Climate Change and Blockchain

Abstract

Blockchains can be used as ledger systems that are verifiable, auditable, transparent, and run on a network of personal computers. Although best known as the computational underpinning of Bitcoin, they have applications beyond digital currency. They could transform contexts where verification of transactions without a central authority is currently a stumbling block. Among the applications being explored are so-called ‘smart contracts’, reputation systems, intellectual property, asset registers, voting, and the administration of decentralized organizations . There are also applications with environmental relevance. These include land claims registration, especially in regions where property ownership frequently is contested or where administrative institutions are not trusted, including species-rich parts of the developing world; establishment of alternative currencies backed by renewable energy generation, carbon mitigation, and sustainable innovation supply chain traceability to improve transparency and undermine corruption, particularly in agriculture and fishing; and tracking of illegal wildlife trade.