Creating Resilient and Sustainable Technologies – COP28 UAE TechSprint

Combating climate change is more urgent than ever. It calls for a profound change in the way economies operate and grow.

The Bank for International Settlements (BIS), COP28 and Central Bank of United Arab Emirates launched TechSprint to develop technological solutions for sustainable finance and combating climate change. This technology initiative fosters innovation in scaling sustainable finance and combating climate change. 

“Combating climate change is more urgent than ever. It calls for a profound change in the way economies operate and grow. To finance the needed transformation, investors need certainty that their funds are channeled to their intended uses. Technologies that promote the timely measurement and disclosure of climate-related information are part of the solution. The BIS Innovation Hub has explored how to apply technologies such as AI, blockchain and internet-of-things to green finance instruments and climate-related disclosure. This TechSprint in collaboration with the COP28 UAE, the CBUAE and EIF will complement these efforts to address remaining gaps in the green finance market”, explained Agustín Carstens, General Manager of the BIS.

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This Techsprint at COP28 is being developed jointly by the Central Bank of the United Arab Emirates (CBUAE), alongside the COP28 Presidency, the Emirates Institute of Finance (EIF) and the BIS.

“In line with the vision of the UAE's leadership, and its endeavours to address the challenges of climate change; we value the partnership with COP28 UAE and the BIS in launching this international initiative aimed at encouraging innovators across the globe to leverage financial technology in developing new green and sustainable finance solutions”, said Khaled Mohamed Balama, Governor of the CBUAE and Chairman of EIF.

The campaign calls for technology solutions to address data verification gaps in sustainable finance in three problem statements:

• AI solutions for sustainable finance reporting, verification, and disclosure in the financial services industry. 
• Blockchain solutions for auditing and enhancing transparency, traceability, and accountability in sustainable finance.
• Internet-of-Things and sensor technology solutions for sustainable finance to ensure informed assessments of impact, risk, or compliance. 

“COP28 looks forward to working with its partners to drive real solutions to scale up climate action and fast-track sustainable finance initiatives around the world”, said Dr Sultan Al Jaber, COP28 President Designate.

Blockchain solutions for sustainable finance

Parallel to the COP28 Tech initiative, in Singapore, with a similar theme, the BSN Foundation announced its founding members, its role in sustainable blockchain-as-a-service.

BSN Foundation is the governing body of the BSN Spartan Networks made up of: Red Date Technology, Blockdaemon, GFT Technologies, TOKO, Zeeve. These organizations originating from a diverse range of countries and regions, such as the U.S.A., Germany, and Hong Kong, will bring a wide range of expertise dedicated to building the next-generation global Public IT System infrastructures for internet communications, digital economies, metaverses, digital payments and NFTs based on non-cryptocurrency public chain technologies, designed to serve IT systems around the world to advance fundamental technologies that benefit all humankind.  

Tim Bailey, the VP of Global Business & Operations of for Red Date Technology explained “on November 16, we announced the founding members of the BSN Foundation that governs the BSN Spartan Network. The network launched late last year with three non-cryptocurrency public chains, including non-crypto versions of sustainable, proof of stake blockchain platforms Ethereum, Cosmos and PolygonEdge. The BSN Spartan Network provides an infrastructure that integrates non-cryptocurrency public blockchains that can be used by any traditional IT system to leverage the capabilities of the underlying blockchain technology in an easier and more cost-effective way. The service will be offered with fixed fees based in fiat currency or USD backed stable coin and is only available outside Mainland China. The cost of using our public chain technology is significantly lower and more predictable than using cryptocurrency based public chains."

The BSN Foundation will start with five members, with the goal of eventually growing to 40 members. Collectively, these organizations will contribute to the BSN Foundation’s mission to pioneer public IT system development at a global level to bring a portfolio of expertise ranging from blockchain-as-a-service and real-world asset tokenization to financial services and consulting.

Looking toward the future, the BSN Foundation aims to expand its membership to at least 40 members, operating as a decentralized governance body. “When 40 leading international companies govern the Spartan Network as Foundation members with equal voting rights, the network will become one of the most decentralized IT infrastructures in the world”, said Yifan He, CEO of Red Date Technology. 

Together, they aim to promote the concept of public IT systems that complements the existing centralized IT architectures, revolutionizing traditional business operations and data communication in a sustainable way.

Selva Ozelli, Author of Sustainably Investing in Digital Assets Globally