The launch of the ecocredit module will enable the use of the Ledger for credit-based systems, such as the carbon markets that already exist. The thread about Proposal 4 has focused attention on how Regen Registry plans to use Regen Ledger (the blockchain). I realize this is part of the vision that has motivated Regen Network, and I think more possibilities exist in addition to the Registry and other credit-based systems.
So, two questions:
What can people do with the Ledger besides using the ecocredit module?
For each of those ideas: Does that use actually align with the unique qualities of blockchains in general and this blockchain in particular, or would a non-blockchain method actually make more sense?
Regen Ledger mission is to be a ledger of the Earth . That will encapsulate many use - cases:
Measuring ecological state of a land, air, water… Blockchain is good here because this data should be open for browsing and verification and anyone should be able to challenge it.
Data module for capturing data and reports related to the previous point. Without a blockchain we won’t be able to bind data to the contract state in a trustless manner.
Enabling funds, communities, DAOs to support goals related to particular Earth place. Without blockchain we won’t be able to automate it or make efficient decisions.
Integration with market places and other chains to build a financial structures - without blockchain this will require trusted intermediaries and additional regulations.
@robert, some concrete examples would help me understand what you’re saying. Maybe even a short story that illustrates how you imagine this working, or a “user story” in software design jargon.
In the past, I’ve heard Gregory talk about multiple ways of knowing. For example, in the forest here, people who know the forest can tell you how the forest is doing, without using any tools besides their own senses. Is their knowledge respected? As I dig into this more, what I’m seeing is that certain people want to quantify the Earth so that they can monetize it, but putting money above ethics and politics is part of what led to the current destruction. What I’m getting at is, for whom is the ledger? Right now, the biggest forests on Earth are those where indigenous peoples inhabit the forest. So, is this ledger for them? Or is this ledger for racist sexist capitalists? Or for scientists trying to stop “western civilization” from destroying itself and pulling everyone else down with it? Or, for farmers who already cut down the forest and now realize maybe it was a bad idea? Or, whom?
How can Regen Ledger and Regen Network help keep the oil in the soil, the tar sands in the land, the coal in the hole, and the gas under the grass?
I see two sides to the greenhouse gas situation: pull GHG out of the air, and stop putting them into the air. So far, Regen Network is going along with the idea of carbon offsets, which seems like an ineffective idea: link the funding of regenerative activities to extractive activities? This means that if we want more funding for regenerative activities, we either increase the price of carbon credits (which is not guaranteed in any way) and/or increase extractive activities. That seems just plain wrong.
So, maybe it makes sense to let go of “offsets” and just focus on those two sides independently: fund regeneration with one system, and use a different system to stop pulling hydrocarbons out of the ground and stop burning them, and stop stealing indigenous land in order to mine hydrocarbons and uranium. I think there’s some pretty detailed thinking about this in Hoodwinked in the Hothouse – and for people wondering, What do some organizations of indigenous peoples and small farmers think of carbon markets? Look at that document!
Or university education can be universally free (in Germany, I know some people even get a subsidy to pay rent and food while studying), or indigenous people’s can have free admission (in New Zealand there’s something like this). These are public policy decisions, not market forces.
Indigenous peoples are already organized. They have some pretty big organizations, such as COICA in the Amazon, and the Global Alliance of Territorial Communities, which includes non-indigenous communities too. Then there’s Via Campesina on the peasant side of things, representing approximately 200 million family farmers in 81 countries. And plenty of other feder
I think Eric Toensmeier could help clarify what we’re each missing about the other person’s point of view. He has a long history of thinking and writing about these issues. He authored The Carbon Farming Solution, which includes thinking about how to support farmers organizations. @Gregory_Regen , maybe you could reach out to him?