Ripple has announced that it has committed $100 million in funding for blockchain innovations designed to scale CO2 removal.
The funding, which will go to companies in the carbon markets, is also earmarked for climate-focused fintech startups, Ripple said on Thursday.
According to the Press release the funds will also go to Ripple’s portfolio of programs aimed at helping the company become net zero by 2030. Apart from that, Ripple will use the funds to support efforts to tokenize carbon credits as non-non-fungible tokens (NFTs).
The company noted that this will be done on the XRP Ledger (XRPL), with blockchain technology helping to ensure the authenticity of Carbon Credit NFTs.
A “call to action” on climate change
Brad Garlinghouse, the CEO of Ripple, noted that the financing provided the “the company’s direct response to the global call to action“ on climate change. He said that companies are encouraged to use resources and even talent as part of the global response to reducing emissions.
„While reducing emissions and transitioning to a low-carbon future are of the utmost importance, carbon markets are also an important tool for achieving climate goals. Blockchain and crypto can play a catalytic role in helping carbon markets reach their full potential by bringing more liquidity and traceability to a fragmented, complex market“, added Garlinghouse.
Today, @Ripple is committing to invest $100M to modernize carbon markets globally, through investing in carbon removal companies and supporting growth in carbon credit tokenization functionality (Hear me out, NFTs aren’t just about digital art…) https://t.co/MYrxEO6WfN
– Brad Garlinghouse (@bgarlinghouse) May 19, 2022
According to the Ripple boss, the pledge of $ 100 million is another step to ensure that rising global temperatures are limited to below 1.5 degrees Celsius.
Ripple has partnered with several companies in the carbon markets to achieve its goals, including carbon mineralization company CarbonCure Technologies, the United Nations-backed tokenization startup Xange.com and the carbon offsetting company Invert.
The company also works with the Energy Web Foundation, the Alliance for Innovative Regulation and the Rocky Mountain Institute.