The Liverpool City Council is committed to becoming the first climate-positive authority in the world by the end of 2018, through a groundbreaking partnership with the nonprofit Poseidon Foundation, in a bid to make Liverpool the world’s first climate-positive city by the end of 2020.

Poseidon’s blockchain-powered platform offsets the carbon impact of any product or service by transparently supporting essential forest conservation projects, allowing individuals, organizations and governments to reverse the impact of climate change every day through their activities. Ben & Jerry’s began piloting the technology in May at its newest scoop shop in London, giving its customers the opportunity to support action on climate change at the point of sale; in just three weeks, more than 1,000 trees were protected through carbon credit purchases at the shop. Liverpool will integrate Poseidon’s technology into its day-to-day operations.

Poseidon will be moving its operations from Malta to Liverpool in order to play a key role in the city’s new climate-positive strategy, which will be trialed over the next 12 months. The organization, which is already working closely with Liverpool company BAC Mono to create the world’ first climate-positive car, will work with local schools, universities and businesses to develop educational programs around climate impact that will play a vital role in the council’s commitment to cut its overall carbon emissions by 40 percent by 2030. This is the equivalent of protecting 136 million trees or 338,000 football fields, which could create over 3,500 jobs in the Peruvian Amazon. Liverpool Mayor Joe Anderson will also host a Strategic Business Summit in September with businesses, social enterprises and not-for-profits from across the city region, where they will explore how Poseidon can help individual companies become climate positive.

“I’m delighted we have signed this partnership agreement with Poseidon to connect Liverpool directly with climate-positive projects across the globe,” Anderson said. “Poseidon’s technology is the first of its kind to truly deliver a solution to governments, businesses and individuals around the world to help reverse the causes of climate change and I am thrilled this agreement will bring this cutting-edge technology to our city.

“Liverpool City Council has a significant carbon footprint because of all the services we provide — be it street lighting, the running of countless properties like St George’s Hall or the Arena and our fleet of vehicles,” he added. “We are already making significant strides to reduce our impact by 40 percent by 2030, but that is not enough, and partnering with Poseidon — whose potential for growth as a business is hugely exciting — means we can explore radical new ways to do more.”

Consistently a city of firsts — from railways, public baths and electric lighting to subscription libraries and topical medicine — Liverpool is now leading the country’s sustainability agenda. The council’s partnership with Poseidon is another such example of a first for Liverpool, one that will be showcased to other major global cities at the UN World Cities Day event on October 31st.

Laszlo Giricz, founder and CEO of Poseidon, said, “This is a groundbreaking partnership, not just for Poseidon and Liverpool, but globally. For the first time, a city will use blockchain technology to go beyond rebalancing its carbon footprint — leading the way in the fight against climate change. Liverpool is a trailblazer and a shining example to other cities in the UK and across the world on what can be achieved through harnessing the power of technology to meet one of humanity’s greatest challenges. And now that it is clear that our platform is fully scalable, it is time for other cities to take action.”