Earth Day 2023: How Blockchain Can Fund and Build a Greener Future

While watching the Earth Week panel discussions on YouTube I tuned in to some of the thought leaders in Blockchain and it forced me to focus on the threats of our changing environments and how projects are trying to support some of the most unfairly impacted. 

Rene Reinsberg, President of the Celo Foundation recognises that climate and economic opportunity are linked. As a technology, money is essentially software. Blockchain can reinvent the financial system and provide positive benefits through external factors. Climate change is driven by human behavior and it is not impacting people in a fair way. 

Reinsberg describes Web3 as “...a toolset for mass co-ordination.” This collective approach to solving some of the world’s biggest problems is a new way to consider the potential of humans when tackling the climate crisis. 

What is Earth Day?

Earth Day is an occasion for people around the world to assess their environmental progress and commit to sustainability. The day is designed to demonstrate the importance of protecting the environment. It began in the United States in 1970.

Earth Day began as a movement to promote environmental awareness and has since expanded to include a variety of activities. Communities around the world come together on April 22 to engage in actions such as cleaning up litter or planting trees. Earth Day has become a global event with over one billion participants each year, according to the Earth Day website.

Blockchain and Web3 Technologies funding climate solutions

Blockchain and Web3 technologies are at the forefront of a movement towards increased transparency, which can help achieve the goals set by the Paris Climate Accord and the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals. Blockchain projects are providing a foundation for structural changes that support cultural climate awareness, climate policy-making, and individual commitments to sustainability.

Today, it is dangerous to ignore the urgency of climate change. As the only place with a continuous life cycle, Earth is being harmed by all kinds of destructive actions. We need to act now to save our home and ensure a healthy environment for both living and nonliving creatures.

Imagine a world where recycling is not only easy but also profitable. With a blockchain-based recycling program, you can earn tokens in exchange for dropping off recyclables like plastic containers, cans, and bottles. It's already working in Northern Europe, and the rest of the world needs to catch up.

Furthermore, conventional power networks are centralized, leading to energy delivery inefficiencies and power outages in areas devastated by natural catastrophes or poverty. A blockchain-based peer-to-peer power system can shift electricity remotely from where it's generated in excess to where it's needed, reducing the need for energy storage and fossil fuels.

Incentivising organisations to be transparent 

The environmental footprint of products is also impossible to determine in the existing system, and its carbon emissions are not reflected in the price. But with blockchain technology, each brand's carbon emissions can be monitored, and the amount of carbon tax to be levied can be calculated at the time of sale. This will encourage purchasers to choose environmentally sustainable items and incentivize corporations to reorganize their supply chains.

And finally, blockchain can make supply chains more transparent, tracing products from the factory to the store and reducing waste, inefficiencies, fraud, and unethical behaviors. Consumers will have a better understanding of how each product was created and distributed, allowing them to make more ecologically conscious decisions.

We have the technology to save the earth, and we need to use it NOW. Let's act urgently and entertainingly to ensure a sustainable future for our planet!

Four Organisations Connecting Blockchain Technology with Climate Solutions

The Celo Foundation 

Celo is the carbon-negative, EVM-compatible blockchain ecosystem. Their primary goal is to enhance the capacity for refi applications on the Celo blockchain. During the Global Impact Investing Network Investor Forum in The Hague, the Celo Foundation, based in the U.S., unveiled its "2% for Web3 Impact" commitment. This initiative, developed within the Foundation's Social Impact Collective, is an industry-wide effort that aims to assist in the on-boarding of over 100 impact investors to Web3 and facilitate their first investment in the field or offer liquidity to impact lending protocols.

Ethic hub

A noteworthy example of a regenerative finance initiative that utilizes smart contracts for crowd-funded impact investing is Ethic Hub, a company that originated in Spain and is redefining traditional microfinance. Ethic Hub provides small-scale loans to farmers who have limited financing options and were previously subject to high interest rates of up to 100%. With a minimum investment of only around US$20, Ethic Hub uses blockchain technology to democratize impact investing and minimize investment risks through its native token, Ethix, which serves as backup for Ethic Hub's compensation pool. Since its establishment in 2018, Ethic Hub has financed 450 projects, deployed US$3 million in capital, and generated a 1.2% default rate and a 9% return to investors.

Climate Collective

The Climate Collection provides grant funding, community education, and collaborate with members to promote various impactful products and protocols that advance the Regenerative Finance ecosystem. Our goal is to encourage adoption of ReFi and shift perceptions about the blockchain industry by engaging with climate enthusiasts and crypto participants. Together with our members, we aim to create an all-inclusive ReFi Stack that surpasses its individual components, to foster a web3-native financial system that promotes ecological regeneration alongside economic growth.

Digital Art 4 Climate

DigitalArt4Climate is an initiative involving multiple stakeholders that leverages blockchain technology, specifically NFT's, to transform artwork into digital assets that can be collected and traded. They have teamed up with Unique network to help empower artists and climate creative initiatives using NFTs. By doing so, it creates a social and technological innovation space that allows for unique possibilities to mobilize resources in support of the implementation of Sustainable Development Goals, particularly in the area of climate action empowerment.

Also published here.