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Trase

Trase is a data-driven transparency initiative that revolutionizes our understanding of the international trade and financing of agricultural commodities that drive tropical deforestation, such as soy, palm oil, beef, cocoa and coffee. The Trase team at SEI HQ is part of the global Trase initiative co-founded by SEI in 2016 at the UN Marrakech Climate Change Conference.

Trase’s free online tools and actionable intelligence have been used by governments, companies, financial institutions and civil society organizations to take practical steps to address deforestation. Trase has grown into a partnership with an on-the-ground presence in over 10 countries in China, Europe, Indonesia and Latin America.

The Trase team is motivated by an urgent need for accurate and reliable data and expertise on the dynamics and sustainability of commodity supply chains. Our role is to act as experts and information providers. We believe data and data transparency can accelerate progress towards more sustainable and just models of trade and development, but we do not see a lack of data as an excuse for inaction.

We are focused on being innovative with data that already exists and with identifying how, through greater transparency, it is possible to identify priorities for action and start change processes even when we do not yet fully understand the problems and solutions at hand.

Container ship transporting goods globally.

Container ship transporting goods globally.

Photo: General_4530 / Getty Images.

Team

Toby Gardner
Toby Gardner

Senior Research Fellow

SEI Headquarters

Javier Godar
Javier Godar

Senior Research Fellow

SEI Headquarters

Harry Biddle
Harry Biddle

Senior Data Engineer

SEI Headquarters

Mairon G. Bastos Lima
Mairon G. Bastos Lima

Senior Research Fellow

SEI Headquarters

Mia Shu
Mia Shu

Graphic Designer

Communications

SEI Headquarters

Michael Lathuilliere
Michael Lathuillière

Senior Research Fellow

SEI Headquarters

Rafaela Flach
Rafaela Flach

Research Fellow

SEI Headquarters

Rosa Indenbaum
Rosa Indenbaum

Director of Operations, Trase

SEI Headquarters

Shirish Bhattarai
Shirish Bhattarai

Trase Product Manager

SEI Headquarters

Vivian Ribeiro
Vivian Ribeiro

Senior Data Scientist

SEI Headquarters

Yani Wang
Yani Wang

Program Manager, Trase

SEI Headquarters

Ylva Rylander
Ylva Rylander

Communications and Impact Officer

Communications

SEI Headquarters

Chris West

Deputy Centre Director (Research)

SEI York

Joe Simpson

Research Assistant

SEI York

Rhian Ebrey

Project Manager

SEI York

Simon Croft

Research Fellow

SEI York

Highlights

Publications

Projects and tools

Funders

The work of Trase today is made possible through the generous funding of three major donors: Norway’s International Climate and Forest Initiative (NICFI), the Gordon and Betty Moore Foundation and the Quadrature Climate Foundation (QCF), together with additional support from the German Agency for International Cooperation (GIZ), the David and Lucile Packard Foundation, the European Union and UK aid from the UK Government.

The grant from NICFI, managed by Norad (Pb. 1303 Vika, NO-0112 OSLO, Norway) includes funds for the main grantee SEI and for sub-grantee Global Canopy (3 Frewin Chambers, Frewin Court, Oxford, OX1 3HZ, UK), Université Catholique de Louvain (Louvain-la-Neuve, 1348 Belgium), Auriga (Bukit Cimanggu City, Blok HH-17 No.16, Indonesia), as well as the significant sub-contractor Neural Alpha (Lambeth, London, SE11 5DP, UK). Please read the full Norad donor agreement for details.

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