Ripple will invest $100 million to fight climate change

Ripple is set to invest $100m in environmental sustainability and the fight against climate change. The investment will be used to contribute to the removal of carbon, helping the growth of innovative climate-focused companies that specifically target this type of activity.

Ripple’s climate change investment

This investment will help accelerate progress towards globally agreed climate goals to limit the temperature increase to 1.5 degrees Celsius.

Today, we’re committing $100M to invest in carbon markets.♻️

We’re excited to accelerate progress toward global climate goals by investing in high-quality, scalable carbon removal & deploying blockchain to power more transparent & dynamic carbon markets.https://t.co/MdcpOh5fco

— Ripple (@Ripple) May 19, 2022

Brad Garlinghouse, CEO of Ripple, said:

“Our $100 million commitment is a direct response to the global call to action for companies to help address climate change by deploying resources including innovative technology, strategic capital and talent. While reducing emissions and transitioning to a low-carbon future are paramount, carbon markets are important for meeting climate goals. Blockchain and crypto can play a catalytic role in allowing carbon markets to reach their full potential bringing more liquidity and traceability to a fragmented, complex market”.

The company’s plans also include the prospect of purchasing additional carbon credits that will help it reach its goal of being a carbon-neutral company by 2030. A similar initiative is that of STEPN, which uses the blockchain-based Nori marketplace to purchase “Carbon Removal Credits”.

The company’s top management is confident of achieving the target as early as 2028. On the other hand, according to some estimates, the demand for carbon offsets is expected to skyrocket to $550 billion by 2050 to meet the Paris Climate Agreement targets.

Monica Long, Managing Director of RippleX at Ripple, said:

“Tokenizing carbon credits can play a vital role in scaling carbon markets to meet growing demand while ensuring existing markets’ credibility, integrity, and transparency. 

Several carbon removal projects and fintechs are already building on the XRPL to bring new climate solutions to market. By bringing blockchain to global climate initiatives, the industry can more quickly verify and certify NFT carbon credits, eliminate the potential for fraud, and even guarantee the offset is actually removing carbon for the long term”.

Ripple’s lawsuit with the SEC does not appear to be over

Ripple, a real-time funds transfer system, currency exchange and remittance network created in 2012 by Ripple Labs, then OpenCoin, has yet to settle a long-running lawsuit with the SEC that has been dragging on for over a year and involves the sale of unregulated financial products in the US. According to the company’s lawyers, the accusation has no basis in fact and they are confident that the matter will be resolved by the end of the year.

Ripple has always been at the forefront of climate and environmental sustainability issues, having also co-founded the Crypto Climate Accord, which was launched in April last year and has already enlisted over 500 members in the cryptocurrency and finance sectors. In addition, Ripple Technology is a founding member of the World Economic Forum’s Crypto Impact and Sustainability Accelerator.