Buying Back the Future: Hot Tips from Leading Carbon Removal Buyers
Welcome to the sixth webinar in the OpenAir Collective's 2026 Carbon Removal Challenge monthly webinar series! We're proud to present a panel on purchasing carbon removals, with Microsoft's Michael Berger, Wren's Sophie Westover, Shopify's Mitchel Selby, and Milkywire's Aidan Preston.
Join us for a discussion of their carbon removal purchasing programs and portfolios, purchasing criteria, lessons learned, and advice to student teams participating in the Challenge.
Terraset's Taylor Insley will be our guest moderator. (Terraset is a Bronze Level Carbon Removal Challenge sponsor.) Beatriz Beccari Berreto will handle audience Q&A.
Sophie Westover is Head of Climate at Wren, where she leads carbon project sourcing, due diligence, and supplier relationships across a global climate portfolio. She brings over a decade of experience in the climate sector and holds a Master’s in Development Practice from UC Berkeley’s Goldman School of Public Policy and a BA in International Affairs from Lewis & Clark College.
Michael Berger is a CDR buyer for Microsoft, currently the largest buyer of high durability CDR credits, where he focuses on novel CDR pathways such as enhanced rock weathering and ocean alkalinity enhancement. Michael has a background of 10+ years working on climate change, marine conservation, and other environmental issues.
Mitchel Selby leads Shopify’s Sustainability Fund, which involves allocating Shopify’s $5M annual funding and fulfilling its commitment to Frontier to jointly spend over $1B on permanent carbon removal by 2030. Shopify has done over $100m in carbon removal deals since 2020.
Aidan Preston, Ph.D. is a carbon dioxide removal and science policy expert for Milkywire, where he leads the commercial CDR program, helping organizations achieve their net-zero goals. In his previous role at the DOE, he designed and managed the Carbon Dioxide Removal Purchase Pilot Prize, the first government program designed to procure high-quality, durable CDR credits.
Taylor Insley is Terraset’s Head of Growth, leading strategy and development. With a background in climate philanthropy and early-stage innovation, she brings deep experience raising, structuring, and deploying mission-aligned capital from roles at the National Marine Sanctuary Foundation and Conservation X Labs.
Our audience Q&A moderator, Beatriz Beccari Barreto, Ph.D., is a carbon dioxide removal project manager and sustainability consultant specializing in life cycle and techno-economic assessment. She works at the intersection of policy, business, and science, supporting credible climate and carbon removal strategies. She volunteers as an organizer of the Carbon Removal Challenge.
For more information about the Carbon Removal Challenge and how you can participate as a student, organizer, judge, mentor, partner, donor, or sponsor, visit https://openaircollective.com/CRC.