A new wave of entrepreneurs is utilizing blockchain technology to enhance global sustainability financing, with significant support from notable backers like Emurgo, a key player behind the eco-friendly Cardano blockchain. On May 7th, Changeblock, a carbon market tech startup supported by Emurgo Africa’s investment division, hosted a webinar discussing sustainable blockchain innovations.

The webinar featured a discussion between Ahmed Amer, CEO of Emurgo Africa, and Billy Richards, founder and CEO of Changeblock. Richards explained Changeblock's plan to use blockchains like Cardano to create a transparent marketplace for trading high-quality environmental assets such as carbon credits. Amer highlighted Emurgo's dedication to supporting blockchain solutions that address climate change, aligning with their commitment to the Cardano ecosystem.

"Our investment in Changeblock reflects Emurgo's commitment to promoting climate change solutions on Cardano," said Amer. "We aim to engage global leaders and innovators in developing effective, monetizable strategies for achieving net-zero emissions."

Using blockchain in the carbon market could significantly boost investment in carbon capture, renewable energy, reforestation, and more by treating certified emissions reductions as tradable commodities. Richards noted that the climate finance market could reach $1 trillion annually by 2030, but current inefficiencies and lack of standardization impede growth. Changeblock seeks to address this by integrating environmental assets into the blockchain.

Changeblock aims to improve transparency and traceability in the fragmented carbon credits market using blockchains like Cardano's eco-friendly ledger. "Currently, there are no clear regulations, which deters many organizations from participating in carbon markets," said Amer. "Blockchain offers a decentralized network of validators to monitor, report, and verify emissions data."

Changeblock employs IoT sensors and oracles to upload raw emissions data to Cardano's public blockchain, transforming it into NFTs that represent verified emissions reductions. These climate credits can then be fractionalized and traded as liquid crypto tokens, ensuring transparency.

Decentralized applications and platforms can use these tokenized environmental assets to create new financial products, such as:
- Crypto funds that generate returns from investing in tokenized carbon projects
- On-chain carbon offsets for blockchain transactions
- Decentralized markets for hedging climate risk
- Incentive programs for individuals reducing their carbon footprint

"We're turning sustainable actions into valuable, tradable assets, encouraging more climate solutions while offering new asset classes for major institutions to finance green development," Richards said. "DeFi plays a significant role in this."

Looking ahead, Changeblock envisions a future where global policy frameworks like the Paris Agreement's Article 6 connect environmental registries and legacy carbon markets directly to blockchains, creating unified liquidity for all certified climate assets.

Richards concluded, "We are building the foundational infrastructure to make sustainability financing profitable and seamlessly integrated into global markets and capital flows."

Although still in its early stages, blockchain's role in addressing climate change is rapidly gaining validation from pioneers like Changeblock and Emurgo, demonstrating the potential of decentralized ledgers and tokenization models to drive substantial environmental impact.