Taking Responsibility: A green VIDT DAO

This proposal was launched by https://www.carbon-timestamps.com/. More information about this initiative can be found on our website.

Sustainability is a hot topic at the moment, and rightfully so. The digital world, particularly the domains of cryptocurrency and IT, are notoriously heavy on environmental resources. Their operations contribute significantly to the planet's overall carbon emissions. Yearly Bitcoin emissions alone are higher than developed countries like Denmark, Singapore, Switzerland and New Zealand.

As the VIDT DAO is part of this industry, we believe it is time to give back and help reverse the damage.

Traditional methods

Unfortunately, traditional methods of carbon offsetting, such as Carbon Credits, are not without their flaws.The system is often deemed ineffective, open to potential fraud, and in dire need of transparency and reliability. For instance, multiple organizations have been known to claim the same Carbon Credits, falsely claiming their organization to be carbon neutral.

The solution to this complex issue is to look at carbon offsetting assets differently – this is where Carbon Debits come in.

Carbon debits

Carbon Debits are certified assets based on proven CO2 reduction, rather than potential CO2 reduction. Currently, the Debits are created from tree planting projects in Brazil, but it is expanding to other countries.

The trees planted will absorb CO2 which will generate Carbon Debits that in turn can be exchanged by people, or organizations, wanting to become CO2 neutral. The act of being neutral can only happen if the CO2 tokens are burnt, preventing double spending.

It is a very transparent way of making the world more sustainable, in a way that can be verified.

You can read more about Carbon Debits here: https://globalcarbonstandard.org/.

More than carbon absorption

Carbon Debit generating projects have more benefits than just carbon offsets. These projects are executed and maintained by local communities that benefit from the biodiversity it brings, the maintenance of the trees resulting in job opportunities, and more importantly, due to the poly agricultural approach, can also use the projects to feed their families. It becomes a very important pillar for these communities in terms of income and food.

The poly agricultural approach also helps with local biodiversity, using multiple types of plants has a multiplicative effect on the growth of nature in that region. The trees and plants work together in the local ecosystem to boost growth of everything. By using native species, the natural habitats of animals and plants are protected and even expanded.

Growing trust

Naturally, this certification only works if the whole ecosystem can be verified and trusted. Are the trees actually planted? Are they properly maintained? Are they still there? Is the ownership transparent? Are carbon Debits not double spent? etc.

This is where VIDT DAO timestamping technology comes in. Every step of the project of planting trees will be recorded and documented. The authorized people that are able to verify whether everything is going according to the standards will receive the tooling to timestamp all the findings. This way all the evidence and certifications can be verified, proving the authenticity of the whole ecosystem.

It is such an enormous step towards transparency and honesty in an industry that can be very corrupt. And we are very proud to be able to provide this functionality to Carbon Debit projects and in that way, making the world better for our children and grandchildren.

The opportunity

There is a big opportunity to generate Carbon Debits in Suriname. Suriname has an incredible amount of biodiversity, and around 95% of the country is covered in (rain)forests. But there are still big plots of land ready to be planted. The country has already seen many projects that have produced Carbon Credits, but we believe that the approach of Carbon Debits will be more beneficial.

By working together with local communities, non-profit organizations and the government, we can support new initiatives that can fully be trusted.

Taking responsibility as VIDT DAO

As a community and as a DAO, we are in the fortunate position of having a treasury fund that is created to grow the ecosystem. The funds can be used in several ways:

1. VIDT DAO timestamping technology will be used to create verifiable authenticity and transparency in the project.
2. We will contribute to planting a number of trees to start generating Carbon Debits which can be burned to offset Carbon emissions, or exchanged which will generate funds to plant more trees.
3. Job opportunities and improved local biodiversity in Suriname because of this.

The proposal

You can imagine this will become a very big undertaking. Between 2000-4000 trees can be planted on a hectare, depending on the type of tree and the level of biodiversity. These trees can absorb CO2 for approximately 20 years. So the system to verify the ecosystem has to be robust enough to handle this timescale.

VIDT DAO timestamping technology has a proven track record of projects like this. But it will need development and implementation work, in the field, and in existing systems used to handle the documentation.

As such, we are asking for a grant of 4.5 million VIDT DAO tokens to fund this operation. The funding will be used for:

• Planting trees to generate Carbon Debits After the whole operation has been planned and we are ready to start, it essentially comes down to the core of the operation; planting trees. Part of the funding will be allocated to a contribution of these trees.

• Development of the integrations for the CO2 offsetting timestamping use-case As an important pillar of the operation is to establish verifiable authentication and transparency, part of the funding will go towards the development of the right tools to make this possible.

• Implementation work After the development is done, it is important to make sure that the tools can integrate into existing workflows in Suriname. The implementation work is essential to make this operation technically scaleable.

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With your support for this proposal, VIDT DAO will be collaborating with local communities, non-profit organizations, and the relevant authorities to successfully implement this operation.

This proposal was launched by https://www.carbon-timestamps.com/. More information about this initiative can be found on our website.