CIO Bulletin

‘We are providing a platform that changes the way the world tracks and monetizes its energy data and carbon credits,’ Chris Thorne, Chairman of GIGA Carbon Neutrality Inc

“We work together to help improve and accelerate certain aspects of carbon footprint data tracking, support activities aimed to reduce emissions of pollution into the environment, and enable reward systems aimed at acknowledging impactful results with renewable energy credits and carbon credits.”

GIGA Carbon Neutrality, Inc. (GCN) is a green technology platform company. Through its proprietary software and tools, GCN’s solutions are changing the way the world tracks and monetizes energy data and carbon credits. GCN continues to gain fast momentum, having established partnerships globally with leading companies across the energy value chain.

Chris Thorne spoke exclusively to CIO Bulletin about how he and his team of experts at GCN are on a mission to support the global carbon credit ecosystem, with the goal of helping to improve the health of the planet.

Interview Highlights

Q. Please tell us about GIGA Carbon Neutrality’s work culture. How do you help each other grow?

First, thank you for selecting GIGA Carbon Neutrality for this recognition. It’s nice to meet you. GCN’s founder, Bruno Wu, is a larger-than-life personality. It’s no accident that he was awarded the Nobel Medal for his innovative work in Sustainability. His passion and positive energy are highly contagious. We’re fortunate to have many talented leaders who have come together and joined our organization to support this cause. For example: my colleague Lan Yang is one of the most charismatic, smart, and widely-celebrated media professionals on Earth; Craig Forrest is the founder and former leader of Apple’s semiconductor design organization; Doug Brown is the former Vice Chairman of Morgan Stanley Investment Banking; and other equally accomplished and talented individuals are working together here. Our team’s mission is tied to saving the planet. I’d say that’s a pretty motivating mission! As a result, there’s no shortage of passion and work ethic in this organization. GCN’s purpose is bigger than any one of us, which creates a sense of urgency. I learned many years ago that the word TEAM is actually an acronym…It means Together Each Achieves More. We have to focus on our shared mission, support each other through the long journey, and remember our common humanity.

“We’re aiming to empower many organizations with our platform so that they can be better informed, motivated and rewarded for removing pollution from the atmosphere.”

Q. What is your mission at GIGA Carbon Neutrality?

Ultimately, our mission is simple and clear: to help improve the health of our planet by making a significant impact in the fight against pollution and climate change. Our aim is to become a meaningful part of the solution as the world struggles with the need for better data, transparency, efficiency, and standards for measuring carbon footprint and rewarding activities that reduce emissions of pollution into the atmosphere. Unintended consequences of the industrial revolution have led to imbalance of certain chemicals emitted into the atmosphere. Now to be fair, many positive by-products emerged from the industrial revolution. Expansion of the global food system, improved sanitation, and advances in healthcare and science reduced infant mortality, extended human life expectancy, and helped to eradicate certain debilitating health conditions and diseases. Advances in transportation and telecommunication helped enable people to communicate with, and learn from, different cultures around the world. Unfortunately, not all people have benefited equally. Oceans, lakes and rivers became increasingly polluted. Forests and green spaces were reduced. Certain species have been traumatized or decimated. Our Earth’s atmosphere has been damaged. It’s not too late to do something about it. The time is ripe to address the situation. There needs to be support and alignment of interests across many different stakeholders in communities around the world. Renewable energy credits and carbon credits are intended to provide incentives; but currently, carbon credits are not broadly accessible. Small businesses may lack know-how or resources to assess their current carbon footprint, to develop pragmatic plans to reduce their footprint, and to track and measure their own progress. What’s been missing is more accessible and clear understanding of best practices and standards, and a platform for tracking energy data and monetizing credits. Our mission is to address that gap –by facilitating the development of the green energy ecosystem, and by providing a platform that changes the way the world tracks and monetizes their energy data and carbon credits.

Q. How is GCN reinventing the way Green Energy is produced, stored, delivered and utilized?

Our GCN platform is designed to apply technology-driven tools to help track and monetize carbon credits. We’re also supporting and nurturing the Green Energy ecosystem by facilitating the development of partnerships that we’ve formed with leading companies across the energy value chain, including energy producers, energy storage providers, and manufacturers of green energy-powered equipment. By providing access to our platform and services across the Green Energy and Carbon Credit value chain, we aim to help empower companies to evaluate their own carbon footprint, track their progress, and properly receive and monetize credit for every ton of pollution they contain or remove from our atmosphere. GCN is in a unique position because of the exclusive agreements that GCN has established across the largest energy-related sectors within the largest untapped carbon credit markets of the world. These established partnerships position GCN for significant revenue and long-term growth trajectory as a global platform. We’re working to empower as many people and organizations as possible with our platform so that they can be motivated and rewarded for removing pollution from the atmosphere.

