Mitigating the harmful effects of climate change requires joint participation from nations and major enterprises around the world. But it’s been historically difficult to ensure that corporate sustainability promises are kept.
As immutable public ledgers, blockchains offer a space to store and verify these commitments, while hybrid smart contracts connected to off-chain environmental data can automate the distribution of rewards and penalties according to how well participants meet the predefined terms of their pledge.
As the leading decentralized oracle network connecting hybrid smart contracts to off-chain data from organizations like AccuWeather and the Associated Press, Chainlink established the Chainlink Community Grant Program to support organizations, such as UNICEF and Green World Campaign, that are using hybrid smart contracts to enact positive social and environmental change.
Last September, Hyphen – a transparent green data reporting framework – received a Chainlink Community Grant to build a decentralized oracle framework for tracking greenhouse gases (GHG) and ozone-depleting substances (ODS). Today, Hyphen launched its first Chainlink decentralized oracle network (DON), giving smart contracts access to a secure source of nitrous oxide (N2O) emissions data from the ICOS using the Montreal Protocol framework.
The ability to deliver traceable, verifiable GHG and ODS data from isolated legacy systems to public blockchains facilitates an array of critical climate-saving use cases, such as reporting ecosystems that can enforce emissions accountability and regulatory compliance. Ultimately, this would reduce both harmful emissions and instances of corporate greenwashing.
“By making this green data widely available to third parties in their preferred formats, not only will this enable more innovation in green finance, but it will also enable incentives for accurate impact measurement,” said Miles Austin, CEO of Hyphen Global AG.
“Hyphen opens a new way for the private sector to transparently and efficiently collect and utilize climate risk information in capital markets. This establishes more accurate and timely reporting of climate risk to all the relevant market participants in order to move towards a more resilient financial system.”
Hyphen’s long-term goal is to use Chainlink’s oracle infrastructure to amplify the impact of international climate initiatives such as TCFD, GFANZ and SBTi. Austin told Chainlink Today that support from Chainlink Labs and the Chainlink Community Grant Program is fundamental to realizing this vision.
“We wouldn’t be doing what we are today if it was not for the grant program,” he said. “We are excited to be a part of the Chainlink Network and look forward to working with various agencies, corporations, and institutions in order to integrate global climate data into the financial system in ways that bring together existing legacy systems with smart contract frameworks.”
To learn more about Hyphen, visit their website and Twitter.