Blockchain for UN Charter Values and SDGs
IOTA and BC100+ Leading the Way
TL;DR:
The IOTA Foundation, projects in its ecosystem, and BC100+ recently showcased blockchain applications for sustainability at a workshop hosted by the Global Business Blockchain Council and European Partners for the Environment in New York City. The event emphasized DLT’s role in fostering sustainability and IOTA’s collaborations with projects like Demia (IOTA spin-off), KUPKrush, and Zentrix.io to promote environmental goals. The IOTA Foundation is committed to a positive social impact and encourages Web3 builders engaged in similar projects to join their efforts.
Since its inception, IOTA has been architected from the ground up to be energy-efficient and sustainable. We have also focused on fostering real-world impact and enabling purpose-bound assets, as well as encouraging collaboration between projects, dAPPs, and communities around issues of green tech and sustainability goals.
On September 13th, 2023, IOTA Foundation’s Mariana de la Roche took part in a think tank workshop organized by the Global Business Blockchain Council and European Partners for the Environment and hosted by Microsoft in New York City. The event was an opportunity to illustrate how IOTA is being leveraged to create blockchain applications for sustainability.
Other participants included Shamika N. Sirimanne, Director of the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNDP) Division on Technology and Logistics; Gayan Peiris, Head of Data and Technology at UNDP; and Ashok Adiceam, Deputy Special Envoy of the President of the French Republic for the 3rd United Nations Conference on the Ocean.
In her presentation, Mariana discussed BC100+, where she is a member of the steering committee and which includes the IOTA Foundation as a founding member. BC100+ connects the blockchain ecosystem to the broader efforts of UN agencies and global initiatives in support of the UN Charter values and the SDGs.
IOTA tech creating sustainability
Also presenting at the workshop were three IOTA community projects:
Demia (formerly known as DigitalMRV) is a spin-off from the IOTA Foundation and ClimateCHECK that over the last five years has worked with organizations like UNFCCC, Gold Standard, and Dell Technologies. It’s a carbon market orchestration platform that enables projects to be audited and certified efficiently, increasing the value of their carbon credits. According to Mathew Yarger, CEO and Founder: “In our pursuit of a global data commons for emissions data at Demia, collaboration is not just an option; it's our compass. By working within a thriving ecosystem like IOTA’s and participating in collaborative events like the BC100+ initiative, we're able to accelerate joint progress, harmonizing our efforts to build a more transparent, secure, and sustainable future”
KUPKrush aims to harness IOTA to change the economics of recycling by embedding environmental, recycling, and disposal costs for products in their original selling price, instead of letting those costs fall on communities and future generations. KUPKrush uses IOTA tech to reward each verified action that moves an item closer to being recycled with a small sum that is paid instantly without the energy waste and transaction fees associated with most blockchains. According to Terry Shane, KUPKrush CEO, and Founder, “IOTA was chosen because the network provides an immutable, self-auditing record of the lifetime history of each product to eliminate the potential for “greenwashing”. We envision a world in which all recycling history information, down to the individual item level, is freely available to all cities and their citizens as part of a transparent, open data-commons”.
Zentrix is a Web3 development and consultancy one-stop-shop with hands-on experience in the industrial application of blockchain technology, MVPs, and prototype development. Its CEO, Nenad Gilgoric, represented the DIG_it consortium at the workshop. Dig_IT is an EU-funded Research and Innovation consortium to digitize the mine supply chain and create a more sustainable mining industry. According to Nenad: “Using blockchain for monitoring processes and performance in mining can promote responsible production and consumption by tracking the source of minerals and ensuring that they are extracted and processed in an environmentally and socially responsible manner. This can help reduce the negative environmental and social impacts associated with mining by imposing traceability and enabling regulative compliance against the first of the five-step framework of the EU conflict minerals regulation (2021). Being a part of BC100+ gives our project voice and exposure, enabling us to share the knowledge, resources, and best practices we developed for the sustainable mining industry.”
If you are a Web3 builder engaged in a project or dApp that harnesses distributed ledger technology such as IOTA for a more environmentally sustainable future, our Touchpoint Open Builders Program wants to hear from you, either through the Touchpoint application form or in our IOTA Discord server. You can also read more about the IOTA Foundation’s commitment to positive social impact here.
To discover more about the work of the BC100+ in building a more sustainable and inclusive world through blockchain, visit https://bc100plus.org.