San Francisco-based fintech firm Ripple has doled out $100 million in a range of efforts to fight against climate change. The funds will be directed toward the acquisition of state-of-the-art technologies that will help reduce the risk of catastrophic climate change, mostly through carbon dioxide removal.



How Ripple’s $100 Million Investment Will Help Reduce Crypto Carbon Emissions



The energy consumption of digital assets, especially those that utilize the computationally intensive mining system pioneered by the king of crypto Bitcoin, has become a hot-button issue in recent months. As people argue about the massive carbon footprint of crypto, others are taking steps to save our planet.



Ripple, the company behind the XRP cryptocurrency, announced a $100 million investment on Thursday to hasten the modernization of carbon markets. For those unaware, carbon markets allow eco-conscious companies and individuals to acquire carbon credits for reducing CO2 emissions that others have failed to. Generally, one carbon credit is equivalent to one metric ton of carbon dioxide that has been saved from the atmosphere.



Ripple’s chief executive Brad Garlinghouse said the investment is the company’s response to the global appeal to address climate change. “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.”



To help meet its climate goals, Ripple will also invest in new functionality and developer tools that allow the tokenization of carbon credits as non-fungible tokens (NFTs) on the XRP Ledger .



Garlinghouse believes crypto and blockchain can play a “catalytic role” in helping carbon markets achieve their full potential.



Ripple On Track To Go Carbon Neutral By 2028



Ripple has emerged as one of the companies leading climate-positive work in the crypto industry. Moreover, the XRP cryptocurrency has been touted to be more energy-efficient than bitcoin , which some naysayers claim has an insanely large carbon footprint.



In April 2021, Ripple co-founded the Crypto Climate Accord, an initiative focused on decarbonizing cryptocurrencies. The Accord, which has now onboarded over 500 members, hopes to achieve net-zero emissions for the whole sector, including eliminating all historical emissions by 2030.



Ripple has also teamed with major climate players, carbon removal companies, and carbon market makers to help build a carbon-neutral future. The company itself is committed to becoming carbon net-zero by as early as 2028.