Webinars and Events Careers Login
  • About
  • Sectors
  • Solutions
  • Success Stories
  • Insights
  • Contact

About Us

  • How we help you icon How We Help
  • Sustainability Transformation What is Sustainability Transformation
  • Leadership ENGIE Impact Leadership Team
  • Leadership Leadership Team, SRM Division
  • Corporate Sustainability Corporate Sustainability
  • Consultants Meet Our Consultants
  • Newsroom Newsroom
  • Diversity and Inclusion Inclusion at ENGIE Impact
  • Briefcase Careers
Contact Us

Sectors

  • Chemicals Chemicals
  • Consumer goods Consumer Goods
  • Food Beverage Food & Beverage
  • Healthcare Healthcare
  • Hospitality Hospitality
  • Mining metals Mining & Metals
  • Pulp Paper Pulp & Paper
  • Real Estate Property Real Estate & Property
  • Restaurant Restaurant
  • Retail Retail
  • Technology Technology
  • Telecom Media Telecom, Media & Entertainment
View All Sectors
  • Expense Data Management Utility Expense Management
  • Waste Consulting Services Waste Expense Management
  • EI icon telecom media Telecom Expense Management
  • Renewable Electricity Renewable Energy
  • Energy Supply Manager Services Energy Supply Management
  • Energy Manager Services Energy Management
  • Carbon Management Carbon Management
  • Waste Icon Total Waste Management
  • Ellipse platform Ellipse - Reporting Platform
  • About
    • About
    • How we help you icon How We Help
    • Sustainability Transformation What is Sustainability Transformation
    • Leadership ENGIE Impact Leadership Team
    • Leadership Leadership Team, SRM Division
    • Corporate Sustainability Corporate Sustainability
    • Consultants Meet Our Consultants
    • Newsroom Newsroom
    • Diversity and Inclusion Inclusion at ENGIE Impact
    • Briefcase Careers
    • Contact Us
  • Sectors
    • Sectors
    • Chemicals Chemicals
    • Consumer goods Consumer Goods
    • Food Beverage Food & Beverage
    • Healthcare Healthcare
    • Hospitality Hospitality
    • Mining metals Mining & Metals
    • Pulp Paper Pulp & Paper
    • Real Estate Property Real Estate & Property
    • Restaurant Restaurant
    • Retail Retail
    • Technology Technology
    • Telecom Media Telecom, Media & Entertainment
    • View All Sectors
  • Solutions
    • Solutions
    • Gradient Capabilities SRM simplified Resource Management
      • Resource Management
      • Expense Data Management Utility Expense Management
      • Waste Consulting Services Waste Expense Management
      • EI icon telecom media Telecom Expense Management
      • Renewable Electricity Renewable Energy
      • Energy Supply Manager Services Energy Supply Management
      • Energy Manager Services Energy Management
      • Carbon Management Carbon Management
      • Waste Icon Total Waste Management
      • Ellipse platform Ellipse - Reporting Platform
      • Learn More
  • Success Stories
  • Insights
  • Webinars and Events
  • Careers
  • Login
  • Contact

Five Ways Blockchain will Drive a Sustainable Future

Article
See All Insights
Green Finance
Digital Tools
Blockchain
September 18, 2019

"Green finance"—integrating environmental protection with economic profits—continues to gain traction within the financial industry, which has incentives to invest in sustainability efforts, such as risk mitigation and long-term returns.

Green finance investments are needed on a large scale, from both public and private sources. G20 countries alone are expected to contribute $97 trillion over the next 15 years to global infrastructure improvements that, in theory, will catalyze private investment in climate-related projects. But sustainable development requires alignment with the financial system, including banking, capital markets and insurance. Public-private investment scenarios can be troubled by inefficiency, lack of transparency, complexity and slow execution. Blockchain innovation, however, can impact sustainable investments and support green finance market development in five important ways.

  1. One version of the truth. Blockchain, a secure and distributed electronic ledger, often deemed “the most disruptive tech in decades” will have numerous applications in facilitating sustainable investing but is still in its infancy. Developed just 10 years ago, blockchain is changing the state of financial transactions and has the potential to create economic return while supporting climate action in ways such as improved carbon emission trading, facilitated clean energy trading, enhanced climate finance flows, and better tracking and reporting of greenhouse gas emissions reduction (e.g. avoidance of double counting).
  2. Going global. As all participants in the green finance arena continue to buy into the intersection of innovative technology and sustainable financial practices, we will be in a better position to fight the war on climate change at a global level, not just local. The World Economic Forum has noted that blockchain will facilitate internationally funded sustainable development projects, including “large infrastructure and power projects where multiple private investors, multilateral development finance institutions, and governments are involved in various phases of the projects.”
  3. Reduces transactional complexity. Financial transactions involving large, international sustainable development projects are becoming increasingly more complex, causing backlogs and delays. Blockchain-enabled platforms and processes can manage numerous transactions more efficiently. As a result, sustainable development and other climate-related initiatives will be more attractive to investors. “Blockchain-enabled platforms and processes can seamlessly manage a wide range of stakeholders working in different capacities on different projects across continents. It will increase efficiency, reduce transactions and make climate-related, infrastructure and other sustainable development more attractive for private investments,” according to the World Economic Forum.
  4. Fosters transparency. “Blockchain technology enables the continual update of climate action information from a range of sources. It also supports open and transparent data sharing,” explains this International Institute for Sustainable Development piece. In January 2018, the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) Secretariat created the Climate Change Coalition to encourage the adoption of blockchain. This group believes that blockchain will improve the transparency, traceability and cost-effectiveness of sustainable investments, and serves as a framework that private institutions can build on to help advance SDGs.
  5. Picking up speed. Smart contracts, an aspect of blockchain technology, increase autonomy and speed of execution for financial transactions, enabling task automation and minimizing trapped cash in the value chain of a transaction. This will help financial institutions conduct green finance trade internationally, increasing global cooperation and further cementing the global dedication to climate action.

There is no doubt that blockchain technology displays very promising solutions to facilitate and accelerate sustainable investments. Well beyond the buzz around crypto-currencies, the tech community is truly inspired at participating in a more sustainable world, which requires much more transparency, accountability and a sense of emergency.

Get In Touch

Discuss your investment strategy with one of our sustainability consultants.

Contact Us

Explore More

Effective Sustainability Reporting

Stakeholder demand for effective sustainability reporting has continued to grow over the past few years. Our expert discusses how organizations can approach sustainability reporting to set themselves up for success.
Read Article

How to Clear Scope 3 Decarbonization Hurdles

Decarbonization industry experts sit down to share their experience and insights on navigating carbon reduction barriers and achieving Scope 3 emissions reductions at scale.
Read Article

Why Traditional Financing Models Won't Get You to Net Zero

To unlock the speed and scale of change that Net Zero targets require, CFOs will need to reimagine capital allocation models to better account for the true value of decarbonization.
Read Article

Related

Financing Decarbonization: Closing the Execution Gap Maintaining Decarbonization Momentum for U.S. Banks and Financed Emissions How ESG Investing Trends Parallel The Organic Food Movement
How We Help Investor Relations Contact Us Newsroom Cookie Notice Privacy Policy Ethics & Compliance Platform Expertise Sustainability Success Stories Sectors Suppliers Insights
Sign up for updates
© 2025 ENGIE Impact All rights reserved.