwide since the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission’s (SEC) [finalization of equity crowdfunding regulations](https://www.sec.gov/news/pressrelease/2015-249.html).  

 

*“The 20th Century was built on gas stations at every corner. The 21st Century will be built on solar arrays at every corner,” said Matthew Moroney, Co-founder and Chief Operating Officer at Raise Green. “Raise Green is stripping away the barriers that often come with starting a business with an easy-to-use platform that automates the process of building local solar energy projects and funding them.”
*
 

The COVID-19 pandemic has left [50 million Americans ](https://www.wsj.com/video/unemployed-americans-line-up-as-600-jobless-benefit-expires/A86FBE2C-75FC-4107-AC38-E50E53BC3528.html) unemployed and put local communities at high risk. These communities are also impacted by the effects of climate change. As part of this new service, Raise Green is also announcing a new loan program, now accepting applications, with additional financial assistance to anyone looking to start their own climate action project. It is no secret that low-income communities and communities of color bear the brunt of the ill effects of climate change, and of the economic fallout from the pandemic. Raise Green is committed to meeting this moment with an eye toward environmental justice, removing barriers to green energy for those who stand to benefit the most.

 

*“This has been a fantastic combination of market knowledge, business understanding and technology development, leveraging the combined skills of IBM and Raise Green to rapidly make a difference in solving one of the key issues facing us in the world today,” [said](https://www.ibm.com/blogs/think/uk-en/developing-the-solar-community/) Keric Morris, Digital Strategy Global Energy Lead at IBM.*

 

Raise Green’s Originator Engine was born out of the complexity of a solar project with [Columbus House](https://www.columbushouse.org/), a non-profit providing homelessness solutions, during which they realized many of the documents being processed were similar. The Originator Engine also contributes toward the [United Nations’ 13th Sustainable Development Goal](https://sdgs.un.org/goals/goal13), among others, by strengthening adaptive capabilities against climate-related hazards, integrating climate change measures into planning, improving education on climate change mitigation, and more.

 

*"Solutions to climate demand rapid scalability of existing technology. This can be achieved with replicable and templatized project finance using verifiable impact to empower large institutions to invest confidently in locally created projects. When dealing with a problem as daunting as climate change, we need to tap technology to give people the means to participate in the fight at the local level,” said David Thomson, Director of Integration at Verses. “Raise Green’s easy-to-use SaaS Originator Engine empowers anyone to take charge of their own climate movement and innovate a sustainable infrastructure project where they have identified a need.” *

 

While most models used to set up clean energy businesses are cumbersome and fundamentally inequitable, Raise Green’s cost-effective solution fills the need for a common platform that provides innovators with real-world knowledge to develop and run their own solar business from start to finish in four phases:

1) **Create:** The Originator Engine guides a project creator through complex corporate obstacles to help them turn their project idea into a real business that’s ready for funding.

2) **Fund:** An originator gets access to Raise Green’s crowdfunding platform to finance their project, allowing anyone to invest.

3) **Build: **With the funds raised, an originator continues to develop and manage the project with guidance from Raise Green. This can include construction, permitting applications, etc.

4) **Run:** An originator sees the ongoing, direct impact of their project, gathering invaluable knowledge and experience along the way.


Raise Green’s marketplace offers a wide variety of replicable, templatized investment opportunities for solar power, affordable housing, electric vehicle charging stations, agriculture, water projects, and microgrids. Each investment vertical is designed to have an immediate impact on the resilience of local communities with a chance to earn returns while building sustainable infrastructure. Whether investing $100 or as much as $100,000, everyone can be directly involved in owning a part of a climate action project to support sustainable infrastructure. 


