The utopian world in which carbon and crypto meet
The utopian world in which carbon and crypto meet
Can carbon markets and blockchain technology be used together to keep the oil in the ground and to stop the design?
The advocates of the Refi movement-or the regenerative financing for those who do not lurk in crypto messaging groups-want investors and environmentalists to answer this question equally with "yes".
But the clash of the two worlds takes place quickly and mostly unregulated. Verra, the largest accreditation point for CO2 credits, recently opened a consultation for your approach to crypto instruments and tokens. Meanwhile, the President of the European Central Bank, Christine Lagarde, the European Commission to include digital tokens in its draft regulation for cryptocurrencies.
This week we report on two examples of crypto -based carbon projects in the Democratic Republic of Congo and Brazil - the two largest rainforest areas in the world.
avoidance -based carbon compensations should take into account any tonne carbon that has not been emitted, with a certain hypothetical scenario used, which is based on sometimes dubious forecasts of deforestation or oil burning that would otherwise have occurred. The overlay of cryptoma markets and tokens (which create a digital representation of a physical asset) also leads to an intoxicating mix of tangible and unrealem.
This week, Patrick also reports on the increasing lobby campaign against the disclosure efforts of the SEC to sustainability-this time it is the warning of the hedge-fund community that the agency could make the acronym ESG "meaningless". (Kenza Bryan)
Trouble in the first "non-fungable territory" of the world
I was surprised when I recently told me in an interview with the hydrocarbon minister of the Democratic Republic of Congo that it would allow some cryptocurrency and carbon loan start-ups to apply in addition to large oil and gas corporations.
The tender of the Democratic Republic of Congo for oil and gas explication blocks is controversial because some of the country on offer is in the Virunga National Park- home to some of the last mountain gorillas in the world- or in the carbon-rich rainforest and in the peat areas of the country.
An online campaign tries to raise $ 50 million in cryptocurrency to buy at least one of the blocks and keep the oil in the ground-and to get the investment back in by issuing CO2 crazy things in order to reflect the avoided emissions. His supporters include Flowcarbon, a new company that is supported by Wework founder Adam Neumann.
It is a fascinating story - and one that could be part of an emerging trend.
On the other side of the Atlantic from the lush rainforests of the Congo basin, another cryptocurrency start-up in Brazil follows a similar way-and has attracted the attention of the prosecutors.
nemus does not sell fungal tokens (NFTS) - digital assets that are saved online in a blockchain - which are linked to plots of the Brazilian rainforest, and says that this can protect the area from deforestation by preventing competing buyers from stealing the forest.
buyers of the tokens receive a virtual card with unique geographical coordinates and representations of plants and animals that were found in this part of the rainforest-for example a Harpyia eagle, a peacock flower or a black Amazon body.
token that can be linked to land units of only a quarter hectares give the buyer the right to take part in future decisions to protect the country (as well as online games). Those associated with larger plots could give the owners the right to issue potentially lucrative CO2 credits, according to the Nemus.
website.But the promise of participation in a nature conservation project is associated with risks.
On the company's website, it is said that it claims the "possession" of 41,000 hectares of land near the city of Pauini in the state of Amazona and is in discussions to acquire a further 1.2 million hectares adjacent. The country was acquired by a Brazilian subsidiary of Nemus, who claims to create well-paid jobs for the indigenous people living there and plans to build ecotourism lodges and a processing plant to revive the local paranese industry.
Last month, however, the public prosecutor's office in the state of Amazona Nemus ordered documents to be presented for this country. In a public statement, she questioned whether Nemus had received the approval of the local population and the state agency for indigenous peoples, Funai, to work in the area.
The problem is that Nemus' dreams extend beyond the digital world and into an area that is so remote that it can only be achieved with a 14-hour boat trip. It would like to encourage the community members to use the planned own cryptocurrency of the company and to build infrastructure including a runway and a street.
Apuriña inhabitants complained to the prosecutor that chestnut groves, a source of income, were at risk from Nemus' blueprints. They also said that the company had asked illiterate to sign important documents.
To make things even more complicated for Nemus, Tasso Azevedo, a coordinator at the satellite data imaging company Mapbiomas and former head of the Brazilian forest service, claims to have done this spotted recently to land, for which Nemus plans to issue this year. Nemus did not respond to a request for comment, but said in an online Post took place.
In response to the concerns of the public prosecutor about land ownership in another online Post Do not overlap with areas that are officially reserved for indigenous people. It wrote: "Anyone who is connected to Nemus respects the indigenous lifestyle very much and it will stay that way.. At the end of 2022, the purchase will be completed by a private, family -run organization that has had this property for almost 50 years."
Deforting in Brazil achieved a record high in the first seven months of the year, according to preliminary data from the national space institute in the country.
President Jair Bolsonaro promised four years ago that it was "no more inch" indigenous. Local groups say that the attitude of its government has hindered the efforts of the local population to enforce historical demands on the territory, and open it for lumberjacks, miners and cattle breeders who destroy the rainforest.
nemus is not the first crypto-assisted off-setting project in Brazil. The Moss.Earth, based in São Paulo, for example, sells offsets to Gol, Brazil's largest airline, and also outputs NFTS that are connected to the country in Amazon, and describes them as "encrypted digital ownership certificates". "
However,nemus worked particularly hard on the advertising plan - including an advertising video that specifies to rename the country after the company's image. In the video, a native leaves his fingerprint on a document that the country describes as a "unimaginable territory", a modification of the name of the market marks sold.