JAMES DUFF

Professional Summary

James Duff is a trailblazing environmental fintech expert specializing in fraud detection models for carbon emissions trading markets. Combining deep expertise in climate finance, machine learning, and regulatory compliance, James develops AI-driven systems to combat carbon credit fraud, double-counting, and market manipulation across global cap-and-trade systems (EU ETS, China CET, etc.). His work ensures the integrity of carbon markets—where every ton of CO₂ reduction is real, every transaction is transparent, and every dollar fuels genuine decarbonization.

Core Innovations & Technical Leadership

1. Anomaly Detection in Carbon Markets

• Designs ensemble machine learning models that flag suspicious patterns:

  • Synthetic fraud: AI-generated fake offset projects (e.g., reforestation satellite imagery spoofing)

  • Wash trading: Circular transactions to inflate market liquidity

  • Cross-border arbitrage: Exploiting regulatory gaps between jurisdictions

2. Blockchain-Enhanced Verification

• Implements hybrid ledger systems to:

  • Tokenize carbon credits with immutable MRV (Monitoring, Reporting, Verification) data

  • Trace credit lineage from project origination to retirement using smart contracts

  • Detect Sybil attacks via graph-based identity clustering

3. Regulatory Intelligence Integration

• Builds dynamic compliance engines that:

  • Adapt to evolving IPCC methodologies and Article 6 rules

  • Auto-generate audit trails for 50+ regulatory regimes

  • Simulate policy impacts on fraud probability (e.g., price floor effects)

Career Milestones

• Uncovered the "Blue Carbon Mirage" scam (2024), preventing $120M in fraudulent ocean-based offset sales

• Developed the CarbonTrust AI platform adopted by ICE Futures Europe for real-time market surveillance

• Authored the ISO 14097-2 supplement on AI-based carbon market assurance