Absolute Climate Welcomes Leaders From Advocacy and Government to Advance Credible Carbon Removal Standards

Sierra Club’s Mike Brune and DOE’s Grant Faber bring policy and market expertise to strengthen independent quality assurance for carbon removal

SAN FRANCISCO, Sept. 05, 2025 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Absolute Climate, the first independent quality assurance provider for carbon removal credits, welcomes Mike Brune, former Executive Director of the Sierra Club, as an advisory board member and Grant Faber, former U.S. Department of Energy DAC Hubs Program Manager, as its new Standards Lead. Together, they bring decades of leadership in climate policy and market development to the company. As scrutiny around carbon removal credits grows, their expertise will help Absolute Climate set the benchmark for quality and transparency across the industry.

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Mike Brune has been a leading voice in environmental advocacy for more than two decades. As Executive Director of the Sierra Club, he steered some of the most ambitious climate campaigns in U.S. history, retiring hundreds of coal plants, accelerating renewable energy nationwide, and building one of the largest grassroots networks in the country. He has also served on the boards of major environmental and social impact organizations and advised mission-driven companies on strategy, advocacy, and coalition building. His experience shaping public opinion, policy, and corporate action will help Absolute Climate build confidence in carbon removal standards and secure their adoption at scale.

Grant Faber brings a blend of policy, market, and technical expertise in carbon removal. At the U.S. Department of Energy, he helped shape and manage the federal government’s first major investments in direct air capture, guiding strategy and supporting projects across the country. He is also a leading global expert in carbon accounting, having advised and lectured hundreds of carbon management companies and funders on commercialization pathways through his own consultancy and prior industry roles. As Standards Lead at Absolute Climate, Faber will work with scientists, buyers, and project developers to translate that experience into rigorous, practical, and independent standards that can be widely adopted.

“As carbon removal moves from pilot projects to global markets, the credibility of this industry depends on clear and independent standards,” said Peter Minor, CEO of Absolute Climate. “Mike’s experience leading major environmental campaigns and Grant’s work shaping federal carbon removal programs will help Absolute Climate ensure those standards are built with the rigor and perspective this market demands.”

The team also grew with the addition of Vaishnavi Kulkarni, who joins from EcoEngineers, a consulting, auditing, and advisory firm with an exclusive focus on the energy transition, including carbon markets and project development. While there, she worked on complex carbon projects with Fortune 500 companies. Vaishnavi joins Absolute Climate as a Certification Manager to support standards development and project evaluation.

These appointments mark the next step in Absolute Climate’s mission to bring clarity and confidence to carbon market infrastructure. Through independent standards and direct engagement with buyers and developers, Absolute Climate is helping shape an industry built on transparency, trust, and real climate impact.

About Absolute Climate

Absolute Climate is accelerating market adoption of carbon removal through the first universal standard that assesses and verifies carbon credits independent of registries. The Absolute Carbon Standard enables registries to independently apply consistent, science-based evaluations across all carbon removal pathways and issue credits that reflect true carbon impact. By separating the roles of standard-setting and credit issuance, Absolute Climate eliminates conflicts of interest to ensure that credit quality aligns with genuine climate outcomes rather than market pressures. Founded by experts in measurement, verification, and reporting—Peter Minor and Greg Becker—Absolute Climate is helping scale carbon markets to achieve gigatonne-level impact.