Decarbonizing the Crypto Industry

Status

Update from RMI in January 2023:

"As exorbitant electricity consumption from crypto mining became a public concern, RMI’s first step was to act as a co-convener of the Crypto Climate Accord (CCA), along with our partners Energy Web, the Alliance for Innovative Regulation (AIR), and the World Economic Forum. The CCA serves as a “private sector-led initiative focused on decarbonizing the cryptocurrency and blockchain industry,” where solutions and technologies for crypto decarbonization are created collaboratively among players across the web3 and crypto space.

As part of the CCA, RMI spearheaded the development of the CCA Accounting Guidance, a foundational guide to allocating emissions for the crypto industry. The guidance highlights the importance of a consequential accounting approach and the use of marginal emissions rates as a key to understanding crypto’s emissions impact. The guidance further supports the need to gauge grid impact rather than average emissions when assessing emissions impact.

This initial work was followed by participating in a roundtable during the drafting of the Crypto Climate Impact Accounting Framework, developed by the Crypto Carbon Ratings Institute (CCRI) and South Pole. This framework sought to define a methodology for allocating GHG emissions for crypto transactions and holdings. Because institutional investors hold an outsized stake of the crypto market, allocating emissions for these activities is vital to pressure both investors and crypto industry leaders to change their current practices."

(https://rmi.org/cryptocurrencys-energy-consumption-problem/)