Boost change and carbon transparency: An interview with Camille Pêtre

Can you tell our readers more about Women in Carbon mission?

We aim to provide a really safe and supportive environment for women that work in carbon to share their perspectives and learn from each other. The idea is to contribute to representation of women in the industry, and work towards a better gender balanced industry.

Have you already seen visible changes since the start of your mission?

We've successfully organised five events since the beginning of March. We've attracted more than 400 attendees from over 250 companies. There is a lot of engagement from everyone, and we have just reached 2000 followers on our LinkedIn page. So, the more we speak about it, the more often we organise events. There is a lot of traction, which proves that there is a need for a platform like this. This is just a great thing to see. During Climate Week in September, we launched our New York chapter, which was a big achievement for us. We're therefore looking towards opening more of these chapters everywhere.

We organise panel discussions where we invite great women who have been successful in the carbon industry, who have a lot of experience to share, or are experts in a specific segment of the industry. We organise these events around a theme that we define with the co-founders. Then, in between these events, we organise networking drinks, i.e. informal meetings where we can come together and discuss any topic.

Can you tell our readers more about BeZero Carbon?

BeZero Carbon is a ratings agency for the voluntary carbon market. The voluntary carbon market is a relatively new market where organisations and individuals can buy, sell and trade carbon credits. One carbon credit equates to a tonne of carbon reduced or avoided. BeZero Carbon basically rates carbon credits on the market to help people understand what the quality of what they're buying is. We've rated more than 360 carbon credit projects worldwide. Basically, our aim is to help boost transparency in this new market and help businesses make informed decisions.

We are operating worldwide. We opened our office in the US, which helps us penetrate that market even more. But we have clients from all around the world. This market is a global one, so the actors can be located everywhere.

For the last centuries, men have ruled the Western World, whether it's in politics, in industries, in the military and so on. However, we nowadays find ourselves in a world that’s slowly falling apart, because of pollution, international tensions, and greed for power. Do you think having more women in higher positions could be a counter alternative to this slippery slope?

I think having a fair representation of women is important in any industry now. I really do believe that diversity is not about percentages or numbers, it's really about shifting the mindset, the company culture, and changing systems that were initially designed for men to succeed. These systems are not fit for purpose today. Companies want to attract more women, they're trying to evolve, but they're not there yet.

Having a diverse workforce helps your company in several ways. It helps in order to have different debates. It also helps people think differently. I've seen it in my past experiences. People do think differently when they exchange with people from different genders and different cultures. Having that diversity of people in the room helps to challenge ideas, put things in new perspectives and find different solutions.

Do you have any advice for other founders?

Whenever you believe in something, just go for it and find out.

I was amazed by the support that we were able to get, the number of people who were happy to talk to you. Be open to all of that. Be open to the support that you can get, just make sure that you continue to drive the things that are really important to you and don't stop at the first challenge.

Trust yourself and make sure that you use your network because people are always happy to help.

Is there anyone who inspires you?

A lot of people inspire me. People who inspire me the most are those who are accessible. There are a lot of great managers that I've worked with, a lot of women and men also, who were great allies and who were very supportive.

I think these are the types of people who really inspire me. Those who are really on the ground, those who you can learn from and who are great examples of the leader you could become one day.

Camille Pêtre is the founder of Women in Carbon and CFO at BeZero Carbon.