Q. Is the carbon credit paradigm too complicated to be effective?

The existing carbon credit system is simply too arduous and inaccessible to provide enough incentive to change behavior at the scale and timeline required. That’s why we must innovate the way energy data is tracked and incentives are earned. We can work together to help simplify, automate, and accelerate certain aspects of carbon footprint tracking, tracking reduction activities, and rewarding positive activities with renewable energy credits and carbon credits. GCN’s platform was designed with this purpose in mind.

Q. How can we reduce pollution in the atmosphere?

Every single person on our planet can play a role in being part of the solution. We have choices everyday that affect our own carbon footprint, such as recycling and being mindful of not wasting energy in our home. However, when we want or need to utilize energy, we don’t always have access to timely and accurate information about how the energy we utilize was sourced. Our communities need better awareness and choices. We need green options to be more accessible and affordable. Sustainability is a non-partisan issue that goes beyond politics and provides a natural common ground for collaboration across our global society. Everyone is a stakeholder in our planet. Our aim is for GCN’s platform to be helpful to support these purposes.

Do you think global industry giants are fighting to their fullest to reduce pollutant emissions? Also, please explain the technology behind your green energy platform.

Corporate leaders face tremendous pressure to do their part, yet they generally lack sophisticated tools and support structures to measure their organization’s current pollutant footprint and the required information to develop plans and navigate to reduce their footprint. Imagine if the pilot of an aircraft had no dashboard, compass, or visibility to gauge where they are and where they’re going. Imagine if a corporation aiming to improve its FINANCIAL performance had limited access to basic financial information such as current and historical costs and revenues by category. Likewise, organizations need relevant ENVIRONMENTAL information and tools to measure their current footprint and track their environmental performance. It’s the basic need for better data and tools to help track progress and then monetize the resulting credits. That’s where GCN’s platform is designed to be helpful.

Q. How important are industry partnerships to GIGA Carbon Neutrality?

Among GCN’s greatest differentiating factors is the amazing relationships that it has forged with leading companies across the Energy value chain. These industry partnerships make our company immediately relevant. Many leading organizations involved with green hydrogen, green ammonia, wind power, solar power, equipment electrification, and battery swapping stations have already joined us by establishing a partnership with GCN. These partnerships will increase the scale efficiencies of GCN’s platform, and position our platform to have greater impact across the ecosystem. So, yes, we absolutely value each of our industry partnerships, and we look forward to forging more of these partnerships around the world.

Q. What is your next step towards developing GCN’s platform? Are exciting things on the way?

GCN’s team is ready and excited for the journey ahead as we deliver our services and design a user-friendly platform for the future with emphasis on transparency, security, and innovative use of blockchain technology. We expect there will be challenges. After all, we’re building something different and new. That’s OK. We’ll keep moving forward. Every member of our team has overcome obstacles before. This team has true grit.

Q. Some people may not know your path to GIGA Carbon Neutrality. Would you share with us where you grew up, and the path you’ve taken that led to this point?

I grew up in the Midwest countryside in the outskirts of a small Ohio town called Granville. I’m the oldest of three brothers, and we’re extremely lucky to have a big sister who’s always led by example as a pioneer in many ways. Granville is surrounded by rolling hills covered by forests and lots of natural beauty, so we developed a healthy appreciation for wildlife and the outdoors. Springtime meant creeks full of crawfish and bullfrogs, the smell of wildflowers, and wild blackberries. We’d hike through the dense thickets of sassafras trees, wild dogwoods, maples, and evergreens that were home to rabbits, squirrels, deer, fox, bluebirds, and red cardinals. My parents – both healthcare professionals – prioritized education. I went to public school in a little old school house through fourth grade. Later, I had the privilege of attending the Columbus Academy, which required a long daily commute. I was fortunate to have excellent teachers and coaches along the way. More important than any particular subject-matter, I gained intellectual curiosity and learned the art of critical thinking. My natural curiosity led me to take more advanced courses than were normally permitted, which led to graduating with a record number of credits. I had fun serving as editor-in-chief of the student paper and playing roles in theater productions. Most of all, I loved athletics – serving as captain of my three sports teams. I ultimately was admitted early action to Harvard, and was drawn to Harvard because I felt it would be an amazing experience. Looking back, I’m grateful for the opportunity to study there and to form the friendships that are with me to this day. I’m honored to now serve on Harvard’s faculty. It’s a very special place to me.

