The Crypto Sustainability Coalition, a project aimed at evaluating the contribution of Web3 technologies to the battle against climate change, was introduced by the World Economic Forum (WEF). The group, which consists of 30 businesses, educational organizations, and other institutions, will conduct a study on the effects of these technologies’ energy usage and how they may support the ongoing decarbonization efforts.
Companies in the energy sector have turned their spotlight to Web3, which is a label given to a group of crypto/blockchain-based technologies and is considered the future of the internet by many. These technologies have been specially considered by the World economic forum for climate sustainability and to boost the global fight against climate change.
The coalition was announced by the WEF on 12th September and comprises 30 organizations like the NEAR Foundation, Ripple, Stellar Development Foundation, Solana, and Avalanche among others. The coalition is a part of the Crypto Impact and Sustainability Accelerator initiative launched in 2022 itself. It seems the forum has taken the initiative very seriously and is pacing with sub-initiatives like the formation of this coalition. The Crypto Impact and Sustainability Accelerator initiative aims to investigate the possible contribution of these companies in helping with the cause.
According to Brynly Llyr, head of blockchain and digital assets at the World Economic Forum, one significant and distinctive feature of Web3 is how it makes use of technology to encourage and reward direct community participation. This allows for the direct coordination of the activities of numerous people, enabling group action without centralized management.
Different groups have been created by this initiative to assess important points related to the usage of crypto and blockchain to impact climate change positively. They will also assess the negative impact of the sector on climate change.
Proof of work (POW) mining consensus has been repeatedly criticized by regulators and critics across the globe for its high energy usage. The world’s largest cryptocurrency by volume after Bitcoin (BTC), Ethereum (ETH) recently switched to Proof-of-stake (POS) mining consensus which will enable ETH miners to consume only 0.2% of the total energy consumed by Bitcoin miners –calling it the merge.
Other issues that will be addressed by the workgroups include the integration of Web3 technologies to ‘decarbonize’ current activities. The forum also plans to standardize and allot “carbon credits” to the blockchain, which will make it simpler to issue and manage digital assets. As per the WEF, this will enable more people to invest in the sector as it will be more transparent and trustable.