San Francisco-based FinTech firm Ripple has announced a $100 million commitment to “scale and strengthen” global carbon markets.
According to Ripple’s press release, this funding will “accelerate carbon removal activity and help modernize carbon markets through investments in innovative carbon removal companies and climate-focused fintechs.” Also, Ripple will “build a portfolio of additive, long-term, nature and science-based carbon credits, some of which will be used to meet its own commitment to achieve net zero by 2030 or sooner.”
Furthermore, this funding will “continue to support new functionality and developer tools that enable carbon credit tokenization as core non-fungible tokens (NFTs) on the XRP Ledger (XRPL).”
The hope is that this commitment will “help progress towards globally agreed climate goals to limit global temperature rise to 1.5 degrees Celsius.”
Ripple CEO Brad Garlinghouse had this to say:
“Our $100 million commitment is a direct response to the global call to action for companies to help address climate change by deploying resources, including innovative technology, strategic capital and talent. While reducing emissions and transitioning to a low-carbon future are paramount, carbon markets are also an important tool for meeting climate goals. Blockchain and crypto can play a catalytic role in allowing carbon markets to reach their full potential, bringing more liquidity and traceability to a fragmented, complex market.“
Ripple first announced its plan to become carbon neutral by 2030 two years ago, and is currently on track to achieve its goal by 2028. The company has collaborated with independent NGO partners — such as Energy Web Foundation and the XRP Ledger Foundation — to decarbonize XRPL, making it the first blockchain to become carbon neutral.
Monica Long, General Manager of RippleX at Ripple, said:
“Tokenizing carbon credits can play a vital role in scaling carbon markets and meeting growing demand while ensuring the credibility, integrity and transparency of existing markets. Several carbon removal projects and fintechs are already building on the XRPL to bring new climate solutions to market. By bringing blockchain to global climate initiatives, the industry can more quickly verify and certify NFT carbon credits, eliminate the potential for fraud, and even guarantee the offset is actually removing carbon for the long term.“
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The views and opinions expressed by the author, or any people mentioned in this article, are for informational purposes only, and they do not constitute financial, investment, or other advice. Investing in or trading cryptoassets comes with a risk of financial loss.
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