Q&A with Tripp Wall - Founder and CEO of Pantheon Regeneration

In the lead-up to COP this year, we are speaking to some of the founders and CEO's of companies we invest in as part of our Natural Capital Strategy. 
Our second Q&A is with Tripp Wall, Founder and CEO of Pantheon Regeneration. 

Q: Can you explain what Pantheon Regeneration does?

Our core mission is to restore degraded ecosystems, beginning with peatlands. We’ve developed the first US-based peatland restoration project covering 14,500 acres on the Scuppernong High, home to the deepest peat deposits on the Southeast Coast.

Q: Why focus on peat restoration?

Peatlands are one of the planet’s most powerful natural carbon sinks. These systems are 10,000–15,000 years old and vital to freshwater retention, carbon storage, and ecosystem resilience. While they only cover about 3% of the earth’s surface, they store more carbon than all forests combined. When degraded, they release huge amounts of carbon, but when restored, they lock those emissions away. Unlike many other nature-based projects, peat restoration doesn’t compete with food production. We’re simply re-wetting ancient wetlands that have been drained or damaged due to human-made ditching, which makes this work both pure and low-risk compared to projects that require converting farmland.

While peat is our first major pathway, we also expect to focus on regenerative polycultures and restoring native forests and soils to enhance biodiversity and nutrient density. We’ve recently built an enhanced rock weathering module that helps us assess additional land for that new, nature-based carbon removal solution. This process uses naturally occurring silicate minerals and water to create bicarbonates that improve soil health and crop productivity while capturing carbon.

Q: How does peat restoration compare to other carbon removal methods?

The major notable benefit to restoring peatlands is the impact is immediate and large-scale. Trees sequester carbon in a process that ramps over decades and then reduces as tree growth slows and the trees die. Trees store the majority of the carbon captured as woody biomass and very little stays in the soil. In contrast, peat restoration stops massive emissions instantly by hydrologically “entombing” the degrading biomass in the peat soils that are unnaturally subject to microbial activity and oxidation. Rewetting allows us to remove highly organic soil carbon feedstock from the carbon cycle the moment the water table is raised to a natural level — and do it at scale. Beyond carbon, peatlands are biodiversity hotspots supporting birds, invertebrates, and aquatic species — plus they play a critical role in freshwater regulation and fire prevention. The overall ecosystem benefits paired with the climate benefit per acre of this nature-based solution we believe is unmatched.

Q: What co-benefits do your restoration projects provide?

Restored peatlands can improve water quality by filtering out agricultural run-off (nitrogen, phosphorus, and potassium) and even contaminants like PFAS and microplastics. They also recharge aquifers and reduce catastrophic fire risk — degraded peat is highly flammable and releases vast amounts of carbon when ignited. By rewetting these systems, we eliminate catastrophic fire risk.

Peatlands are foundation wetland ecosystems that support a rich, biodiverse environment. Rewetting at our projects will provide the foundation for restoration of the native ecosystem.

Our projects also create jobs and invest directly in rural areas with limited economic opportunities, supporting local construction, engineering, and land management.

Q: How do you view the market opportunity?

The opportunity is enormous as there is a tectonic shift towards quality among carbon credit buyers, and they are increasingly looking for projects with co-benefits. There are millions of acres of degraded peat in North America, and we aim to restore as many of them as we can. In Europe there’s more regulatory awareness of peat’s value, but in the US it’s still largely unregulated and often mined or drained for agriculture.

Q: Surely land isn’t cheap in the US. How affordable are these restoration projects?

Many peatlands were historically drained for farming or livestock but proved unsuitable for either, leaving large areas of land degraded and under-utilised. That makes acquisition relatively affordable. These areas are rural and mainly used for recreation today, so we can buy and restore them cost-effectively while generating returns through carbon and ecosystem credits.

Q: What are your main achievements over the last year?

We closed a major investment from AXA IM Alts, which provided project equity to finish development and construction on our first 14,500 acres. Another huge first for us was to pre-sell our first carbon credits to a Canadian buyer. From a biodiversity standpoint, we’re especially proud of our collaboration with US Fish and Wildlife, a federal agency who works with conservation and management of public lands in the US. We have started the process of baselining the biodiversity on our land and hope to measure changes as the land is restored.

Q: What’s the outlook for the carbon and biodiversity markets?

The voluntary carbon market continues to mature, with more emphasis on quality, permanence, and co-benefits. This change is driven by standards like the ICVCM and Core Carbon Principles. Buyers are moving toward higher-quality credits with measurable environmental and social impacts. Net-zero commitments for 2030 and 2050 and sector-specific regulations such as for the airline industry are increasing demand. Biodiversity credits are still emerging, but interest is growing quickly.

Q: Have your activities been impacted by any policy changes?

We’re building a platform that’s policy-agnostic. Our goal is to make restoration and conservation an investable asset class with returns comparable to traditional assets. That means creating a commercial model that doesn’t depend on shifting government priorities, so institutional investors can confidently participate regardless of policy changes.

Q: What are your financing needs?

For our initial project, the goal was to create a replicable template that blends equity and project-level debt, similar to traditional real asset financing. We’re in discussions with several banks and funds to expand that structure. Over the next 12–18 months, we aim to deliver the returns that justify market-rate debt alongside equity like AXA IM Alts’. Scaling our vision will ultimately require hundreds of millions in financing to acquire and restore additional lands.

For our first acquisition, we combined private equity with a private credit facility. It was a unique structure that helped mitigate downside risk and proved that institutional investors are open to innovative financing in this space. The next step is to replicate and expand that type of financing structure and over time raise capital to own some equity in our future projects.

Q: What do you look for in a financing partner?

Alignment. We need investors who understand the long-term nature of nature-based assets and the unique value they create. AXA IM Alts has been an ideal partner as they share our mission, have the right fund horizon in terms of time, and understand this emerging asset class. As we grow, that same strategic alignment between financial returns and ecological outcomes will remain critical.

Q: Can you tell us more about your partnership with Duke University?

Duke is both a scientific and technical partner. We use their equipment such as gas flux towers and water sensors to monitor greenhouse gases and hydrology. Their PhD teams help assess eligibility for carbon credits and track ecosystem recovery. Having Dr. Curtis Richardson, one of the foremost experts in the field, as our Chief Scientific Officer ensures scientific rigor in everything we do, from carbon accounting to biodiversity measurement.

Q: What are you hoping to see at COP this year?

We’d like to see greater clarity and adoption around Article 6 (the emission reduction targets under the Paris climate agreement), particularly the mutual recognition of carbon credits across borders. Progress there will strengthen global carbon markets. We’re also hoping for continued development of biodiversity standards, as the world moves toward better frameworks for valuing and protecting ecosystems.

Q: Finally, what’s your long-term vision?

To make large-scale ecosystem restoration a mainstream, investable asset class. We want institutional investors to see nature-based solutions as both an impactful and financially compelling asset that stands on its own. We want Pantheon to successfully deliver landscape-scale and impactful projects that investors are proud to invest in and that corporates are proud to buy carbon credits from.