The opinions presented in this article are diverse and do not represent the stance of “WEB3+.”
2050 Net Zero Emissions Becomes a Global Goal
In recent years, climate change has become a tangible issue for everyone, and environmental topics advocated by various individuals and groups have now been integrated into national security policies by governments worldwide. The goal of “2050 Net Zero Emissions” has been set as a common target for 130 countries globally. This is supported by policy and regulatory amendments, such as the “Taiwan 2050 Net Zero Emissions Pathway and Strategic Outline” announced two years ago, which establishes Taiwan’s future direction in addressing this issue.
Among the 12 key strategies, green finance is also included. The Financial Supervisory Commission has proposed a series of green finance action plans, from 1.0, 2.0, 3.0 to the recently announced Green and Transition Finance Action Plan. These plans highlight the importance of leveraging financial markets to guide enterprises to prioritize net zero transformation and respond to climate change. Many businesses are exploring the potential of blockchain’s efficient and immutable data exchange features to build future green supply chain financial service platforms.
Can Blockchain Financial Innovation Stand Out in Sustainability Issues?
Today, companies are gradually balancing ESG (Environmental, Social, and Governance) with profitability when launching products and services. How financial services collaborate to achieve these goals, ensuring the co-prosperity of society and the planet, has made green finance a key innovation term in the financial industry in recent years.
Blockchain has been piloted for data exchange in the financial industry for years, but why is it more suitable for ESG?
Traditional financial system upgrades are often time-consuming, and transferring large amounts of old data to redefine operational models is challenging. The relatively conservative and cautious financial sector perceives the risks of trying blockchain as too high. However, product carbon footprints and corporate environmental data assessments are new data categories that involve cross-disciplinary data exchange. Blockchain technology’s data transparency, transaction efficiency, and trust mechanism make it possible to enter enterprises with less friction and play its advantages.
Supply chain finance is also a development area for green finance. A product service, from raw materials, procurement, manufacturing, packaging, transportation to usage and recycling, generates a significant amount of greenhouse gases, harming the Earth’s environment. If banks can integrate ESG standards into financing services across these processes, they can push companies toward the goal of net zero emissions.
The current amount of green credit/sustainable-linked loans has significantly grown with the promotion of supervisory bodies like the Financial Supervisory Commission. However, the effectiveness of carbon reduction has not yet become transparent and effective. Clearly defining the principles for the use and review of green credit, sustainable performance-linked loans, and social responsibility credit, and using technologies like blockchain to make information disclosure and transmission transparent, is the best way to use finance to drive industry carbon reduction.
Therefore, blockchain technology, in the context of sustainable development, is currently seeing more concrete development in the following two areas in the finance and supply chain fields:
Green Supply Chain Traceability: Blockchain is used to build data systems for the supply chain, creating traceable records of raw materials, energy use, and emission data at each stage of the supply chain. This ensures the environmental compliance of the entire supply chain. Investors and financial institutions can then evaluate whether a supply chain meets ESG standards and reward companies that meet the standards with more favorable financing options, encouraging the incorporation of sustainability into production and manufacturing.
ESG Sustainability Report Transparency and Audit: If companies wish to meet ESG standards, they can upload related data and reports to the blockchain. The blockchain system allows third-party audits more efficiently, while making environmental data and carbon reduction progress public. This provides investors or banks with reliable ESG data, enabling more accurate assessment of a company’s environmental performance and sustainability, and promoting capital investment in companies with high environmental standards.
These pilot projects are quietly being carried out among the Taiwanese government, enterprises, and startups. Apart from larger companies with more resources conducting internal reforms, government agencies are also guiding over 1.6 million SMEs, which are the backbone of Taiwan’s economy, to adopt ESG measures through projects, such as establishing supply chain financial service platforms under the guidance of the Small and Medium Enterprise Administration of the Ministry of Economic Affairs.
To learn more, one of the six selected themes of the Blockchain Enthusiasts Annual Conference is “dESG: How Decentralized Technology Assists Green Finance,” where experts and industry representatives will conduct in-depth case studies on the two aspects mentioned above, exploring new prospects for blockchain technology in the global trend.
Agenda and Registration Information:
The 9th Blockchain Enthusiasts Annual Conference “Cross x Diversity”
? Conference Website: https://www.chain.tw/9tbs
? Conference Dates: 11/18 (Mon) 13:00 ~ 17:30 | 11/19 (Tue) 09:00 ~ 17:30
? Venue: NCCU Public Affairs Center, 2nd Floor | 6th Floor | 7th Floor (No. 187, Jinhua Street, Da’an District, Taipei)
? Registration Link: https://www.accupass.com/go/9tbs
The opinions presented in this article are diverse and do not represent the stance of “WEB3+.”
Editor-in-Chief: Li Peng-Rui
