Microsoft Joins Web3 Companies to Launch Ethereum Climate Platform at COP27

Thursday 17 November saw the ‘Ethereum Climate Platform’ (ECP) launch announced at COP27, the world’s largest gathering on climate action. ECP aims to counteract the Ethereum-based carbon footprint dating back to the network’s launch in 2015.

The Ethereum Climate Platform plans to both incentivise and fund the development of projects that mitigate greenhouse gas emissions, alongside delivering positive environmental and social impact.

At COP27 a host of Web3 companies joined civil society leaders and the UNFCCC Climate Innovation Hub to announce the initiative. The Web3 companies were convened by blockchain software technology ConsenSys and enterprise software developer Allinfra.

Founding members of the platform’s launch team a large number of firms. These include: AAVE, Art Blocks, Celo, CodeGreen.Org, Enterprise Ethereum Alliance, ERM, Filecoin Green, Gitcoin, Global Blockchain Business Council, Huobi Global, Laser Digital, Microsoft, Polygon, The Climate Collective, UPC Capital Ventures and W3bcloud, in collaboration with Gold Standard.

Since 2015, the Ethereum network’s annual CO2 emissions are estimated to be over 11 million tons per year. The ECP initiative launches two months after Ethereum’s ‘merge’, which saw 99.992 per cent of Ethereum’s daily energy needs eliminated.

Although the merge indicates a much more climate-friendly Ethereum in the future, ECP’s focus is on tackling its past emissions. Since its inception, Ethereum has left behind an estimated carbon debt in the tens of millions of metric tons.

The launch partners intend to complete a study to accurately gain an estimate regarding past Ethereum emissions.

Industry views on ECP

Joseph Lubin, founder and CEO of ConsenSys and co-founder of Ethereum, gave his view on the project launch.

“The ‘merge’ set a new and extremely high bar for climate mitigation across the entire business and financial sector. It demonstrated that through sheer force of collective will, we can successfully drive technological decisions that massively reduce carbon output. But the climate crisis requires more radical change.

“This is why we are excited to come together with collaborators from among the most prominent actors from Web2 and Web3, as well as civil society leaders to accelerate climate innovations through the Ethereum Climate Platform.”

Bill Kentrup, the co-founder of Allinfra, also commented.

“Funding high-quality green projects is critical in the fight to mitigate human-driven climate change.”

“Yet, historically, the process of deploying capital to the right projects and assessing their real impact has lacked transparency, efficiency and timeliness. We are pleased to have the opportunity to design and launch a better Web3-enabled climate finance platform and we acknowledge the outstanding advice and counsel of the UN Climate Change Global Innovation Hub over the past months in the draft design of this novel approach.

Sandeep Nailwal, co-founder of Polygon, spoke on his hopes for ECP in tackling the climate crisis.

“We look forward to the opportunity for the platform to further engage with strategic leaders across climate and Web3 in collaborative efforts over the coming years”.

“With The Merge, Web3 showcased two of its core traits, innovation and speed. Both are critical to delivering climate solutions in our current crisis.”

“We are excited to join forces with ConsenSys and our colleagues from Web2 and Web3 to tackle one of the most pressing challenges we face as citizens of the global community. The Ethereum Climate Platform is an important cross-collaborative initiative to tackle the climate crisis. By working together, we will strive to affect real and lasting change that will provide a better reality for all.”