This session showcases real-world Web3 use cases addressing climate change and creating positive impacts in emerging markets.
Climate change is already creating outsized negative impacts for communities in emerging markets. Not only do these communities need humanitarian assistance, but they also need access to services, data, and tools that can help shift disaster mitigation and ongoing economic power back into their hands.
Web 3, built on blockchain technology, presents the opportunity to create a more transparent internet that can address the structural parameters of this inequality. The efficiencies afforded by smart contracts and the transparency of blockchain ledgers are uniquely suited to addressing the significant coordination challenges that have hampered on-ground environmental disaster mitigation efforts, creating greater transparency in aid efforts, and leveraging data to automate climate actions at scale.
This panel will present key findings from deployments of Mercy Corps Ventures’ Crypto for Good Fund – focused on deploying Web3 climate solutions in emerging markets – and will feature two Web3 project founders from their portfolio who will share their personal experiences:
-Since 2015, Mercy Corps Ventures has supported more than 40 startups to scale and raised nearly $400 million in follow-on capital for a portfolio centered around resilience-building solutions, so that those living in emerging markets can withstand disruption and plan for the future. Through its Crypto for Good Fund, Mercy Corps Ventures is at the forefront of deploying such solutions around the world, through a series of pilots that are building an evidence base to prove the scalability of blockchain-enabled solutions in making a positive impact in emerging markets.
-Fortune Credit, in partnership with Shamba Network and DIVA Technologies, is piloting the use of blockchain-powered smart contracts to deliver anticipatory cash transfers to pastoralist communities in Kenya. Climate change is threatening the livelihoods of some 50 million pastoralists across sub-Saharan Africa, where an unprecedented multi-year drought has led to the loss of millions of livestock and put millions of people at risk of starvation in Ethiopia, Kenya, and Somalia. While billions of dollars in aid have been earmarked to respond to this disaster, it has largely been deployed only after affected populations have already experienced the worst impacts of the drought. Fortune Credit’s pilot is leveraging smart contracts triggered by satellite sensor data (also used by insurance companies) to anticipate harmful drought conditions, deploying aid payments before negative impacts are experienced. This system both allows families to plan in advance and provides greater accountability for donors supporting aid payments.
-Atlantis DAO has launched a pilot in rural India building a decentralized peer-to-peer water network, enhancing access for underserved groups to access clean water resources while increasing earning opportunities. India is facing a water supply crisis, compounded by infrastructure gaps, limited government capacity for oversight and administration, and rapid development. Interest in decentralized solutions that treat water on site has grown. The Atlantis DAO pilot has developed a trial decentralized peer-to-peer (P2P) network in the Chikmagalur district that incentivizes local community members in conservation, water recycling, and rainwater harvesting; quality testing and purification; and distribution of water through a blockchain-ledger based app allows individuals to be compensated for participation. Over 90% of participants in the pilot have reported positive improvements to their water quality and access.
The panel moderator, Renée Barton of the Crypto Council for Innovation, will guide the panel members through a discussion of their key insights from the frontline, and the audience through the implications of deploying such solutions at scale.
