IETA, ICROA Appoint Managing Director and Director of Communications as Voluntary Markets Gain Traction

GENEVA, 22 September – IETA and its International Carbon Reduction and Offset Alliance (ICROA) are pleased to announce the appointment of Andrea Abrahams as ICROA’s first Managing Director, and Lukasz Biernacki as its Communications Director.

Interest in the voluntary carbon markets grew significantly in the last two years, according to EcoSystem Marketplace’s latest report. An increasing number of commercial entities are committing to achieve net zero emissions by the middle of the century, as laid down in the Paris Agreement.

Yesterday, the Taskforce on Scaling Voluntary Carbon Markets released its new governance structure, where IETA will play a valuable role as part of the Executive Secretariat team.

“It is an exciting time of growth, and we are committed to enabling the market to scale up with high environmental integrity and good business practices,” said Dirk Forrister, IETA CEO.

“We are proud to expand ICROA’s work in assisting members committed to this market.”

IETA’s membership has grown to over 170 members in 2021, reflecting the rising business interest in both voluntary and compliance markets. Abrahams and Biernacki bring a wealth of market and communications expertise to IETA”s expanding work in voluntary markets.

Andrea Abrahams is a former Director for Energy Transition at BP and head of bp Target Neutral.

As head of BP Target Neutral, Andrea led a world-class carbon management programme developing carbon reduction and offsetting programmes for BP and its customers. Andrea helped BP develop many industry firsts, including the offsetting programmes for the London 2012 Olympics & Paralympics and the FIFA Brazil World Cup in 2014.

Previously Andrea was instrumental in setting up BP’s Strategic Partnering business, establishing 20 global strategic collaborations with many of the world’s largest corporations. As Director for the Energy Transition she helped BP develop their net zero strategy mainly focussed on the Downstream business.  Andrea left BP in 2020 to work independently to support companies’ journey to net zero.

As managing director of ICROA, Andrea will guide, represent and showcase ICROA’s work on policy and strategic insight for the VCM, develop positions on key market issues and coordinate research projects.

Lukasz Biernacki is a Strategic Communications expert with over a decade of experience in helping businesses and organisations communicate their vision through storytelling and compelling engagement strategies. Previously, he worked with international brands, multilateral organisations including the UN and EU, environmental NGOs as well as climate-related entities such as ecosecurities, and the Institute for Climate Leadership.

Lukasz will take responsibility for strategic and content-driven communications to advance ICROA’s mission and goals.