The Ecofrontiers Regen Atlas 🌱

TLDR ✨

Ecofrontiers is a Web3 research and advocacy program to unlock the value of nature. Next to the writing of a book on the production of tokenized natural capital, Ecofrontiers has incubated the Regen Atlas (prev. the Ecofrontiers Map), an open-source platform designed to facilitate displaying, funding, and incubating of natural capital projects through a user-friendly, interactive map interface.

With this GG20 round, Ecofrontiers announces the release of a new sample chapter of the Green Crypto Handbook, as well as a new prototype of the Regen Atlas.

Vision 🌍

The Regen Atlas is set to transform this landscape by providing a global, open-source platform on Celo for individuals and organizations to support or invest in environmental projects, equipped with detailed ratings for various green assets. This initiative not only diversifies the focus beyond carbon offsets to include other green assets like biodiversity and water purification but also introduces innovative financial instruments such as green bonds and nature-backed currencies.

Solution 🫡

APPLICATION: The Regen Atlas 🗺️ The Regen Atlas is a location-based aggregation layer enabling the discovery, trade, and creation of tokenized green assets throughout the globe. With the Regen Atlas, we propose an alternative to the current state of the decentralized green asset market, where:

• Projects tokenizing natural capital are in need of a clear and intuitive platform to display the location of their assets.
• Organizations, governments and individuals willing to buy tokenized natural capital are in need of a unified interface enabling asset discovery beyond carbon.
• Environmental projects aiming to tokenize natural capital are in need of a platform to show where they are operating and advertise their project.

The Atlas’ key features include: Support for Diverse Green Assets: The Regen Atlas accommodates a wide array of green crypto-assets, covering various environmental categories that go beyond carbon. Users can explore and engage with projects related to carbon assets, but also non-carbon ecosystem services (e.g. biodiversity, regenerative agriculture, water purification), green and blue bonds, forwards contracts, and more. The interface has a filtering feature, enabling hassle-free browsing and funding. Aggregated Ratings Agencies: To provide users with valuable insights, the Regen Atlas is working towards aggregating scores from ratings agencies specializing in natural capital. This consolidated resource will offer a bird's eye view of the highest quality initiatives, helping potential funders make informed decisions while building their green portfolio. This round will help fund this feature. Top-down Territorial Incentives (longer term, outside the scope of this round): The Regen Atlas lets users create incentives in relation to extant territories, helping stimulate natural capital projects in areas where they can have the most significant impact. Users eager to incentivize the production of natural capital assets will be able to pin a location on the map and enter specific tender information—such as the incentive offered, e.g. a carbon credit—before publishing their request for proposals. Support for Existing Green Assets (longer term, outside the scope of this round): Many green assets already exist, but lack the global accessibility afforded by public blockchains. The interface will allow users to request these assets as tokens on Celo, partnering with well-regulated, designated RWA providers. BOOK: The Green Crypto Handbook 📖 The Green Crypto Handbook is a book project offering an insightful preview into the how of environmental finance. The text explores what we call the Environmental Finance Stack, a six-layer framework aimed at enhancing the generation of natural capital assets. This structured methodology spans from the tangible, real-world environment to the dynamic markets where these assets find their trade. The handbook serves as a comprehensive guide, dedicating each chapter as a deep dive into each layer's significance and operation.

What has been done since the last round 🧑‍💻

The Regen Atlas

Since our last update, the team has made significant progress on the Regen Atlas prototype, evolving it into a more refined and user-friendly version. We transitioned to a Version 2, which features a visually appealing design and enhanced user interface, making navigation and interaction with the platform more intuitive. Among the key improvements:

1. Enhanced Design and UI: The interface has been overhauled for better usability and aesthetic appeal.
2. Advanced Filtering Options: Users can now filter assets not just by their type and issuer, as before, but also by subtypes and location, allowing for a more granular search experience.
3. Asset Addition Feature: A new "add asset" function has been introduced, enabling users to suggest the inclusion of new green crypto assets, enhancing the platform's comprehensiveness and community engagement.
4. Database Expansion: Our asset database has seen substantial growth, now boasting over 70 assets from 11 different providers, compared to the initial 26 assets from 8 providers. This expansion significantly broadens the scope of assets accessible to users.

See the new prototype GitHub

See the first prototype for comparison GitHub

See our proposal on the Celo Forum

The Green Crypto Handbook

Beyond the technical advancements, our research and advocacy efforts have continued to flourish. After publishing the chapter on green crypto-assets, as well as its french translation, Ecofrontiers has just released a new sample chapter of its book, this one on green crypto assets markets.

Outputs 💪

The grant work will result in the following concrete outputs, from most to less likely depending on donations:

• Add additional assets and asset providers to the database.
• Make the buying of green crypto-assets possible directly through the Map interface.
• Start seeking potential partnerships for asset ratings.
• Hiring of a UX/UI designer to further work on the Atlas’ design.
• Deployment of a public beta version of the Map on the Ecofrontiers website by July 2024.

Resources 📚

🖥️ GitHub 🌐 Website ✒️ Blog 🐦 Twitter

We thank you for your generosity! 🙏