Our work centres on three pillars of expertise...
Natural capital valuation & accounting
Natural capital valuation & accounting
Natural capital valuation & accounting
Decades of applied ecological expertise supporting public and private sector decisions and informing NbS project origination and design
Nature & climate finance
Natural capital valuation & accounting
Natural capital valuation & accounting
Experience designing nature-linked finance instruments and aligning projects with evolving market expectations
Environmental economics & policy
Natural capital valuation & accounting
Environmental economics & policy
Strategic insight into existing and forthcoming policies and regulations affecting land use, climate disclosure, nature markets, as well as nature-based claims
The CANA Collective
Sage Bucher-Melcer
Patricia Vidal Frederighi
Sage Bucher-Melcer
Managing Director, Co-Founder
Sage is a natural capital specialist with a decade of experience integrating the value of ecosystem services into business, particularly in private markets and real assets.
Sage’s work is at the forefront of integrating data-driven insights on nature-based solutions into practical strategies that help busin
Managing Director, Co-Founder
Sage is a natural capital specialist with a decade of experience integrating the value of ecosystem services into business, particularly in private markets and real assets.
Sage’s work is at the forefront of integrating data-driven insights on nature-based solutions into practical strategies that help businesses, investors, and policymakers value and restore nature. At Pollination, she led biodiversity initiatives, advising on investment strategies, credit methodologies, baselines, and MRV systems for large-scale restoration, including the UK’s largest habitat bank. She designed the climate, nature, and social risk strategy for the GAIA Climate Adaptation Fund and developed MRV frameworks aligned with global standards (e.g. TNFD, SBTN, IFC). Her prior work includes natural asset insurance, developing nature-based financial mechanisms with Swiss Re, the Insurance Bureau of Canada, and NatureFinance.
Dr. Helen Crowley
Patricia Vidal Frederighi
Sage Bucher-Melcer
Senior Advisor
Dr. Crowley is a global authority on biodiversity and nature-based solutions with over three decades of leadership integrating nature, climate, and sustainability into business, finance, and conservation strategy.
Helen has over 30 years of global experience in biodiversity designing and implementing nature-and climate-based
Senior Advisor
Dr. Crowley is a global authority on biodiversity and nature-based solutions with over three decades of leadership integrating nature, climate, and sustainability into business, finance, and conservation strategy.
Helen has over 30 years of global experience in biodiversity designing and implementing nature-and climate-based solutions, and integrating nature into business, finance, and enterprise strategy. She led conservation strategy with the Wildlife Conservation Society in Africa and Madagascar for over a decade, a decade advancing corporate sustainability at Kering, and serving as Managing Director at Pollination, an advisory and investment firm focused on nature and climate. She now advises companies, investors, NGOs, and start-ups globally. Dr. Crowley co-produced a short documentary film and was recognized among Australia’s top 52 ‘newsmakers’ in 2022. She serves as a non-executive Director and Advisor on several for-profit and non-profit Boards. Helen holds a PhD in Zoology from the Australian National University, has led research expeditions with the Australian Antarctic Expeditions and the National Geographic Society, and was awarded the Chevalier de l’Ordre National by the President of Madagascar for her services to the country.
Patricia Vidal Frederighi
Patricia Vidal Frederighi
Patricia Vidal Frederighi
Nature markets & Environmental Policy
Patricia is an environmental lawyer with over fifteen years’ experience providing climate policy and strategic environmental markets advice, with deep expertise in NbS and just transition
Patricia is an environmental lawyer with over fifteen years’ experience providing climate policy and strategic envi
Nature markets & Environmental Policy
Patricia is an environmental lawyer with over fifteen years’ experience providing climate policy and strategic environmental markets advice, with deep expertise in NbS and just transition
Patricia is an environmental lawyer with over fifteen years’ experience providing climate policy and strategic environmental markets advice to corporations, financial institutions, private equity firms, Governments, and NGOs. She has deep expertise in NbS working across the value chain from countries’ Nationally Determined Contributions (NDCs) under the Paris Agreement to project actors. She currently works as a strategic climate advisor focused on land use, land use change and forestry policy and regulations. Her prior work includes leading the NbS practice in EMEA at Pollination by providing voluntary and compliance carbon markets intelligence to various stakeholders, as well as by designing and implementing NbS strategies to ensure high-quality insetting and offsetting projects with strong environmental and social benefits. Patricia has also worked for nearly ten years at Baker Mckenzie, being part of its Climate Change Global Practice. She has an extensive academic background in carbon projects, focused on just transition.
