Reducing greenwashing with Proof of ESG via blockchain

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Imagine Bitcoin helps sustainability. Stop imagining—because it already is happening.

In a recent YouTube interview organized by Monetix, Alexander Mann explained how to implement blockchain technology for ESG-related issues. Mann is the Director of Proof of ESG and an advocate for smart farming technologies.

“Everyone knows what ESG is, but Proof of ESG was created out of a desire to raise the standards. To really prove these claims that are being made in the marketplace. There is a lack of accountability and lack of transparency that Proof of ESG can address,” said Mann.

Proof of ESG utilizes the BSV blockchain for environmental purposes

Mann clarifies that Proof of ESG incorporates the BSV blockchain to collect and verify ESG-related data to create a standardized, trustworthy record of a company’s ESG performance.

The discussion tackled the problem of “greenwashing,” a marketing method for insincere companies to appear as if they care for the negative environmental impacts of their actions—while not really doing anything about it.

“The higher a company’s ESG score is, the more ‘green investments’ they can acquire. So there is an incentive there to have a higher ESG score, to be more environmentally friendly. And there is a lot of misrepresentation in the market about the real-world implications of these ESG metrics versus the score; there seems to be a detachment from the reality,” said Mann.

Real-life examples of how Proof of ESG focuses on ‘greening’

Mann stated that car insurance companies already collect data on how the client drives to adjust the risk assessment score, for example, by lowering the insurance rate for a prudent driver. Or the opposite.

“The same thing can be done in agriculture, where if a farmer’s farming practices are showing that they are benefiting the environment, that they are growing more sustainably—and the insurance company has a way to essentially validate these things. We can get more affordable crop insurance for our farmers and give them a little bit more peace of mind,” Mann said.

Co-host of the Monetix interview, Crescenda Babiera, pointed out that the data recorded via Proof of ESG is on the BSV blockchain—not in a database solely held by the company.

“So they can actually pull out the data on-chain, without using your platform,” Babiera said. That is an important observation because we are leaving the data silo era and entering a global ledger time.

Co-host Prossy Wanyana was impressed by how much environmental data is already being collected by Proof of ESG. For example, there are wireless field monitors implemented to record temperature. Mann demonstrated the application interface, live data, and how the running devices work.

“So that small thing is capturing all of this?” Wanyana asked.

“Yes!” Mann said.

Sustainability and blockchain—the underestimated potential of Bitcoin

Proof of ESG seems to have understood what Bitcoin inventor Dr. Craig Wright has told us for years: that the BSV blockchain enables us to efficiently track transactions on a micro-level. When hearing about transacting in Bitcoin, most people in the environmental movement may think of payments for goods and services.

However, Dr. Wright explicitly stated that the Bitcoin blockchain, as originally indented, serves way more purposes than simple payments. For example, in this short video, Dr. Wright explained:

“We trade, we document what we have done—and then we record those entries on the blockchain. This can be extended not only to people but protocols can be created for machines. Internet of things and the ability to have smart cities.”

This is just the beginning of data-driven environmental actions

The approach of Proof of ESG is bringing this vision of Bitcoin as a technology to reduce fraud and, at the same time, enable complex data tracking to life. Greenwashing will not simply disappear, but it will be recorded. It can be tracked down, leaving evidence of consumer fraud, investment fraud, and subsidy fraud. It sounds as good as it really is—Dr. Wright has the solution for our data problems.

In 2021, at the CoinGeek Zurich conference, the BSV blockchain had already shown the potential to help with natural resources and sustainability. In 2023, all of this is getting serious with companies like Proof of ESG.

The upcoming London Blockchain Conference, starting May 31, 2023, will definitely have the topic on its agenda.

Watch CoinGeek Conversations with Bryan Daugherty: Proof of ESG initiative through a sustainable blockchain