Blockchain technology is having a tangible positive impact on environmental management through innovative projects that cancel carbon credits, generate staking returns to support ecological initiatives, and incentivize communities to monitor and protect natural resources.
Cointelegraph took a deep dive into the world of regenerative economics and finance at Solana Breakpoint in Amsterdam, facilitating a panel of three speakers closely involved in projects leveraging blockchain technology in an effort to achieve the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) around the world. ).
The Smith School of Enterprise and the Environment defines the regenerative economy as a movement “away from mining-based business models” that aims to unleash “the potential to make a positive contribution to nature and society.”
GainForest is a prominent example of a blockchain-based project that aims to promote local community stewardship of the natural environment. As co-founder Simge Sandal explains, GainForest uses blockchain to autonomously direct funds to different projects in the Southern Hemisphere using “measured benefits” technology, which focuses on measuring biodiversity data.
“Our core business is to develop incentives that make environmental protection attractive to local communities and bring economic benefits to them,” explains Sundar.
Private stakeholders can pledge funds to indigenous communities and forest conservation programs through GainForest’s smart contracts. When monitored milestones are achieved, the platform automatically unlocks donations from the community responsible for maintaining the ecosystem.
This monitoring is carried out by locals on the ground using devices such as smartphones and drones to provide imagery and other rich environmental data.
The key feature of blockchain technology that is essential to GainForest services is transparency. Sandal believes this is at the heart of a regenerative economy, whether it is monitoring the side effects of externalities or the growth of their net effects:
“From start to finish, we can provide that transparency and have an economy where everyone can see what’s going on and make better decisions.”
The element of trust also becomes a consideration when trying to get users and community members to use the technology to benefit the environment and make a living from their efforts.
“When we started working with some communities, they were literally sitting there looking at this, and their reaction was, ‘What do you want? Just leave.’ It takes some time to break the ice,” she added.
Cointelegraph will explore the GainForest project in detail in an upcoming feature, but the project stands out for its innovative initiatives that leverage emerging technologies and hardware.
Related: “We’re worried about ecosystem startups”—Solana co-founder on FTX collapse
ecoToken co-founder and CEO James Betauer outlines how their Solana-based platform allows users to write off environmental credits and receive impact certificates as well as fungible credits directly on Solana.
Bertauer explained that the existing carbon credit system is “top-down” and the barriers to entry for generating such credits are high.
“Blockchain enables a bottom-up approach where you empower actual project developers to create credits and add new revenue streams as more than $1 million in credit levels are created within the existing system,” Bettauer explained .
As a result, smaller projects and companies face significant barriers to accessing credit online. For ecoToken’s CEO, blockchain technology enables “a plethora of new applications” and a way to tap into consumer demand that doesn’t currently exist.
Daniel Kelleher is the founder of Sunrise Stake, a decentralized financial protocol built on Solana that allows users to stake SOL (SOL) to receive green SOL (gSOL). These staking proceeds can then be donated to climate impact projects to “passively offset carbon emissions.”
“We allocate part of the staking proceeds to different projects to ensure that we can expand our impact on the climate, from offsetting carbon emissions through projects such as Toucan and ecoToken,” Kelleher explained.
The founder of Sunrise Stake also believes that blockchain technology can enhance the capabilities of the regenerative economy, which essentially has a net positive impact on communities, economies, and the environment:
“Why is it a powerful tool for creating a regenerative economy? Because we have the power of smart contracts. We have the power of programmable currency. You can establish economic rules at the code level and the protocol level.”
Magazine: Slumdog Billionaire: The Incredible Rags to Riches Story of Polygon’s Sandeep Nailwal
Svlook
