Green-Grabbing

Discussion

(in the context of the blockchain)

Peter Howson, interviewed by Evgeny Morozov:

“You cite some very interesting examples from Indonesia and Zimbabwe to show how blockchain technology enables new forms of “green grabbing.” Could you explain to us what this is and how exactly the blockchain is implicated in this process, using those two – and any other – countries as examples?

I’m not sure how many of the projects I mentioned in the paper are still going. I’m sure many of them have taken money during early token sales and they’ve just done a runner, screwing over the locals. We know in Zimbabwe that locals haven’t received anything for giving up their land for these projects. The same in Indonesia. When I last went there, the local offices of these conservation areas had no idea how or why cryptocurrencies were being used by people in the US to sell bits of their forest from under them. They certainly weren’t receiving a cut. Many of them hadn’t even heard of cryptocurrency or blockchain. But since I wrote that paper more and more of these sorts of blockchain-based projects have sprung up. The people behind Cardano, which is currently one of the biggest cryptocurrencies, have recently set up this platform called Veritree. These guys suck. I’ve written a lot about Cardano and what they’re imposing on people in war-torn Ethiopia and elsewhere. I predict these carbon projects won’t end well if Cardano is involved.”

(https://the-crypto-syllabus.com/pete-howson-on-cryptocarbon/ )