deCarbonized #27: Tokenization consultation opens; ReFi for regenerative carbon; Future of digital MRV

💡 Spotlight story

Verra consultation on tokenized carbon now open!

Last week, Verra released the full details on their upcoming public consultation on third-party crypto instruments and tokens, which will run for 60 days until 2nd October.

As hinted in their announcement 2 weeks ago, there is a strong focus on the following areas:

• Measures to associate Verra instruments with crypto instruments and tokens
• KYC checks
• Amendments to the Verra Registry Terms of Use relating to anti-fraud

The web3 carbon community have already started to rally around how to respond. The Climate Collective are developing a coordinated call to action aimed at all registries, while ReFiDAO have released an unedited interview with Verra's Innovation Director, shedding light on their current stance.

Toucan look forward to working with partners to demonstrate the essential value of tokenizing carbon on open blockchains to scale the VCM with integrity! 💪

📢 Top news picks

• Charm release prototype protocol for bio-oil sequestration, authored by experts at Carbon Direct and EcoEngineers
• Single.Earth launch a new standard for biodiversity and carbon credits, creating the MERIT token
• Voluntary carbon market value approaches $2bn in 2021, according to Ecosystem Marketplace's latest report
• Start-up CO2Rail would use existing rail infrastructure to develop 'DAC on wheels'

💵 If you’re a VC or interested in more investment news, check out the web3 for climate newsletter

⛓ Market action

Fortnightly carbon stats

Toucan Protocol is building carbon market infrastructure to finance the world's best climate solutions. These are our on-chain stats from 26.07- 08.08.22:

Carbon prices as of 08.08.22, with 14 day change:

BCT -  $1.99  (+4.7%)  |   NCT -  $2.29  (-3.4%)
GEO -  $4.08  (+39.7%)  |  NGEO -  $7.96  (+2.8%)  |  EU-ETS -  $85.12  (+11.8%)

🐦 Check out our recent Twitter space on improving the integrity of carbon credits here

🌟 Blog feature

Building regenerative carbon markets with web3 🌄

Web3 is unlocking innovation in financial and carbon markets, creating opportunities for regenerative approaches to tackle the climate crisis.

Our Founder James Farrell recently explored this exciting intersection at ETH Barcelona, introducing key features of the emerging regenerative finance movement, voluntary carbon markets and how they can come together to drive innovation.

In this weeks blog post, we dive into:

1. What is regenerative finance (ReFi)? 🌴
2. Issues with the voluntary carbon market (VCM) 💫
3. Web3 for regenerative carbon markets 🔑
4. Toucan's vision 🦚

Check out the full piece here 🌞

Could you be the next deCarbonized Guest Editor?

We want to hear from you!

• Passionate about the VCM, ReFi, web3 or carbon tech?
• Enjoy writing posts that help people understand these topics more deeply?
• Have an eye for communicating exciting news and updates?

Over the coming weeks, we will be extending the opportunity to produce deCarbonized to our community members while current editor @DrHolWat is off on maternity leave 👶

This is a great opportunity to develop and share your work, connect with Toucan's audience and work flexibly to create something exciting! ✨

To say hello and find out more, drop an email to: anna.morrogh@toucan.earth
...or slip into our DMs @ToucanProtocol

🔍 Research in focus

Digital Monitoring, Reporting and Verification (dMRV) for future carbon markets

The World Bank recently released a report exploring the role of digital MRV in future carbon markets, drawing on a variety of case studies to explore the resources needed to scale the use of these technologies.

dMRV systems have the potential to make carbon markets more streamlined and cost-effective, both in the generation of carbon credits and the verification of emissions reductions once a credit has been retired. Solutions include satellite monitoring, remote sensing and AI enabled data collection.

While greater impetus is required to overcome the higher initial costs and technical complexity of dMRV solutions, case studies demonstrate that the effort required to then scale these systems is much less than a conventional monitoring system.

There must also be supporting policy, regulatory environments and education in their effective dMRV use in place to make these technologies effective. Indeed, as many carbon projects are implemented in the global south where innovation infrastructure may be lower, encouraging knowledge sharing and capacity building is of particular importance.

To reduce barriers to scale, governments and regulators can:

• Ensure required infrastructure, power and data networks are available for digital technologies to be effectively implemented.
• Consider strategic tax incentives to promote the use of emerging technologies.
• Encourage capacity building, grants and knowledge sharing from private companies to overcome initial gaps in financing and technological expertise.
• Adapt MRV protocols to allow for digitally collected data, and establish rules for how these systems are validated and verified.
• Encourage third-party verifiers to develop an understanding of digital technologies so that they can implement revised standards.
• Create environments that allow ongoing project piloting.

The report concludes by highlighting how dMRV can help unlock the full potential of carbon markets, setting the stage for future innovations. This includes the tokenization of carbon assets through blockchain technology and real-time issuance of mitigation outcomes.

You can access the full report here.

💼 Jobs board

• Founder, Natural Capital Markets Operating System, Deep Market Ventures - London, UK
• Head of Carbon Solutions, Ivy Protocol - Global remote
• Head of policy and stakeholder engagement, Watershed - US remote
• Product Designer, Toucan Protocol -  Global remote
• Senior Program Manager, Carbon Strategy and Development, Microsoft - Denver, Colorado

🌳 Hot in web3

Toucan partner with Ivy Protocol to accelerate future carbon markets

Ensuring that carbon credit supply can keep up with demand is a growing concern of VCM actors. Ivy seeks to address this issue by connecting early-stage carbon projects (including reforestation, afforestation and direct air capture) with crowdfunding resources.

Using Ivy's user-friendly and accessible platform, people from around the world will be able to directly back climate projects. This will enable funds to be channelled to landowners and project developers up to 40 times quicker than via traditional methods.

Ivy's goal is to fund the next 1000 offset projects, which will remove approximately one gigaton of carbon dioxide from the atmosphere- the equivalent of removing 211 million cars from the road.

As part of Ivy's partnership with Toucan, they will be provided with a grant to further develop the technical infrastructure of their protocol.

Do you have an offset project idea that needs funding? Get in touch with Ivy!

Thank you for reading deCarbonized! 👏

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Enjoy deCarbonized? Suggestions on what to cover next? Let me know! @DrHolWat