New York City. Photo by Ale Alvarez on Unsplash.

 

At a roundtable meeting in New York City on September 24, Data-Driven Lab and the Yale OpenLab brought together climate experts and technology specialists from around the world to analyze how digital technologies could be leveraged to strengthen climate action tracking. The event was titled Blockchain & Digital Technologies for Global Climate Action Tracking and Accounting, and was part of the State, City and Local Action program of Climate Week NYC.

Dr. Angel Hsu kicked off the session with a presentation on the gaps in climate data science, shedding light on the time-consuming, inefficient, and laborious nature of existing data collection measures. This was followed by Dr. Martin Wainstein’s envisioning of a global climate accounting system, an interoperable and fully transparent ‘platform of platforms’ that could further measurement, reporting, and verification (MRV) outcomes for the environment. Participants then broke out into groups to thrash out ideas and flesh out pilots, examining the resources and actors such a global accounting effort would require, and discussing the different dimensions of the proposed architecture, from finance to governance mechanisms to knowledge brokering.

Here are the takeaways from that lively and productive session in the warmly lit Adler Study of the New York Society for Ethical Culture. Dr. Hsu’s and Dr. Wainstein’s presentations can be found here. To learn more or get involved, please reach out to Amy Weinfurter at amy.weinfurter@yale-nus.edu-sg or Willie Khoo at willie.khoo@yale-nus.edu.sg.

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