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Can you fight the climate crisis with crypto?

Ashley Jiang,Fabio Teixeira,Avi Asher-Schapiro

Published: October 19, 2022

A graphic for the Context video 'Can you fight the climate crisis with crypto?'. The Graphic is a split screen, showing an illustration of a thick canopy of green trees as seen from above on the left hand side, and an illustration of the Bitcoin B with numbers scattered and connected by lines and points on the right

Cryptocurrency companies have started creating digital assets backed by carbon credits and trading them online. The firms say they are using blockchain technology to make the controversial carbon market more accessible and transparent. But can they really help streamline conventional carbon trading and raise more climate finance?

Context reporters Fabio Teixeira and Avi Asher-Schapiro looked into Brazilian 'climate tech' firm Moss, which says it is "saving the planet” by converting carbon credits into a crypto token.

They uncovered problems with some of the Amazon forest conservation projects whose carbon offsets are being bought and sold by Moss.

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FEATURED

Michael Scholte, co-founder of True Price Initiative looks at bananas in his hand as he walks around a supermarket in Amsterdam, in this still from the video 'This grocery store wants to fix capitalism'. Albert Han/Thomson Reuters Foundation

This grocery store wants to fix capitalism

As food prices soar worldwide, one Dutch organisation says they should be higher still, to reflect the cost of the environmental and social damage they cause

Fintan McDonnell, Video Producer at the Thomson Reuters Foundation

This is where your cloud data lives

Modern life is powered by cloud data. But the virtual storage has a hidden carbon footprint – and the AI boom could supercharge it

Fintan McDonnell

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Activist Maggie Najem on Abu Ali beach in Lebanon in this screen grab from the Context video Should beaches be private? In Lebanon, most are

Socioeconomic Inclusion

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Farmers work in a rice field in this illustration for the Context series Rerooted. Thomson Reuters Foundation

Senegal relies on rice imports. Can a farming method change that?

A person holds coffee beans in their hand in this illustration for the Context series Rerooted. Thomson Reuters Foundation/Karif Wat

The bean that could save coffee from climate change

In Brazil, barbecue joints like Mocellin, in Rio de Janeiro, are some of the most favoured gathering places for families to celebrate holidays and anniversaries

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Activist Maggie Najem on Abu Ali beach in Lebanon in this screen grab from the Context video Should beaches be private? In Lebanon, most are

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Should beaches be private? In Lebanon, most are

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Lab Made

A series about an industry challenging the way we think about food and whether it can live up to its promise of changing the world

Steven Stearns, Head of Strategy and Development at California Cultured, is pictured preparing lab-grown chocolate prototype using a technology called 'plant cell culture' for the for the Context video 'Can a more ethical chocolate bar be grown in the lab?'

Can a more ethical chocolate bar be grown in the lab?

Still from the Context video 'What should we call lab-grown meat'?

What should we call “lab-grown meat”?

Still from the Context video 'Can lab-grown meat be kosher or halal?'

Can lab-grown meat be kosher or halal?

A still from the Context video 'Can lab-grown milk solve dairy’s climate problem?' showing a jar of cream cheese on a table next to items of food

Can lab-grown milk solve dairy’s climate problem?

Steven Stearns, Head of Strategy and Development at California Cultured, is pictured preparing lab-grown chocolate prototype using a technology called 'plant cell culture' for the for the Context video 'Can a more ethical chocolate bar be grown in the lab?'

Can a more ethical chocolate bar be grown in the lab?

Still from the Context video 'What should we call lab-grown meat'?

What should we call “lab-grown meat”?

Still from the Context video 'Can lab-grown meat be kosher or halal?'

Can lab-grown meat be kosher or halal?

A still from the Context video 'Can lab-grown milk solve dairy’s climate problem?' showing a jar of cream cheese on a table next to items of food

Can lab-grown milk solve dairy’s climate problem?

Steven Stearns, Head of Strategy and Development at California Cultured, is pictured preparing lab-grown chocolate prototype using a technology called 'plant cell culture' for the for the Context video 'Can a more ethical chocolate bar be grown in the lab?'

Can a more ethical chocolate bar be grown in the lab?

Still from the Context video 'What should we call lab-grown meat'?

What should we call “lab-grown meat”?

Still from the Context video 'Can lab-grown meat be kosher or halal?'

Can lab-grown meat be kosher or halal?

A still from the Context video 'Can lab-grown milk solve dairy’s climate problem?' showing a jar of cream cheese on a table next to items of food

Can lab-grown milk solve dairy’s climate problem?

KICKING IT

We’re addicted to the things that we know are bad for the planet. Why is it so hard to quit them?

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In Brazil, barbecue joints like Mocellin, in Rio de Janeiro, are some of the most favoured gathering places for families to celebrate holidays and anniversaries

Brazilians are eating less beef than ever. Is it enough to stop deforestation?

Sander Sarheim, a coal miner from Svalbard, a Norwegian archipelago, poses in this still from a video

Why the fastest warming place on earth can’t quit coal

In Brazil, barbecue joints like Mocellin, in Rio de Janeiro, are some of the most favoured gathering places for families to celebrate holidays and anniversaries

Brazilians are eating less beef than ever. Is it enough to stop deforestation?

Sander Sarheim, a coal miner from Svalbard, a Norwegian archipelago, poses in this still from a video

Why the fastest warming place on earth can’t quit coal