The COP has also created tools to prevent climate doomsday. Such economic tools as voluntary and compliance carbon markets, carbon credits, green bonds and other green assets tied to positive environmental impact play a crucial role in decarbonization global efforts. However, they are often inaccessible to small and medium-sized companies from developing countries. The main reasons are high upfront costs and complex structuring processes in line with global green standards. Positive and negative impacts on the environment have to be forecasted and described according to approved methodologies. This information is used for the future monitoring and reporting and is verified …

Tether aims to increase visibility and mitigate controls of cryptocurrency payments used in child abuse content marketplaces through a collaboration with INHOPE. The stablecoin operator will work with INHOPE, a global network combating online child sexual abuse material (CSAM), to share information, collaborate with stakeholders and enforce actions on bad actors from the cryptocurrency ecosystem. According to an announcement shared with Cointelegraph, the collaboration intends to develop a standard practice for the cryptocurrency industry to identify and report these underground marketplaces. Tether’s CTO Paolo Ardoino said the company was working alongside law enforcement, financial intelligence units, lawmakers and standard-setting bodies …

Climate change has become one of the most pressing issues in the modern world with mounting pressure on companies to develop and implement climate strategies. Politicians around the globe have also been actively involved, with several nations pledging to go carbon-neutral in the next couple of decades. Amid all the initiatives and conferences led by politicians and billion-dollar companies over the years, the threat of global warming and the carbon emissions spilling into the atmosphere have only risen. The 2022 United Nations Climate Change Conference, or Conference of the Parties of the UNFCCC, was the 27th United Nations climate change …

Months after the Ethereum Merge, where the network shifted to the more eco-friendly proof-of-stake (PoS) consensus, the Ethereum community is now shifting its focus to redress the network’s former proof-of-work (PoW) carbon emissions since its launch. At the COP27 climate action event, Web3 firms, civil society leaders and the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) announced the formation of the Ethereum Climate Platform (ECP) that aims to counteract the carbon footprint of the Ethereum network since it launched in 2015. Led by software company ConsenSys and climate-focused blockchain firm Allinfra, the founding members of the coalition includes a …

Terrorist groups who have been excluded from the “formal financial system” have turned to crypto to fund their heinous activities, according to Svetlana Martynova, the Countering Financing of Terrorism Coordinator at the United Nations (UN). The UN official made the comments during a speech at a “Special Meeting” run by the UN’s Counter-Terrorism Committee (CTC) in New Delhi and Mumbai on Oct. 28-29 — which was focused on combating the use of “new and emerging technologies” for terrorist purposes. Martynova said that while cash and "hawala" — a traditional system of transferring money in Arab countries and South Asia — …

Is the International Monetary Fund (IMF) really hostile to crypto? Many in the cryptocurrency/blockchain space think so. In January, the fund asked El Salvador to drop Bitcoin (BTC) as legal tender. In May, it reportedly pressured Argentina to curtail crypto trading as the price for an IMF loan extension, and it also recently warned the Republic of the Marshall Islands (RMI) that raising a digital currency to the status of legal tender could “raise risks to macroeconomic and financial stability as well as financial integrity.” “I do believe that the IMF is an implacable foe of crypto,” David Tawil, president …

Human rights investigators appointed by the United Nations (UN) have confirmed war crimes have been committed by Russian forces in Ukraine. A report developed by the Independent International Commission of Inquiry on Ukraine was created in March 2022 to provide a framework for UN human rights investigators to report war crimes in the region. Erik Møse, chair for the Independent International Commission of Inquiry on Ukraine, stated in the UN’s article that “investigators visited 27 towns and settlements and interviewed more than 150 victims and witnesses.” Møse also noted that “sites of destruction, graves, places of detention and torture, as …

The United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) along with climate change entrepreneurs and Cointelegraph delved into discussing the role of emerging technologies, such as blockchain solving global issues like climate change. During the DigitalArt4Climate press conference, Cointelegraph editor-in-chief Kristina Cornèr took over the stage to understand the various blockchain initiatives that actively fight climate change. Starting off the conversation was Anna Dart, a digital avatar by DigitalArt4Climate who shared the idea of bringing together artists to inspire climate change: “We are blessed with having the opportunity to impact our world with the transformational power of art and eco-friendly …

The United Nations is smitten with distributed ledger technology (DLT). In a conversation with Cointelegraph at WEF 2022, United Nations International Computing Centre (UNICC) director Sameer Chauhan explained the “massive opportunities” he sees in cryptocurrencies. A former traditional finance executive and head of the UNICC since 2018, Chauhan has seen the rise and fall of cryptocurrency markets. He shared that groups such as the Bank for International Settlements (BIS) do not want to “miss the boat” when it comes to DLTs. Chauhan explained that cryptocurrencies are neutral technologies: “It’s a tool. You could use it for good or you could …

The United Nations Climate Change Conference, known as COP26, in Glasgow, Scotland catalyzed a commitment to carbon neutrality, achieving net-zero carbon emissions, requiring reducing emissions as much as possible, and balancing the remaining emissions with the purchase of carbon credits. A carbon credit reduces, avoids or removes carbon emissions in one place to compensate for unavoidable emissions somewhere else through certified green-energy projects. Carbon credits represent one ton in carbon emission reduction. They are 1) Avoidance or reduction projects — e.g., renewable energy (wind, solar, hydro, biogas) — and 2) Removal or sequestration — e.g., reforestation and direct carbon capture, …

The United Nations Climate Change Conference of November 2021, known as COP26, in Glasgow, Scotland urged the world to commit to curbing contributions to carbon emissions. Achieving a net-zero world in less than 30 years is causing many to turn to blockchain technology, buy carbon offsets, and spark renewed interest in carbon capture. The United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) has identified transparency, clean energy, carbon markets and climate finance as areas where blockchain technology can accelerate climate action. At the 2017 Paris Summit, the UN Climate Change Secretariat joined a multi-stakeholder group of organizations to establish an open global initiative, …

The United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), a UN agency for refugees, has accepted its first-ever crypto donations toward humanitarians aid for Ukrainians fleeing the war-torn nation. UNHCR accepted $2.5 million in Binance USD (BUSD) stablecoin donations from Binance Charity that would be utilized to rehabilitate and support refugees fleeing to neighboring countries from Ukraine. According to a report from the USA for UNHCR, more than 10 million people have been displaced from their homes in Ukraine, and the agency will use crypto stablecoin charity funds to provide legal and social assistance. Marie Grey, Executive Director and CEO of …