The University of Cambridge announced Friday morning that it would be creating a revolutionary decentralized carbon credit marketplace to promote worldwide reforestation initiatives.
Cambridge to promote nature-based conservation
Its goal would be to leverage financial instruments to boost the implementation of nature-based conservation solutions (NbS) like reforestation. According to the institution, carbon credit buyers will be able to use the platform to directly and securely support NbS initiatives.
The Cambridge Centre for Carbon Credits (4C) is a collaboration between the Department of Computer Science and Technology and the Conservation Research Institute at Cambridge University. Researchers and scientists will create the platform on the Tezos (XTZ) blockchain. It is important to note that Tezos is a smart contract blockchain that allows users to vote on developer-proposed governance protocols. In addition, the network is regarded as being environmentally friendly.
Tezos developers tweeted earlier this year that minting three nonfungible tokens (NFTs) on the Tezos network produces.00054 lbs of CO2, compared to 915 lbs for the same NFTs minted on the Ethereum blockchain. The NFT Market has grown by around 300% from last year, hitting $250 million YoY as the tokens capture the imagination of artists and traders’ imagination.
Commenting on the development, 4C Director Anil Madhavapeddy stated, “Current accreditation systems that measure and report the value of carbon and related benefits like biodiversity conservation and poverty reduction rendered by NbS are costly, slow, and inaccurate. These systems have undermined trust in NbS carbon credits. What is needed is a decentralized marketplace where purchasers of carbon credits can confidently and directly fund trusted nature-based projects. And that’s the gap the Centre is aiming to fill.”
Crypto sector moving towards sustainability
Cryptocurrency mining has considerable environmental costs, with experts claiming that BTC mining could contribute to global warming. However, the blockchain sector is shifting to sustainable models, with Bitcoin fuelling considerable research into alternative energy sources. Ethereum is also moving to an energy-efficient proof-of-stake consensus model and even the maligned Ripple considering sustainable models. In the end, blockchain may turn out to be the leading that brings sustainability to the world.
