The World Economic Forum's Crypto Sustainability Coalition aims to improve the sustainability of blockchain and Web3 developments.
The World Economic Forum has launched a new partnership with 30 companies from the public and private sectors to leverage blockchain and Web3 technologies. The goal of the Crypto Sustainability Coalition is to support projects that have a positive impact on the climate and raise awareness about the impact blockchain technologies have on the environment.
The coalition aims to support research and development, share best practices and influence regulation. The team includes multidisciplinary members ranging from the research platform Solana Blockchain, to Non-profit organizations focused on sustainability, such as Climate Collective or the University of Lisbon.
Crypto technology has focused on improving its efficiency and has made many advances in sustainability; the most recent being the change of Ethereum consensus mechanism.
However, one of the main criticisms towards the cryptocurrency and blockchain sector remains the high electrical consumtion. In this sense, Bitcoin remains the main focus of criticism, with some experts claiming it has energy consumption comparable to that of the United Arab Emirates.
Amy Westerveld, regional director of Energy Web, a company dedicated to developing open source decentralized operating systems focused on decarbonization and part of the coalition, points out that “the goals are the ways in which the industry Cryptocurrencies need to be decarbonized are quite complex"
Westerveld believes that the industry needs the participation of NGOs, climate scientists, utilities and industries that are already developing climate solutions, to ensure that the tools developed work and they are truly innovative.
What are the functions of the World Economic Forum's Web 3 coalition?
One of the main functions of the coalition will be analyze energy consumption and materials from the cryptocurrency industry to better understand its impact on the climate and environment.
The group also plans to proactively investigate ways in which Web3 could help countries achieve the carbon emission reduction targets.
Work will also be done on the carbon credit market development, which are tokens that mark blocks of agricultural land where an estimated one metric ton of carbon is stored in vegetation and soil. Using satellite imagery, the buyer of a protection credit can secure ownership of the stored and protected carbon, with a price that fluctuates in a free and decentralized market.
For its public properties, Blockchain is inclusive and extends accessibility from carbon markets to even the world's smallest farmers, as well as forest managers and indigenous communities.
Crypto Sustainability Coalition and green mining
The World Economic Forum coalition also aims to Support efficient cryptocurrency mining initiativesThe decentralized nature of mining allows miners to work only during off-peak hours, such as nighttime hours.
On the other hand, the waste heat from mining machines can be used to create new business models, creating recycled energy microgridsFor example, heat could be channeled to air conditioning or heating systems.
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