To learn more about Raise Green and to utilize their platform to invest in or start clean energy projects, visit: [https://www.raisegreen.com. ](https://www.raisegreen.com)


**About Raise Green:** Raise Green is the first marketplace in the U.S. for local and inclusive impact investment with verifiable and demonstrable environmental benefits. Through the platform, anyone can be an originator of their own community solar project. On Raise Green’s investor marketplace, anyone (individuals and institutions) can invest in community-focused climate resilience projects across a varied range of project scales and minimum investments. Early investors in Raise Green are veterans of the renewable energy industry and project financing. Investors can derive value while at the same time creating quantifiable impacts in local communities, as well as receiving financial returns if the project is successful. 

Press Release: Raise Green Launches Tech Platform Automates Process For Starting and Financing a Solar Business 

Press Release: New Raise Green Tech Platform Automates Process For Starting and Financing a Solar Business 

### IBM and Raise Green

*9 March, 2020 | Written by: Keric Morris and Franz Hochstrasser*

While some progress has been made on renewables deployment – in the US they now make up around 20% of energy production – there is still a long way to go in achieving net zero carbon in energy production. If you then consider that in order to decarbonize transport, heating, cooling and cooking, even with increased energy efficiency, we will likely need to double electricity production from current levels, the scale of the gap gets considerably larger.

*"This has been a fantastic combination of market knowledge, business understanding and technology development, leveraging the combined skills of IBM and Raise Green to rapidly make a difference in solving one of the key issues facing us in the world today" 
– Keric Morris, Digital Strategy Global Energy Lead*

In order to bridge this gap, centralized generation isn’t going to be enough – it will take businesses, communities and individuals playing a more active role in production and storage to meet our increasing needs. Yet, to date, the majority of the growth has been in large scale assets and the development of solar on consumers’ homes.

The fact is that a number of hurdles get in the way of communities being a part of the needed change. Building renewable generation assets requires access to financing and an ability to navigate an array of regulatory, asset build and connection/pricing issues – which makes it difficult for all but the most determined and experienced community renewable energy developers to achieve.

At the same time institutional investors searching for green projects find the scale of community projects too small for their portfolios and difficult to assess and manage, creating more risk than they are willing to accept in their investments.

Yet help in solving these issues is here in the form of start-ups like Raise Green who are looking to help ‘democratise’ the process of renewable development, making it easy and accessible for all. Raise Green is a Boston based fintech and community solar business that matches community developers to crowdinvesting – supporting them through every step of the way including, as needed, negotiating with power companies, helping to find contractors, etc.

*"Millions of activists and community leaders are demanding urgent climate action and marching in the streets, but what do we do at the end of the march? Raise Green gives heroes across the U.S. the tools that they need to take real impactful action right now on climate change by creating or investing directly in a climate solution project. Our originator engine powered by IBM will give anyone the ability to create their own green job and bring solar or climate solutions to their community."
 – Franz Hochstrasser, CEO Raise Green*

They have already completed 2 projects, have 40+ further renewable projects in the pipeline and are looking to scale even further by developing a platform based approach to delivery that will help potential community renewable asset developers from across the US to carefully navigate through the process using a digital originator engine. This is where the team turned to IBM for help to leverage tools such as Red Hat and the IBM accelerator to rapidly develop this engine.

In an initial 6 week program of work, the core of the engine has been developed building on Raise Green’s proprietary approach using an agile orientated approach and pre-built tools from the IBM accelerator. Using the existing community renewable asset developers in the pipeline we are robustly challenging and testing the platform.

While this seems like a very rapid development timeline (and it is!), given the scale of the emerging climate emergency and the need to enable a broader swathe of communities to actively engage in the change, this type of approach is essential. That is the beauty of the platform, that by leveraging proven IBM approaches to de-risk the technical build, combined with Raise Green’s experience in community renewable development, a robust solution can be created to accelerate the transition to a net zero carbon future.

Cross Posted [from IBM Blog](https://www.ibm.com/blogs/think/uk-en/developing-the-solar-community/)

IBM and Raise Green - Developing the solar community

Developing the solar community

IBM and Raise Green

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