Embracing change: My ECOP adventure

By Jamie Yeo

The Early Career Ocean Professional program (ECOP) was an opportune moment for me as I was pivoting in my career from a private banker to a researcher. Trained as a social scientist at the National University of Singapore, I was drawn to finance due to the rise in sustainability trends. Carbon credits, for instance, were in high demand as corporations were seeking to achieve their net-zero ambitions. I saw an opportunity for the private sector to be involved in scaling conservation efforts in unprecedented magnitude. The ECOP fellowship granted me the platform to work together with participants, including project developers, in the Indian Ocean region to understand on-the-ground challenges. Working with my supervisor, Dr Mat Vanderklift, also helped to shape my curious musings into a thoughtful and intellectual piece of work.

Research Overview

I began to embark on a research project investigating alternative financial mechanisms to scale conservation efforts. Specifically, I focused on critiquing a novel financial tool called biodiversity credits which support companies to achieve their nature-positive goals. With increasing regulatory pressures from institutional bodies such as the Taskforce for Nature-related Financial Disclosures (TNFD), companies are increasingly aware of their nature-related risks and are exploring pathways to mitigate these pressures. In response, a plethora of biodiversity credit methodologies have emerged which created market uncertainty. Amidst the litany of approaches, my research project specifically focuses on biodiversity credit methodologies which have an evidenced record of market transaction. I was motivated to write a foundational paper critiquing the approaches existing biodiversity credit methodologies used to measure biodiversity outcomes.

The ECOP fellowship played a pivotal role in my research because it created an environment for a productive and thoughtful conversations to happen. Before, literature reviews were informative but one-dimensional. The fellowship changed this because every curiosity was an opportunity for conversations which provided depth to my thoughts and writing.

We realised quickly in our weekly meetings, that although separate or individual research projects were critical to building upon the research projects of our peers. Outside of our project, the ECOP program was well organised and thoughtful to our needs. We definitely had our share of adventures with excursions to popular sites including the Caversham Wildlife Park and Rottnest Island.

I was also blessed to have friends who are generous to share their thoughts with me. They were always ready to take time off to sit with me while I shared with them my thoughts and writing drafts. I am thankful that the fellowship created the space needed for my intellectual work to take root and grow.

Program Overview

My key findings are two-fold. First, I argue that existing biodiversity credits, with its focus on measuring habitat quality and extent, is unlikely to achieve long-term biodiversity outcomes because it assumes that the protection of habitats will translate to positive biodiversity impact. Second, I am concerned that the flexible selection of counterfactual sites (i.e. places to compare against) in existing biodiversity credit methodologies risks conflating the number of credits issued and are not effective in quantifying the actual outcomes of a project intervention.

Since completing the fellowship, I have joined the NUS Center for Nature-based Climate Solutions (NUS CNCS) as a blue carbon Research Assistant. Both carbon and biodiversity should not be seen as disparate benefits of an ecosystem. In my new role, I endeavor to use the knowledge I have gained to inform my perspective on how carbon and biodiversity are measured in blue carbon ecosystems.

Benefits

Overall, the ECOP fellowship has been fundamental in building my career goals. Through this program, I was introduced to a network of like-minded, passionate professionals from the Indian Ocean region, with whom I can collaborate with in the future. I was given the guidance and confidence to turn my ideas into a scientific article. A greater boost was being given the opportunity to present my findings in the 5th IORA Blue Carbon Hub Think Tank in Phuket, Thailand. With these achievements and new networks, I am hopeful for the new initiatives I will embark on in my next career move!

I have benefited immensely from this opportunity and would like to thank Mat, Mark and Lauren for their support!

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