On the 7th of December, experts and startup representatives explored how blockchain solutions can incentivize sustainable behaviour and contribute to the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development on a webinar organized by BlockStart. Take a look at the main takeaways

On the 7th of December, industry experts and startup representatives shared their insights on how blockchain solutions can incentivize sustainable behaviour and contribute to the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development. Speakers discussed the potential of blockchain in establishing working sustainable solutions for positive environmental effects and sustainable development. Also, various use cases were presented. Take a look at the main takeaways of the webinar!

Katherine Foster, Social Alpha Foundation Fellow and Community Director at Open Earth Foundation explained how sustainable development challenges present a market opportunity for technology solutions. The challenges are as follows: 

  • 1,5 billion people who cannot participate in the world economy due to lack of economic identity;
  • Administrative fees;
  • Time-consuming and ineffective SDGs processes;
  • Accountability challenges for trillions of dollars spent on SDGs.

Core blockchain attributes – accessibility, transparency, security and accountability – can help to address the transformation gaps in sustainability and climate communities.

Additionally, Katherine argued that the real potential of blockchain does not lie in isolated blockchain solutions, but in the integration and collaboration of technologies for monitoring and verification of the impact. Trust and capacities of blockchain are built on verified data that includes geographic information systems, satellites, biometrics, sensors, etc. The mission of Open Earth is to build open platforms for integration and collaboration.  

Antonio Jesús Jara Valera, CEO at Hopu, a company specializing in air quality monitoring and climate change impact assessment presented how they are monitoring gas emissions in 40 cities and helping cities to understand where measures could be applied to mitigate negative impacts for the climate. Specifically, they adopt blockchain technologies as a trustable medium to integrate monitoring, data (IoT + AI) and certification. According to Antonio, blockchain is an enabler of transparency in the community and ecosystem – it is a proof of trust and reliability; a proof that certificates are up to date.

Troy MacDonald, Chief Executive Officer of HyFi Corp, a decentralized finances (DeFi) exchange marketplace utilizing blockchain technology, presented their work on resolving some of the contradictions between blockchain, particularly, energy consumptions related to mining, and sustainability. WPP energy, working on innovative energy solutions, such as hydrogen, waste technologies and some more, established a platform, HyFi, in the centre of an ecosystem, connecting technology providers, project developers and access to capital. 

HyFi is a marketplace, where technology owners and project developers can list their projects, fractionalize them through tokenization and allow investors to participate in various capital levels. HyFi is open for technology owners and project developers in green energy, agriculture, environment, medical technologies, and other sectors that advance humanity.

André L. Vanyi-Robin, Founder and CEO at Nozama.green, a SaaS software platform that provides tracking of CO2 savings and Kilograms of packaging recovered, shared the concept of Plastiks.io. It is a marketplace where recycling companies and artists can mint NFTs based on guarantees of plastics recovered from the environment. Then, they can sell those NFTs to single-use packaging producers and consumer brands so they can not only prove their commitment to the environment, but also can create emotional engagement models with their end consumers and trigger a sustainable habit.

André emphasized that the power of NFT lies in traceability and proof of claim, but more importantly – in the ability to provide artists with an opportunity to create art that can be associated with data about the impact. Artists help to create an emotional impact for the data that corporate responsibility departments are communicating. Thus, they are making sure the consumers are sure products are not damaging the environment. The role of the artists is the priority in Plastiks.io, so they can help people understand that their choices make a difference. That’s why they call it the art of recycling.

If you have not been able to join us on the 7th of December, you can watch the video recording below: