Open Hydro
Start
Open Hydro was founded in 2022 by Cristina Díez and Maria Ubierna to address one of climate science’s biggest blind spots: the carbon hidden in water. While forests and soils have long been central to climate strategies, aquatic systems, responsible for vast, yet largely unmeasured, greenhouse gas emissions—remained overlooked. The reason was simple: the world lacked scalable, credible tools to monitor and manage them.
Cristina, a civil engineer and former head of the UNDESA Sustainable Water & Energy Network, had overseen €50M in climate projects and saw firsthand how utilities struggled to access climate finance due to poor emissions data. Maria, a world authority in hydropower emissions, had led the largest global study on reservoir GHGs and built the certification framework now used by the I-TRACK Foundation. Together, they realised the urgent need for a new MRV (Measurement, Reporting, and Verification) standard for water.
Bringing together experts in machine learning, environmental chemistry, and cloud architecture, Open Hydro developed a proprietary emissions prediction model, trained on over 21,000 water bodies and validated by utilities worldwide. Their technology enables governments, project developers, and investors to quantify aquatic emissions and unlock a new class of blue carbon credits.
Open Hydro’s mission is to make water central to climate action by enabling the accurate measurement, reduction, and monetisation of carbon from reservoirs, lakes, and wetlands. Its vision is a world where these “aquatic forests” are managed as critical carbon sinks—unlocking billions in climate finance, improving water quality, and strengthening ecosystem resilience.
By positioning Europe, Brazil, and Australia as leaders in aquatic blue carbon markets, Open Hydro aims to define the standards for this emerging field, transforming water from an invisible emitter into a key ally in the global net-zero transition.