The World Economic Forum (WEF) has recently published a whitepaper that explains how blockchain technology can provide the infrastructure necessary to combat climate change “at speed and scale.”
The whitepaper classifies blockchain’s value to the climate action community into four categories. To begin with, blockchains can “strengthen trust and ambition” in climate negotiations.
In addition to enhancing market transparency and credibility, it can also increase the flow of funds to project developers. The World Economic Forum stated that digitalization “democratizes access” to climate action.
Brynly Llyr, the director of blockchain and digital assets at the Crypto Impact and Sustainability Accelerator (CISA) of the World Economic Forum, stated that it is crucial to consider and investigate emerging technologies as tools to combat climate change. Llyr elucidated that
“Global climate infrastructure, tools, and coordination technologies can all help us keep pace with our changing planetary ecosystem. This is where blockchain and shared infrastructure technologies can be helpful.”
As a result of blockchain’s potential, the whitepaper emphasized that industry leaders concur on the need for “constructive regulation” that facilitates responsive digital climate innovation.
Dana Gibber, the CEO of the blockchain-based climate initiative Flowcarbon, stated that policymakers must consider all blockchain applications, not just the most prominent ones. “This transcends cryptocurrencies and encompasses everything that can be built on blockchain,” Gibber explained.
In the meantime, the cryptocurrency exchange Coinbase is also fighting for greater regulatory clarity in the digital asset space in the United States. The crypto platform filed a lawsuit on April 25 to compel the Securities and Exchange Commission to respond to its rulemaking petition, which has been outstanding since July. The exchange has also launched a nonfungible token (NFT) campaign advocating for more reasonable crypto policies.
