{"id":22084,"date":"2018-05-18T00:43:35","date_gmt":"2018-05-18T00:43:35","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/ci027cfe6e80042697"},"modified":"2018-05-18T00:43:35","modified_gmt":"2018-05-18T00:43:35","slug":"ibm-and-veridium-transform-carbon-credits-blockchain-based-tokens","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/bitcoinmagazine.com\/business\/ibm-and-veridium-transform-carbon-credits-blockchain-based-tokens","title":{"rendered":"IBM and Veridium to Transform Carbon Credits into Blockchain-Based Tokens"},"content":{"rendered":"
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IBM has partnered with environmental fintech startup Veridium Labs<\/a> to turn carbon credits \u2014 tradable instruments that provide an economic incentive to those who want to reduce their greenhouse gas emissions \u2014 into blockchain-based tokens.<\/p>\n

In a joint press release<\/a>, the two companies announced a collaboration to \u201ctransform the carbon credit market using IBM blockchain technology with the goal of making it easier for companies to offset their environmental footprints.\u201d<\/p>\n

“By using a public, permissioned blockchain network, we can help Veridium create a new sustainable marketplace that is good for business and good for the world,” said<\/a> Bridget van Kralingen, senior vice president of IBM Industry Platforms and Blockchain. \u201cThis is a great example of how industries are being reinvented by blockchain [technology], in this case establishing a far more efficient and transparent approach to carbon accounting and offsetting that will empower individuals and companies to play a role in improving our environment.”<\/p>\n

A carbon credit is defined<\/a> as \u201ca certificate showing that a government or company has paid to have a certain amount of carbon dioxide removed from the environment.\u201d In return, environmental regulations allow the holders of carbon credits to burn a certain amount of fossil fuels.<\/p>\n

While the carbon credits market exists, with many active sellers and buyers, measuring carbon emissions is complicated and costly, and purchasing carbon credits can be complex. According to the joint press release, \u201cblockchain based digital assets, or tokens, can enable innovative ways to buy and use\u201d carbon credits.<\/p>\n

A recent report produced by the IBM Institute for Business Value (IBV), titled \u201cMoving to a token-driven economy: Enabling the digitization of real-world assets<\/a>,\u201d notes that assets like gold, real estate, fine art or carbon credits are difficult to transfer, often necessitating an abundance of paperwork and prolonged procedures for both buyers and sellers. \u201cBy representing physical assets as digital tokens on a distributed digital ledger or blockchain, it\u2019s possible to unlock the value of real-world assets and to exchange them in real time,\u201d states the report.<\/p>\n

Relying on IBM\u2019s blockchain technology<\/a> and expertise, Veridium \u201cplans to transform carbon credits into a new type of fungible digital asset that can be redeemed and traded on the Stellar<\/a> network.\u201d Their approach \u201cwill encompass the entire process of carbon footprint accounting and offsetting.\u201d The tokenized carbon credits will include REDD+<\/a> credits from InfiniteEARTH<\/a>, backed by projects that pursue long-term sustainability. Both Veridium and InfiniteEARTH are associated with EnVision Corporation<\/a>, an incubator of sustainable technologies.<\/p>\n

Jared Klee, blockchain manager for token initiatives at IBM, explained to TechCrunch<\/a> that buying and accounting for REDD+ credits is currently quite complicated. \u201cIt\u2019s a major pain point,\u201d he said. \u201cToday REDD+ credits are over the counter assets and there is no central exchange.\u201d<\/p>\n

Therefore, IBM and Veridium\u2019s initiative, also supported by Stellar, could significantly simplify carbon credits trading, thus making carbon credits more appealing and contributing to environmental preservation and sustainable development.<\/p>\n

\u201cFor years, we\u2019ve been trying to mitigate environmental impacts at every point in the value chain, however previous solutions still presented significant complexities and costs,\u201d said<\/a> Todd Lemons, the chairman of Veridium. \u201cOur work with IBM is the first step in dramatically simplifying the accounting and offsetting processes, and therefore ultimately helping reduce costs. Our digital environmental assets are designed to help companies and institutional investors purchase and use carbon credits to mitigate their environmental impacts today, and even hedge their potential carbon liabilities risks in the future.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

IBM has partnered with environmental fintech startup Veridium Labs to turn carbon credits \u2014 tradable instruments that provide an economic incentive to those who want to reduce their greenhouse gas emissions \u2014 into blockchain-based tokens. In a joint press release, the two companies announced a collaboration to \u201ctransform the carbon credit market using IBM blockchain […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3509,"featured_media":22085,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[556,324,3438,3486,693,1057],"class_list":["post-22084","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-business","tag-blockchain","tag-environment","tag-ibm","tag-stellar","tag-sustainability","tag-tokens"],"author_data":{"id":3509,"name":"Giulio Prisco","nicename":"giulio-prisco","avatar_url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/2d091b908741b627d89036dd43748bb5c5edcfe9f805501703e2c3af34dadfca?s=96&d=robohash&r=g"},"featured_image_url":"https:\/\/bitcoinmagazine.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/11\/ibm-and-veridium-to-transform-carbon-credits-into-blockchain-based-tokens.jpg","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/bitcoinmagazine.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/22084","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/bitcoinmagazine.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/bitcoinmagazine.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bitcoinmagazine.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3509"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bitcoinmagazine.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=22084"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/bitcoinmagazine.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/22084\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bitcoinmagazine.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/22085"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/bitcoinmagazine.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=22084"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bitcoinmagazine.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=22084"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bitcoinmagazine.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=22084"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}