The city of Liverpool, in the north-west of England, has announced it will begin using blockchain technology in order to help it achieve its environmental goals by the year 2020.

Liverpool has long been a hub of progressive ideas and technologies. The region in which it lies birthed the industrial revolution in the mid-1700s and the city remained an important center of shipbuilding and production throughout the 18th and 19th centuries. The city also gave us the Beatles. Just FYI.

The creativity of the city is continuing, as Liverpool City Council announced on July 19th it would be using blockchain technology to become the world’s first “climate-positive city” by the year 2020. Climate-positivity means the city will be actively releasing less carbon into the atmosphere than it takes out of the air.

The scheme will work by quantifying carbon output into tokens. These tokens will then be tradeable amongst parties, with a financial incentive for those who want to trade them in for cash. The City Council has partnered with the Poseidon Foundation, a Malta-based start-up in order to conduct a year-long trial of a blockchain platform on which parties will be able to trade tokenized carbon credits, and should allow carbon emissions to be offset by around 110% according to predictions.

Liverpool Mayor, Joe Anderson was full of praise for the company and explained that its blockchain platform “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.”

The Poseidon Foundation is a non-profit, aiming to use blockchain to increase operational transparency and traceability into processes related to forest conservation. They have already successfully completed a joint project with ice cream producer Ben and Jerry’s to help it reduce its carbon emissions.

Emissions trading is already a concept in common use in order to help global actors reduce their carbon footprint. European Union member countries use a similar framework to help them meet their Europe 2020 goals. The combination of carbon trading schemes with blockchain highlights yet another exciting use case for blockchain tech, by providing a solution for actors who require a provably accurate record of traded emissions, allowing relevant parties to meet targets effectively.

“The technology is now proven and can be fully scaled and integrated, giving everyone the opportunity to understand their own carbon impact and take action.” said the Poseidon Foundation.

Image Source: “Flickr”