Thea Philip
Maximilian Bucher-Melcer
Patricia Vidal Frederighi
Corporate Governance & Environmental Policy
Thea is a commercial lawyer and strategy advisor who supports clients to understand and address nature risks and opportunities arising in relation to policy, corporate governance, and investment.
Thea is an experienced legal, strategic, and policy advisor to corporate, government, commercial bank
Corporate Governance & Environmental Policy
Thea is a commercial lawyer and strategy advisor who supports clients to understand and address nature risks and opportunities arising in relation to policy, corporate governance, and investment.
Thea is an experienced legal, strategic, and policy advisor to corporate, government, commercial banking, private equity, and multilateral development bank clients on matters related to climate and nature. At Pollination, she delivered nature capacity building workshops to boards and investors, conducted TNFD-aligned nature risk assessments, and developed nature strategies for financial institutions and businesses across sectors (e.g., mining, fashion, agriculture). She also advised on carbon and biodiversity markets, as well as provided transaction support and due diligence for nature-based investments. More broadly, her experience also includes leading the procurement of a public-facing legal opinion clarifying the scope of UK directors’ duties with respect to nature risk and advising market coalitions.
Maximilian Bucher-Melcer
Maximilian Bucher-Melcer
Maximilian Bucher-Melcer
Sustainable Finance & Agriculture, Aquaculture and Fisheries Economics
Maximilian is a sustainable finance specialist with a strong background in integrating environmental economics into investment and development strategies.
At CANA, Max is working on sustainable financing solutions to unlock funding for nature-based projects and climate-
Sustainable Finance & Agriculture, Aquaculture and Fisheries Economics
Maximilian is a sustainable finance specialist with a strong background in integrating environmental economics into investment and development strategies.
At CANA, Max is working on sustainable financing solutions to unlock funding for nature-based projects and climate-resilient development. Previously, as part of SYSTEMIQ’s sustainable finance team, he supported the design and pipeline development of the Global Fund for Coral Reef’s Equity Fund, co-authored the High Level Panel for a Sustainable Ocean Economy’s final report, and connected sustainable food and land use companies with investors through the Partnerships for Forests Pipeline Accelerator. He also provided due diligence support to SYSTEMIQ’s internal venture capital arm, assessing investment opportunities in food and sustainable land use. His experience includes co-authoring “Better Finance, Better Food,” a landscape analysis of financial mechanisms mobilizing capital for sustainable food systems, and advising leading philanthropies and foundations on sustainability strategies at California Environmental Associates. Maximilian holds a Master’s degree in Agronomy from Cornell University, where his research focused on the effect of soil health on farmland prices, and a Bachelor’s in Environmental and Natural Resource Economics from the University of Rhode Island.
Valerie Pinkerton
Maximilian Bucher-Melcer
Maximilian Bucher-Melcer
Nature Markets & Environmental Policy
Valerie has broad experience providing strategic advisory support for corporate, philanthropic, and financial institution clients on biodiversity, nature, and environmental markets.
As a director at Pollination, Valerie conducted nature risk assessments and strategy development, carbon project due d
Nature Markets & Environmental Policy
Valerie has broad experience providing strategic advisory support for corporate, philanthropic, and financial institution clients on biodiversity, nature, and environmental markets.
As a director at Pollination, Valerie conducted nature risk assessments and strategy development, carbon project due diligence, and coalition-based policy advocacy for scaling environmental markets. She was previously an associate program officer at the Robertson Foundation, making strategic grants to address climate change, protect ocean health, and deliver landscape-scale restoration. Prior to this role, Valerie provided research and analysis for policymakers through positions with the Yale Center on Environmental Law and Policy, Natural Resources Defense Council, and the Environmental Law Institute.