The International Finance Corporation (IFC), a member of the World Bank, is joining forces with Cultivo, Aspiration, and energy-focused blockchain platform Chia Network to launch the Carbon Opportunities Fund. The Fund is a global investment platform that will raise private capital for an innovative model to source, tokenise, and sell high-quality, verified carbon credits. It will seek to catalyse investments in the voluntary carbon markets and broaden access to finance for nature-based projects certified by leading international standards bodies. This new model for the carbon trading ecosystem will deploy innovative technologies to help identify, monitor, evaluate and natively tokenise verified carbon credits, an IFC statement read. "This new partnership will foster the standardisation of carbon credits generated in emerging markets and help mitigate climate change," Paulo de Bolle, Senior Global Director, Financial Institutions Group at IFC, said. "Nature-based solutions can deliver up to 40 percent of the carbon removal required to combat the climate crisis. This new framework that will use new blockchain technologies is an innovative way for capital markets to fully engage in carbon credit trading in a transparent, secure, fair, and beneficial manner." Cultivo and Aspiration, leading originators and investors in nature-based carbon credits, are set to lead the Fund's strategy and execution. Cultivo's data-driven technologies shall identify nature-based projects that recurrently produce high-quality carbon credits. Being one of the anchor investors, Aspiration will advise on the selection of carbon credits projects and Fund investments. As the Fund's carbon credits are tokenised, they will be tracked by the World Bank's Climate Warehouse, which was launched on Chia's public blockchain, as the foundational architecture to build market trust by enhancing transparency and securing the integrity of global carbon trading. "The platform will also provide an important source of sustainable income for local communities in emerging markets to protect and regenerate vital ecosystems that are essential for the communities and our planet's health." Manuel Piñuela, co-founder and CEO of Cultivo, said. Andrei Cherny, co-founder and CEO of Aspiration, said: "Aspiration is excited to be the first anchor investor of this IFC platform to scale the voluntary carbon markets. "This platform is a critical collaborative effort to address the Climate Crisis, one of the most consequential issues facing the world today. IFC is driving meaningful innovation in sustainable carbon finance, and we firmly stand in support," Gene Hoffman, Chia Network Chief Operating Officer, said. "The Chia technology demonstrates the value of blockchain infrastructure for real-world financial markets instruments, only made possible through a sustainable, secure, and compliant public blockchain network." Hoffman added.
