Solana Foundation, Ripple, GBBC and Others Form Partnership to Promote Crypto Solutions for Climate Change

DAVOS, Switzerland — Solana Foundation and blockchain platform Ripple are partnering with industry group Global Blockchain Business Council (GBBC) to accelerate the use of crypto-based solutions for climate change.

The newly founded non-governmental organization, called Blockchain x Climate Leadership Network (BxC), aims to be the "single largest common gathering of climate action innovators, leaders and builders under one global umbrella," according to a press statement shared with CoinDesk.

BxC's launch was announced at GBBC's gathering on the sidelines of the 2023 annual meeting of the World Economic Forum held in Davos, Switzerland. The event, which gathers world leaders and top businesses in the Swiss Alps, attracted a slew of crypto entities to last year's meeting just ahead of the series of high-profile company collapses that left the industry scrambling to pick up the pieces.

This year, crypto's presence on the promenade outside the main forum center is comparatively muted, and the industry is making a concerted effort to attract attention to projects that have real-world applications and social benefit.

"I think the climate use case makes the most sense in terms of real world utility beyond, let's say, speculative retail involvement," BxC strategic adviser Daniel Hwang told CoinDesk during an interview in Davos.

Hwang, who works on building the infrastructure for the initiative, including carbon credit measurements, which calculates the reduced amount of greenhouse gases generated by human actions, said his team has been meeting every week for the last two and a half years hosting workshops and forums focused on education. The initiative looks to come up with principles of cooperation and best practices for climate-related blockchain efforts in different sectors, as well as business cases for climate-crypto projects.

Efforts of using crypto to support climate change mitigation efforts largely revolve around creating new economies that don't harm the environment.

The Solana Foundation and Ripple are founding partners, whereas environmentally-oriented layer 1 blockchain Regen Network and association Climate Collective are supporting partners. GBBC and Eqo Networks, which specializes in creating such climate-minded leadership networks, will lead the initiative.

Previously known as the Blockchain Infrastructure Carbon Offset Working Group (BICOWG), BxC gathered representatives of major crypto and environmental organizations (including CoinDesk) in Colombia in autumn 2022. Some of the working groups that were formed in that meeting – working on carbon market registries, standards and auditability, policy development, regenerative finance and emerging markets in the global south – are still active today and will form the foundation of BxC.

Read more: In the Colombian Andes, Figuring Out How Crypto Can Save the Climate