National

While some global policies for mitigating climate change and adapting to its effects have been put in place, there is no integrated system to track progress against those goals and evaluate the effectiveness of various approaches.

The big picture: As public and private sector leaders attempt to keep warming below 2 degrees Celsius, a blockchain-based system could allow parties to monitor which strategies to reduce carbon emissions work, which don’t, and how much each contributes.

Details: The Paris Agreement is decentralized and bottom-up, making it a promising sandbox for blockchain, which strings together data to generate a permanent record that can be continuously viewed, updated and verified by users at all levels.

The technology could provide useful metrics for The Paris Agreement’s stocktake, which requires countries to report on progress toward their Nationally Determined Contributions (NDCs) and set new and more ambitious targets.

How it works: Côte d’Ivoire’s NDC, for example, entails reducing its greenhouse gas emissions 28% by 2030, which could be achieved by sourcing 42% of its energy from renewables in the same timeframe. A blockchain-based system could verify not only whether those goals have been reached, but also how their achievement contributes to global progress.

Another essential application is tracking climate finance flows. Whether at the global, national, firm or household level, blockchain can verify products, services and distributors in energy and agricultural industries. Owing to its open nature, blockchain can also reduce costs associated with complex supply chains and connect disparate markets.

Yes, but: Blockchain isn’t a silver bullet, and consumes a great deal of energy itself.

Defining the metrics for impacts, on both emissions and costs, will be technically and politically complicated. Tracking and comparing adaptation approaches will be particularly challenging, as they are highly local and context-specific.

Creating such a system on a global scale presents considerable legal and governance challenges.

There is little that technology can do to solve regulatory and institutional challenges or a lack of political ambition.

What to watch: There is already momentum to bring blockchain to climate policy, with pioneers testing out peer-to-peer systems for energy trading, marine fuels, renewable energy credits (RECs), and carbon credit tokenization.

Alzbeta Klein is the director for climate business at the International Finance Corporation, a member of the World Bank Group.

Blockchain could help track progress on Paris Agreement goals

The agreement's bottom-up nature makes a decentralized network a promising fit.

Hardware at the SberBit cryptocurrency mining equipment facility. Vyacheslav Prokofyev/TASS 

Hardware at the SberBit cryptocurrency mining equipment facility in Moscow. Photo: Vyacheslav Prokofyev/TASS via Getty Images

Energy

Blockchain

Expert Voices

Business

While some <a class="gtmContentClick" data-vars-link-text="global policies" data-vars-click-url="https://unfccc.int/process/the-paris-agreement/nationally-determined-contributions/ndc-registry" data-vars-content-id="31ccd154-ecc8-4e8b-88a4-d16fb2f8c346" data-vars-headline="Blockchain could help track progress on Paris Agreement goals" data-vars-event-category="story" data-vars-sub-category="story" data-vars-item="in_content_link" href="https://unfccc.int/process/the-paris-agreement/nationally-determined-contributions/ndc-registry" target="_blank">global policies</a> for mitigating climate change and adapting to its effects have been put in place, there is no integrated system to track progress against those goals and evaluate the effectiveness of various approaches.The big picture: As public and private sector leaders attempt to keep warming below 2 degrees Celsius, a blockchain-based system could allow parties to monitor which strategies to reduce carbon emissions work, which don’t, and how much each contributes.

Ominous forecasts about the impact of climate change serve as the backdrop for the world — led by U.S. lawmakers and companies — to debate big action on the problem, which could upend energy systems and our way of life.

Energy & Environment

While countries like the U.S. and EU member states have to backpedal their heavy carbon emissions, emerging markets could still leapfrog the most carbon-intensive approaches to urbanization.

Why it matters: 60% of the world’s cities have yet to be built. Since buildings and building construction account for 36% of final global energy consumption and nearly 40% of total CO2 emissions, opting for green buildings in these new and more dense urban spaces would help meet global climate goals while sustaining economic growth.

How it works: Green buildings — from hospitals to hotels — have been shown to protect people and the environment while improving the bottom line. Increased resource efficiency means lower utility bills.

The basic elements of green building — structural orientation, conservative use of glass, water-efficient toilets, rainwater harvesting systems — are well understood and widely available.

Investors have been taking note of the business case: lower long-term operating and maintenance costs, decreased odds of becoming a stranded asset, and higher returns on investment due to lower sustainability risks. In emerging markets, green buildings represent a $24.7 trillion investment opportunity.

What's needed: Increasing both the supply of and demand for green buildings depends on several key factors:

Communicating value with certification programs like LEED and IFC's Excellence in Design for Greater Efficiencies (EDGE)

Identifying accessible and cost-effective designs with software (IFC's EDGE software is free, and there are many other digital solutions)

Generating supportive policy frameworks (codes and incentives)

Expanding access to financing with green bonds, mortgages, and property funds

Between the lines: Capturing data could prove vital as governments and policymakers experiment and test partnerships to fine-tune their approaches.

The bottom line: The private sector, governments and financial institutions will likely have to come together to adopt standards capable of transforming real estate, especially in the emerging markets where these improvements could have the greatest impact.

Emerging markets could realize greatest benefits of green buildings

They can help meet global climate goals while sustaining economic growth.

The Renaissance Tower, winner of the U.S. Green Building Council's LEED Platinum Certificate, in Istanbul, Turkey. Photo: Serhat Cagdas/Anadolu Agency/Getty Images

Urban planning

Alternative energy

While countries like the U.S. and EU member states have to backpedal their <a class="gtmContentClick" data-vars-link-text="heavy carbon emissions" data-vars-click-url="https://www.wri.org/blog/2017/04/interactive-chart-explains-worlds-top-10-emitters-and-how-theyve-changed" data-vars-content-id="ac0e20d9-7bb6-4aa7-9df6-eaf089f91f43" data-vars-headline="Emerging markets could realize greatest benefits of green buildings" data-vars-event-category="story" data-vars-sub-category="story" data-vars-item="in_content_link" href="https://www.wri.org/blog/2017/04/interactive-chart-explains-worlds-top-10-emitters-and-how-theyve-changed" target="_blank">heavy carbon emissions</a>, emerging markets could still leapfrog the most carbon-intensive approaches to urbanization.Why it matters: 60% of the world’s cities have <a class="gtmContentClick" data-vars-link-text="yet to be built" data-vars-click-url="https://www.weforum.org/agenda/2016/04/urbanization-dr-joan-clos/" data-vars-content-id="ac0e20d9-7bb6-4aa7-9df6-eaf089f91f43" data-vars-headline="Emerging markets could realize greatest benefits of green buildings" data-vars-event-category="story" data-vars-sub-category="story" data-vars-item="in_content_link" href="https://www.weforum.org/agenda/2016/04/urbanization-dr-joan-clos/" target="_blank">yet to be built</a>. Since buildings and building construction <a class="gtmContentClick" data-vars-link-text="account for 36%" data-vars-click-url="https://www.iea.org/topics/energyefficiency/buildings/" data-vars-content-id="ac0e20d9-7bb6-4aa7-9df6-eaf089f91f43" data-vars-headline="Emerging markets could realize greatest benefits of green buildings" data-vars-event-category="story" data-vars-sub-category="story" data-vars-item="in_content_link" href="https://www.iea.org/topics/energyefficiency/buildings/" target="_blank">account for 36%</a> of final global energy consumption and nearly 40% of total CO2 emissions, opting for green buildings in these new and more dense urban spaces would help meet global climate goals while sustaining economic growth.

Alzbeta Klein

Stories

Emerging markets could realize greatest benefits of green buildings

Blockchain could help track progress on Paris Agreement goals