Q. You’re an astute business-man and scholar. Did your participation in intercollegiate athletics provide a meaningful role in shaping your path to where you are today?

Absolutely. Though, while I was studying and competing in sports, I never thought or imagined I would run a company. I was focused on the task at hand and enjoying every moment of being on campus hanging out with fascinating classmates and teammates. Athletics have always been a part of me, and the lessons learned through athletics have shaped who I am. Without athletics, I may not have learned what I learned about leadership, teamwork, hard work, showing up, setting goals, and grit. You learn that winning and getting the job done right are all about teamwork. Athletics also builds mental toughness and inner confidence. You learn how to persevere and stand up after getting knocked down. It takes guts to step onto the field of competition at the start of every match and put yourself out there. These lessons from athletics are lessons I draw upon every single day in the business world.

Q. How has your career path prepared you for your current leadership role?

Each step of my career has taught valuable lessons that’ve proven useful in my next role. College taught me to understand people. I chose to major in Anthropology, which is the study of people, culture, and society. I believed that if you understand people, you can be extremely effective in any number of fields. Law School taught me how analyze an issue from different stakeholders’ perspectives, and how to form a cohesive argument. Business School taught me how to examine an industry and anticipate where opportunities will emerge in the future. My career at McKinsey & Company taught me how to clearly prioritize issues, communicate, and problem-solve. Building my first high-tech company taught me how to transform a novel idea into a viable business, and how to build a winning team. Managing a global alternative investment firm at Broadline Capital has taught me how to evaluate companies, structure investments, and negotiate winning deals. Teaching on Harvard’s Faculty has taught me how inspiring and energizing it is to mentor, empower and prepare talented young people to become future leaders. Now I have an exciting opportunity to put it all together, working with inspired colleagues toward benefiting GCN and realizing its important mission.

Chris Thorne, Chairman | In his own words

I grew up in the Midwest countryside, on the outskirts of a small Ohio town called Granville. I’m the oldest of three brothers, and we’re extremely lucky to have a big sister who’s always led by example as a pioneer in many ways. My parents, both healthcare professionals, prioritized education. I went to public school in a little old school house through the fourth grade. Later, I had the privilege of attending the Columbus Academy, which required a long daily commute. I was fortunate to have excellent teachers and coaches along the way. More important than any particular subject matter, I gained intellectual curiosity and learned the art of critical thinking. I gained exposure to a wide range of perspectives from traveling internationally and from pursuing varied academic experiences at places like Phillips Exeter Academy. Most of all, I loved athletics, serving as captain of my three sports teams. I ultimately was admitted early action to Harvard and was drawn to it because I felt it would be an amazing experience. Without athletics, I may not have learned what I learned about leadership, teamwork, hard work, showing up, setting goals, and grit. You learn that winning and getting the job done right are all about teamwork. Athletics also builds mental toughness and inner confidence. You learn how to persevere and stand up after getting knocked down. It takes guts to step onto the field at the start of every match and put yourself out there.

Each step of my career has taught me valuable lessons that have proven useful in my next role. College taught me to understand people. I chose to major in anthropology, which is the study of people, culture, and society. I believed that if you understand people, you can be extremely effective in a number of fields. Law School taught me how to analyze an issue from different stakeholders’ perspectives, and how to form a cohesive argument. Business School taught me how to examine an industry and anticipate where opportunities will emerge in the future. My career at McKinsey & Company taught me how to prioritize issues, communicate clearly, and problem-solve. Launching my first high-tech company taught me how to transform a novel idea into a viable business, and how to build a winning team. Managing a global alternative investment firm at Broadline Capital has taught me how to evaluate companies, structure investments, and negotiate winning deals. Teaching on Harvard’s faculty has taught me how inspiring and energizing it is to by mentor, empower and prepare talented young people to become future leaders. Now I have the opportunity to put it all together to benefit GCN and its important mission.