The idea behind environmental mitigation was to create a vibrant marketplace for the trade of natural assets. On the demand side, you have corporations that buy natural assets to mitigate their impact on the environment. On the supply side, you have natural asset producers, converting positive impacts into tradeable instruments. After years of operation, this market has failed to live up to its promise, and the potential positive environmental implications are far from being realized.

As it stands, it can be characterized as fragmented, top-heavy, riddled with silos and undemocratic. The inefficiencies and process has been devised and exploited by big players and middlemen who have been able to position themselves as gatekeepers and profiteers. Value is being lost at every step of the way. As a result, new market participants are being discouraged at both ends.

New buyers are faced with opaque products and pricing and know little of how much of the actual money they are paying is making it’s way through to the natural asset providers. The providers receive mixed price signals, lack of support and poor data which often results in a lack of confidence to invest their energies into new projects. Add to this that the minimum spend for a carbon mitigation product is out of reach to the average business or consumer and is only really palatable to large corporations.

The potential size of this market eclipses it’s current trade volumes and this is a key indication that this is a market that is ripe for disruption.

Essentially, the Natural Asset Exchange is a disruptive blockchain based upgrade to the market process. With the emergence of token sales as a successful crowdfunding model, there has never been a better time to create a democratised, universally inclusive and accessible market.

Without asking for cross-governmental agreements, without building multiple non-connected markets at different corners of the planet, without asking anyone’s permission, you give natural asset providers access to a blockchain based market. Once verified they load their assets onto the platform ready to trade. There is no minimum buy-in to participate. Loading an asset locks it into the blockchain, sets a price denominated in the exchanges native EARTH token and makes the product available to an open, universally and globally accessible market that is operating in real time with live bid and asks.

On the buy side, armed with EARTH tokens, buyers can be businesses of any size, they can be organizations both public and private, and even individuals. They make their trade and buy a natural asset at a price and size that matches their needs. They can trade at any time; monthly, weekly, daily — in fact — they could even potentially set automatic buys. The purchase is recorded on the blockchain and the asset is transferred to the buyer, no middlemen, no inefficiency, no additional cost layers.

The EARTH token itself will have a finite supply. It will not be paired up or pegged to any other instruments like carbon credits or national currencies. Instead, its price will be determined by natural market forces resulting from the trading that occurs on the Natural Asset Exchange, or simply, demand and supply, bids and asks.

In time and looking to the near future, Internet of Things (IoT) connected devices could interact with the Natural Asset Exchange in real time through smart contracts. Devices and sensors could be attached to machinery to monitor emissions and environmental impact data and purchase mitigation assets in real time.

impactChoice has been providing carbon mitigation solutions to corporations since 2009. We already offer an internal blockchain based solution to our clients and we look forward to building out the Natural Asset exchange. We aim to leverage available technologies in order to make a positive and lasting environmental impact. We believe that the NAE and the EARTH token will be the catalyst that is needed to unlock the vast potential value in the natural asset classes.

The Earth needs our urgent and collective intervention to ensure future generations are left with a sustainable planet. We hope you consider joining our community to make a real difference and share in the benefits of this enormous opportunity.